Key Post: Barcelona

S

sueellen

Guest
Any recommendations on where to start looking for a good deal on flights and accommodation (separate or together) for a short (2-4 nights) mid June break in Barcelona? Any general recommendations on cheap flight/accommodation hunting for such a trip? I had a quick look around and the best provisional flights I could get were from (actually through when it comes down to it) at c. €200 p.p. for direct returns. Some other sites came up with some shocking prices! :eek Any advice/recommendations welcome! ;)
 
Re: Where to get good deal on flights/hotels-Barcelona?

Hi,

Barcelona is excellent, been there twice in 24 months and ready to go again.

City Breaks, available in most good travel agents did the business for us the first time .... second was a work gig :)

City Breaks offered good value, optional extras, little hastle and Tab Points ;) .... what more could you ask for ? :)


For info:

MyWebCommunities.com recently established a new holiday & travel forum, which has a lot of handy links on Barcelona if your interested ... just watch out for one of the Moderators there ... he can be a bit touchy ;)

[broken link removed]


...I know its a little cheeky getting a free plug, but hey, I do the same for AAM.com on MWC.com from time to time ;) :)

Kind Regards

G>
 
Re: Where to get good deal on flights/hotels-Barcelona?

I got a great price for a Hotel in Madrid recently via [broken link removed] - Their price for our particular hotel was €30 cheaper than other websites. They included breakfast & taxes in their standard rate, which saved us another €40 per night.

They work slightly differently to most booking sites. Once you book, you are purchasing a 'voucher' (which is emailed to you), so you actually pay hotelclub.net, not the hotel themselves. They have pretty punitive cancellation charges, so you'll want to be certain of your dates before you finalise.

Hope this helps.
 
barca

Was over there nearly this time last year. The cheapest way we found to get there was a bit of a scenic route but much cheaper and that was to go with ryanair to Luton and with easyjet from there to Barcelona (they use the main Barcelona airport).

We stayed in a small hotel, I think the name of which was Hotel Urquinaona (or something very like that). Everything was booked over the web. The hotel was in the equivalent of Baggot Street to Stephen's Green in terms of centrality.

An expensive place to stay but not too bad once you are there.
 
Re: barca

One cheap option (which will only really work for 7-day tranches, not a 3-4 day break) is to get a package to somewhere on the coast north or south of there on the Costa Brava. Flights are usually into Girona (which is a very nice city in itself) and then you stay in some Torremolinos-equivalent.....beaches are good, but lots of "egg-n-chips" brigade. It won't be classy, but it will probably be clean & cheap!

However, the train from most of these places will have you in Barcelona in 45 minutes. Obviously access to the Barcelona nightlife, which starts and ends very late, is restricted, as the trains don't run all night. 'Course if you're completely mad, you'll just party till the morning.......

However, if your other half insists on sun & sand, it's a reasonable way to work a compromise.
 
Re: barca

Thanks for all the tips folks - time to start searching I guess... ;)
 
cataluna

Yes is a great place. The metro system extends to the airport and this train runs north thro' the city centre and then along the coast for over 50 km.
Girona is a lovely city too but much quieter than Barca.
 
Where to get good deal on flights/hotels-Barcelona?

You can get a Ryanair return to Bruxelles (Charleroi) for 22.99 euro each way and then a Virgin Express return to Barcleona for 60 euro each way. You get the 6:50 departure from Dublin on Ryanair and then the 20:40 ex Brussels (Zaventem) to Barcelona. I'll let you know next week if this actually works!
 
Where to get good deal on flights/hotels-Barcelona?

Thanks PMU but such a peregrination doesn't really suit me this time! ;)
 
Amadeus - How does it work?

Hi CM
Tried Amadeus website - took me a while to work out how to proceed, then found you need to choose a partner site, from a list of countries.

