keano

I will arrive in Barcelona at 11 am on Sunday and Depart Tuesday morning at 7 am to Granada.

I have been reading this forum to figure what are the best sites to see during this relatively short period in Barcelona. I would appreciate any thoughts or comments regarding my itinerary:

Day 1
11:00. Arrive at the airport Take the bus service to Passeig De Gracia. Our hotel is 2 blocks from there. Drop the luggage and then wonder out.


12:00 Once out of the hotel my plan is on walking the Gothic district visiting the Palau De Musica and the Cathedral. Will try to enter both, but not sure on the availability of an English tour at that time of the day for the Palau (there is a family concert at 12:00). Will enter the Cathedral. Given that it is a Sunday I am expecting huge crowd at Sagrada Familia, so I may just take pictures form the outside and leave the inside visit for the next day at 9 am.

16:00 Maybe wonder of toward the Picasso museum and see if there is not a huge line to enter or wonder more around the gothic area. Anything interesting further east from there?

17:00 wonder in the Las Ramblas area with first going through the Boqueria market. From then wonder down from Las Ramblas to Colom monument

17:30 Hop on the red line to tour Casa Batillo.
18:30 Get on the red line for a circle around town untill the Monjuic area to visit the magic fountain (which my understanding is it is operational only in the evening)

Any recommendations for a dinner in this area of town or should we get to the gothic district for some dinner and drinks?

Day 2


9:00 Sagrada Familia
11:00 Hop on the Blue line of the bus and head to Park Guel
13:00 Blue line to FC Barcelona Camp Nou Tour
15:00 Take the red line on to the Poble Espanyol,
16:00 Red line to Monjuic and the cable car to the top for some views of the city.

18:00 get on the red line for a trip back to the main touristy area, the gothic district. Find a nice tapas bar, enjoy good dinner and retire around 10pm or so.


Am I overlooking anything that is a must see? The hospital, given that it is being re-done I am choosing to skip, in addition I will be taking outside pictures of Casa Mila.

Day 3

5:00 Take a taxi to the airport
7:00 fly to Granada

yk

Hi Keano,

I think it's unrealistic that you can be out sightseeing by 12noon on your arrival day. At best, you'll arrive at your hotel by 12 to check-in. My guess is it'll be closer to 1pm before you are actually ready to head out.

You can check Palau de la Musica's website and see if you can buy English guided tour tickets in advance. They go on sale 1 week before, and I think tours are conducted until 3pm; but it may be a problem for your date b/c of the concert.

On Sundays, there is usually Sardana dancing outside the Cathedral around noon-ish. It's a lot of fun and don't miss it.

Picasso Museum is free admission on Sundays after 3pm

Have you double checked the magic fountain schedule? I recall it's only "on" on weekends (Fri/Sat) but not sure about Sunday evenings.

keano

yk

thanks for your tips re the dance outside the Cathedral and the Picasso museum. Will check those out. Any other museum with free entrance on Sunday .

I will try to fit in Casa Asia as you mentioned in your thread. I like your outing out to Barceloneta so I will try to squeeze that in. That is a short walk from the Columbo monument right? I am sure it is pretty by the water in the evening.

Unfortunately, you are right, the fountain in the winter works only Friday and Saturday

Operating hours from 30th April to 30th September:
Thursday to Sunday, 9pm – 11:30pm
Musical displays: 9pm, 9:30pm, 10pm, 10:30pm and 11pm

Operating hours from 1st October to 30th April:
Fridays and Saturdays, 7pm – 9pm
Christmas and Easter:
Thursday to Sunday, 7pm – 9pm
Musical displays: 7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm and 8:30pm

yk

I don't think Casa Asia is a must-see on your first visit.

The beachfront section of Barceloneta is not that close to Passeig de Colom. You can walk along the harbor along Passeig de Colom (very nice on its own), but to get to the beach area, it's at least 1-2 miles.

BigRuss

What are these red lines and blue lines? If you're referring to the colors of the Metro lines on the Metro map, you will be alone because they are referred to as line 1, line 2, etc.

As for your itinerary, are you sure Casa Batllo will be open after 530 pm? Do you realize how far apart Parc Guell and the Camp Nou are, or Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia? You really are jumping all over the place. Why not cut the city in half via the Ramblas and group your sites by where they fall viz. the Ramblas and determine how to reach each from there.

La Bocqueria is a yawner - the sweets aren't particularly good, the fruit is middling and the prices are far from stellar. If you're going to Madrid on the same trip, go to the Mercado San Miguel instead. If not, don't bemoan skipping the Bocqueria.

keano

The red and the blue line are the lines that the HOHO bustiristic bus lines have. I tried dividing the day 1 and day 22 activities based on the location. Day one is the east of Ramblas that is a walkable distance and day 2 are sites that I will need the bus to move around. Maybe I am undeestimating the walking distances. They look close on the map

john2003

We have been several times to Barcelona but have not been inside the Sagrada Familia. Will be there in a couple of weeks again and I believe that you can reserve the Sagrada Familia tickets online and then you should not be in the main queue. I think you choose a 1 hour slot.
Perhaps someone that has done this can confirm.

