I really enjoyed shopping in Barcelona. I thought I'd share what I learned, in hopes that others will share their tips for future reference.

1. Clothes shopping is terrific. We found inexpensive, trendy types of stores in the area below Placa de Catalunya, around Avinguda del Portal de L'Angel. Don't just stay on the main streets...the small side streets have great little clothing stores, too. You'll find larger stores around the Placa de Catalunya. As you go above the Placa de Catalunya, on the Passieg de Gracia, the stores seem larger and more upscale. Don't neglect to look at the clearance racks. I guess Spain doesn't have the equivalent of TJ Maxx or Ross for retailers to sell to, because the clearance prices were REALLY low (I got a super cool jacket for 13 euro....marked down from 47).

2. The El Born/La Ribera area should be your destination if you want to shop for more unique (and a lot more expensive) clothes in small boutiques.

3. In Barcelona, we saw the cutest shoes we've ever seen. If you live in the US, try to find out your European shoe size before you leave home. It's on lots of boxes of shoes we buy here. Also, if you're doing serious shoe shopping, try to go in the mornings, before the stores get too crowded. We didn't find any "self service" shoe stores.

4. We found several nice ceramics stores on the C. de Montcada, between the Picasso Museum and Santa Maria del Mar. We bought some fun bowls and a picture of the four seasons made of six ceramic tiles.

5. We shopped for sweets at the much recommended Caelum, Palla 8. What we bought was good, but we really didn't know what the heck we were buying...it was hard to find translations...it's not surprising that candy and cookie names wouldn't be in a dictionary. I have a nut allergy and was looking for the words for nuts on the list of ingredients, but we mostly just bought things that looked good and appeared nut-free. I have since tried to find info on line regarding candies made at the Convent of Santa Clara, in order to find something that others can translate in advance, but I haven't been successful.

6. I know that everyone recommends the shops on C. Petritxol for chocolate (warning: the whole street basically closes for siesta), but we found them to be a bit intimidating. We did, however, buy chocolate bars in the grocery department at El Corte Ingles...rows and rows and rows of various flavors of chocolate bars.

7. I bought a blow dryer and flat iron at El Corte Ingles (what a convenient store!) In all of our travels, I don't know why it didn't occur to me before to just spend a few euro on European models, rather than worrying over converters every trip.

Please share your own Barcelona shopping tips.

You didn't say WHEN you bought the jacket at the low price. What time of year was it? Jan, Feb, March, etc?

It was in mid-March. It is white, with cool silver zippers. The funny thing is, they were selling a very similar white jacket with silver zippers for full price. Don't know if the one I bought was really left over from last year, or if they had a white jacket in their winter line.

Missypie- DH & I plus our two teen boys will be in Barcelona June 7-10. During your shopping 'forays' did you notice any shops selling sporting apparel? Specifically men’s water polo suits? The Turbo brand suits are very popular here in California and also very hard to find. Apparently they are made in Spain. I’ve done online searches to locate shops but to no avail. My boys would really like to find some in Barcelona. We’ll go out of our way looking for a shop if I can even find a name or address for a place.

Appreciate the tip on great shoe shopping. I'll save room in my suitcase. Shoes are my weakness!

My friend and I will be in Barcelon at the end of next week. Did you find that most items were ridiculously high after factoring in the dollar exchange? Are the shoes quite wide? I wear a medium width but on the narrow side with a narrow heel. I love to buy unique tops but am always in search of a sale (and/or bargain)

Sorry-I don't recall seeing any water polo suits.

As for shoes, my feet are incredibly wide, so the shoes were too narrow for me. I guess we have the opposite problem.

I did not think the prices were high at all. Of course, with a better exchange rate, the clothes we bought would have been bargains, but even with the bad rate, the prices weren't too bad. Here's an example: We are going to a family wedding and my 14 year old found the perfect pleated silk "evening" type of sundress in Barcelona. It was 69 euro. A couple of weeks later, I bought a dress here for my 11 year old to wear to the wedding. It was $89, which is roughly what the dress cost us in Barcelona. Sure, you can go to the boutiques in El Born and pay 400 euro for a dress, but you can also find much less expensive things.

Judy, did you try contacting them to find about shops?
www.turbo.es

I suppose it shouldn´t be too complicated to find something, given that Cataluña is one of the mecas of that sport in Spain.

Decathlon, the french sport chain, has a couple of shops in central Barcelona, one in L´Illa and another in Ciutat Vella. Ask there, and if not, there is always "El Corte Ingles".

www.decathlon.es

Bye, Cova

Cova- thank you for the link to Turbo. I sent an email just now. We'll see if they reply. I don't know why I didn't think of contacting them for store locations......we have tried to order online and have been unsuccessful finding outlets for sales to the US.

Thanks again for helping. We'll also look for the two stores you mentioned.

We are going to Barcelona next week - your shopping tips are great Just hope I have time to sightsee!! THanks- Mo

YO, MISSYPIE!!

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Thank you for letting me know I was wanted!

cova- Just thought I let you know I received a reply from Turbo with an address of a shop in Barcelona to purchase their suits.