Ireland is not listed. Did you choose UK as a country? (do you live in the UK????)

regards
Bubbles
 
barca

have you tried easy jet from belfast to liverpool and then on the barcelona.

liverpool is a smashing little airport and easy jet have flights to alicante from there too.

its a pity that ryanair and easyjet dont take through bookings as its a dog having to pay airport charges and govt taxes twice(yes I know theres no govt tax from Dublin but the charges make up for it)
 
Re: >>Where to get good deal on flights/hotels - Barce

This was posted by zag elsewhere:

I had forgotten about Monserrat - worth a visit if only to wonder at what type of people decide to build a monastry waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up a mountain - and that was before they had cable cars and stuff like that. Probably related to the guys down in the Skelligs

Also worth a visit (if you are slightly wine-y) is a town whose name completely escapes me at the moment. It's the centre of the wine-producing region there. Google has just reminded me that it is called Vilafranca del Penedés. Reachable by train - not totally amazing, just a nice relaxed town and a few winerys within easy reach.

Other trips (by car) are suggested here - [broken link removed]

Cheers,

z
 
Some other posts

techman29
Registered User
recommend a hotel in Barcelona

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good hotel in Barcelona?

Planning on going in late July, 3 adults, looking for a nice hotel (nothing fancy) good location for touring Barcelona.

Thanks.

aine
Unregistered User
hotel

I can recommend the Plaza Catalunya www.hotelcatalunyaplaza.com/. It is situated in Place Catalunya which is more or less the dead centre of Barcelona. It is an ideal location being at the top of Las Ramblas - hotels on Las Ramblas can be quite noisy since no one ever seems to sleep in Barca! Tourist bus and metro are on the doorstep. The hotel serves complimentary cava (champagne), wine and snacks throughout the day and has free internet access in the lobby for guests. You can read guest reviews at Trip Advisor - Reviews on Hotel Catalunya

shnaek
Registered User
recommend a hotel in Barcelona

We actually stayed in 3 hotels there. The first was

Hotel Jardi
Plaça Sant Josep Oriol 1
Barri Gòtic
Barcelona 08002
Spain

Tel: 93-301-5900
Fax: 93-318-3664
Rooms: 40


We would have stayed there longer but it was booked out. It's on the charming Plaça del Pi and Plaça Sant Josep Oriol, It's a budget hotel, but it is great value and most rooms have balconies www.hoteljardi.com/

The second place we stayed isn’t really worth mentioning! It was grand, but the other places were far superior

The third place was:
Hostal Opera
Carrer de Sant Pau 20
Barcelona
Spain

General price range: EUR 31 - 85
Tel: 34-93-3188201

It is cheaper, and the lads in there are dead sound and do speak English. It is in the city centre too. Both places are just off las ramblas. Near everything.

techman29
Registered User
Re: recommend a hotel in Barcelona

That's great.

Thanks all.

Contango10
Frequent poster
Back from Barcelona

As some of you are interested in prices and the cost of living, here is some data from a recent trip to Barcelona:

Cup of coffee = 1.00 (from 0.85 to 1.15)
Croissant = 1.00 (from 0.75 to 1.05)
25cl beer = 1.80 (from 1.30 to 2.00)
33cl bottle of beer = 2.00

Trip on bus, metro = 1.10
10-journey ticket = 6.00, VERY GOOD VALUE

20 cigs = 2.65, lots of people smoke

In a Lidl store, things were cheaper than here, as you'd expect. 1.5L apple juice was 0.99, instead of 1.19 here, that sort of thing.

UNBELIEVABLE, 50cl can of beer in Lidl was 29c, bottle of vodka was €4!!!!!!

Contango10

elderdog
Registered User

Was just wondering

Do you know if there is VAT on basic food in Spain ?

There isnt here ( but booze gets duty + 21% VAT )

eDog

MAC
Unregistered User
Great news.... about Barcelona

Hi Contango,

Great news, heading over there with Mrs MAC for a week in the summer. Anywhere in particular that you recommend a visit to?

MAC

Tall Chapy
Frequent poster
Ola....