Alan_CT

For a market, you could go to Santa Caterina, on your way to the Barri Gotic.
I recommend taking in a performance at the Palau if there is one your first night.
I'd skip Poble Espanyol and perhaps Barceloneta, unless you go there to eat. You might want to look into the tour of La Pedrera rather than Casa Batllo; check this blog post, www.likelivingthere.blogspot.com
Overall, I'd pare this down so that you can take your time at meals or over a drink.
Many restaurants are closed Sunday nights, and some Mondays, so choose carefully.

keano

@john2003 You can make reservations, but I do not think you can use the Barcelona busturistic discount (I believe 20%).

@Alan_CT and BigRuss I thought that there is an iconic market in barcelona that is very popular and vivid with colors? Isn't that La Bocqueria. I also read Maribel's guide and she talked about a very old food spot inside the market.

But I am open to skipping it if you do not think it is worth it.

BigRuss

Yes, the iconic market is La Bocqueria.

It is vastly overrated.

And instead of the HOHO buses, use the metro where you can - the trains are not subject to traffic jams and your timing windows are TIGHT.

lam67

You certainly can book tickets online for Sagrada Familia and based on recent experience (mid-October), I'd recommend that you do. I have never seen a longer line to buy tickets to enter an attraction; we booked online and only had to wait behind one person to get in.

suec1

It seems to me that you are using the HOHO for transportation between sights when using the regular metro will be much cheaper and much faster. I don't usually go for HOHO's as when I have, they have just been too inefficient and expensive - too much time spent waiting for the next bus to come by or crawling thru traffic. Now if you just want to ride a loop around a big city to get an idea of what is where and some minuimal tourist info then the HOHO works fine.

With your amount of time I'd spend one day in the Barri Gotic, El Born, Las Ramblas, waterfront (Barceloneta maybe), one of the markets? part of the city and then the other on the Modernista sites - Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, and one of the houses. Two days is not enough for Barcelona but you can certainly have an enjoyable two days if you plan wisely and book ahead when possible.

Christina

I was just there early October and did wait in line to see Sagrada Familia, so I imagine the line will not be as bad when you are there. I was there in the middle of the day, also, and FYI, the wait took less than an hour. So it's up to you, but going there twice will eat up time, also, I wouldn't do that myself.

I did take the HOHO bus and liked it a lot, because I enjoyed sitting on top and getting that nice view of the city and streets, you don't get that from the metro, and seeing parts of the city I would not have seen other ways. However, not sure I would do it in bad weather, though, so that may be an issue. It's also less taxing thatn the metro regardless of what people say (and I take the metro a lot in many cities, including where I live). YOu don't have to go up and down the stations (stairs) or transfer, etc. All of that does take up some time (and energy).

First, not sure what bus you are talking about from the airport that goes to P. de Gracia. I took Aerobus and it doesn't go there, it stops at pl Universitat and pl Catalunya. So it depends where your hotel is or where you thought the bus stop was as to how far that would be. There is another airport city bus the TMB but I think it only goes to pl Espana. Now I might be wrong on those, I'm not expert but I did take Aerobus and I know where it stops.

I guess must sees are up to you, for me they were the museum of Catalonia Art and the Catalonian history museums. The former is in a park area away from the center and the latter down at the port near that COlumbus column. I did visit the Palau Musica and took a tour without reservation, but I was willing to accept a tour in Spanish as I know it a little. If you don't know it, you can still see the interior, no matter what, of course, if that's the main thing you care about rather than the lecture.

I visited the inside of the Pedrera and it was quite something, you might consider that. Not sure how it compares to Casa Batllo, though.

keano

@ Christina You are right. Aerobus goes to P; Catalunya, which is still nearby my hotel. I mixed it up with the train arrangements that I considered at one point. How was the bus experience? Was it quick or did you had to wait a bit?

I grew up in a city with public transporation, I use it quite a lot when in NYC, Boston, DC etc. But for this trip I think the HOHO bus would provide that extra vantage point from the top. I just hope I do not have to wait a lot to get one. In terms of cost, they are 20 euros. Plus with entrances in several museums/houses you can save at least 10. So for 10 euros, I am willing to use them.

Seems like it might be best to book the Sagrada tour online and forgo the oportunity to receive a discount when buying the ticket in person.

@suec1 That seems to be the plan right now. The first day I envision to mostly be a walking tour in the Barri Gotic, El Born, Las Ramblas, and Barceloneta.

The second day is the modernistic tour, and Camp Nou, and Monjuic as time permits.

@Alan_CT Poble Espanyol seems such a nice place to visit with its distinct houses etc. Why do you recommend that I skip it?

Me_Avril

Hi Guys!
2 days in Barcelona...How to organise the day!Please help me to fit in below itinerary;
La Sagrada Familia
Camp nou
Passeig de Gracia
Casa Mila
Casa Batlló
La Pedrera
Park Güell
Gothic Quarter
Barcelona Cathedral
Jewish Section
Las Ramblas & Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria
Born District & Santa Maria Del Mar
Some of them I guess I can just see from the outside or skip completely. I am arriving around midday on Easter Monday and leaving on Wednesday night. Although i want to keep Wednesday for shopping, I could include some attractions as well.
Your recommendations please.

Thanks