Hi Mac,
I have never been to Barcelona.Still in the planning stages.
Hopefully this will help.

www.bcn.es/english/ihome.htm

valc1
Registered User
Re: Great news.... about Barcelona

Very nice restaurant called Els Quatre Gats that's very central. They do lunch menus in the restaurant and tapas in the bar and at nighttime they have a separate dinner menu and a pianist. The street is Calle Monsio - it's walking distance from the Plaza de Cataluqa. Tel no. : 0034-93-302-4140

Or for a really really snazzy meal out I liked Las Siete Puertas - it's a bit off the beaten track. Very near the Hesperia Metropol Hotel. The address is Passeig d'Isabel II 14, Barri Gòtic. Without doubt I think it is one of the most atmospheric restaurants in the city. Plus fantastic food.

The other option is down by the Port – at the end of Las Ramblas – lots of nice restaurants down there. I liked Monchos (might be spelled Montxos in Spanish) but they are probably all equally good there.

broke
Unregistered User
hotel

Has anyone experience of staying in the Barcelona hotel mentioned below, or know anything about the location as a base for a city break?

City Park Sant Just Hotel
Ctra. Reial, 132,
BARCELONA, ES

Contango10
Frequent poster
Irish tourism prices vs. Spain

There was a discussion last night on Q&A about the competitiveness of tourism in Ireland, this sort of ties in with my list of Barcelona prices above.

However, we need to remember that perhaps it is unfair to compare Irl with Spain, as wages and other costs are much lower in Spain, so prices are bound to be lower.

During the trip to Barca, we also went into France, to Perpignan, where prices in general were higher than Spain. So maybe that is a better comparator for Irish tourism.

Contango10

Thrifty Knot
Frequent poster
Week in Barca

Hi Mac,

Spent a week in Barcelona a few years back (in January)and stayed in Las Ramblas area which is centre to everything.

We got a car for a few days and travelled south (an hour) to Tarragona for beaches (yes beach weather in January).

Travelled north to Andorra (more than 1 hour) another day and explored around the area - villages from "Heidi" spring to mind. There is the most scenic drive from Andorra to Barcelona (if you stick to the east road thru Ripoli) which you should take (if you're not afraid of heights and sky high roads).

On rote to Andorra we stopped off in Gerona to visit Salvadore Dali's museum, which was well worth it (if you're into it!)

shnaek
Registered User
France

"During the trip to Barca, we also went into France, to Perpignan, where prices in general were higher than Spain. So maybe that is a better comparator for Irish tourism"


That may be true, but if we are to compare ourselves to France we should also compare quality offered.
I find that Irish businesses tend to charge gourmet prices for everything, whether or not the service/food etc on offer could be described as 'gourmet'!
 
I stayed in this apartment last month - [broken link removed] - Really nice to have an apartment to stay in as it seems to give you more freedom. Good service by the owners aswell.

edited by zag to fix link
 
Some other posts

tphelan
Recommendation for a Hotel in Barcelona

Hi all - anyone got a recommendation for a nice hotel in Barcelona - going to spend a couple of days - not looking for a 5 star but a nice hotel close to city centre with parking would be ideal.

cheers

TP

lily
Recommendation for a Hotel in Barcelona

Stayed in the Catalonia Princesa Hotel in February, booked it on [broken link removed], nice hotel, lovely rooms, about 10 mins walk from La Rambla area, 3 mins walk from metro, not sure about parking

Enaja
Registered User
Re: Recommendation for a Hotel in Barcelona

www.hotelcatalunyaplaza.com/.


MAC
Hotel recommendation

Stayed in the Montcada 10 with Mrs Mac a few months ago - definitely recommend it.
 
top city

In Barca at the moment, for the third time, great spot.

33cl bottle of beer still euro 2.00.

Loads of people, lots of foreigners, all sorts, good buzz.

Tapas are lovely, lashings of good food.

I recommend it.
 
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