Barcelona
Travel Guide > Europe > Spain > Barcelona
Introduction
The Roman Empire founded "Barcino" in the 1st century BC and the city has been a meeting point for different cultures ever since. Barcelona saw the rise and fall of the Visigoths, Moors and Franks, eventually becoming a part of Castile in 1714. Franko's authoritarian dictatorship in the 20th century restrained Barcelona's potential, but the last few decades have witnessed the evolution of Barcelona into a vibrant and modern city. Barcelona is a major centre of business, design and fashion, and its rich history has gifted it with countless pieces of the finest architecture, some of which are now included in UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Neighbourhoods
Barcelona is divided into 10 districts, each consisting of a few neighbourhoods. These districts are:
Ciutat Vella (Old Town)
This is where you'll find the oldest buildings and constructions of the city, such as the Town Hall, St. James Square, the Cathedral, Palace of the Generalitat, Palace of the Catalan Music and las Ramblas, with Liceu Theatre and Boqueria Market.
L'Eixample (New town)
Designed in 1860 by Ildefons Cerdà, it is where countless modernist buildings can be found, the most important of which is Sagrada Família, the biggest project from Antoni Gaudí. Passeig de Gràcia is a very long street in which other important modernist buildings can be found, such as Casa Milà (La Pedrera) and Casa Batlló, both works of Antoni Gaudí.
Other Districts
- Sants-Montjüic
- Les Corts
- Sarrià-St. Gervasi
- Gràcia
- Horta-Guinardó
- Nou Barris
- St. Andreu
- St. Martí
Sights and Activities
Barcelona is vibrant city with a never ending list of things to do; from nightclubs to tours of the Old Town and its pubs, to family-orientated fun-parks, museums, windsurf lessons and more. Art and architecture are a major draw card for the city, in particular the stunning works of Barcelona's most famous architectural son - Antoni Gaudi.
Museums
- Joan Miró Museum (Fundacio Joan Miró): Joan Miró was a Catalan artist from the early 20th century. Paintings by the artist are displayed, as well as other art collections from all over the world. Located on Montjuic
- Antoni Tàpies Museum is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Antoni Tàpies, a Catalan abstract expressionist artist.
- Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) mainly has 20th century, predominantly from Catalan, pieces of art on display in this museum.
- National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) features one of the biggest collections of Romanesque art in the world.
- Picasso Museum features a significant collection of paintings from Picasso's youth. Located in Old Town.
Parks
- Parc de la Ciutadella (Ciutadella Park) is where the 1888 universal exposition was held. It currently is a place where locals, as well as tourists, go when they want to get away from the busy city life.
- Parc Güell (Güell Park): The Count of Güell ordered Antoni Gaudí to construct a zone where the high class families of Barcelona would live. Gaudi's stunning work in this park was considered worthy of inclusion on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1984. It has now become the city's most visited tourist attraction.
Other main sights
- La Sagrada Família: Construction on this modernist cathedral, by architect Antoni Gaudí, began in 1882 and continues to this day. Building works aren't expected to be completed till 2026, but that doesn't stop millions of travellers visiting the unfinished masterpiece each year. The construction process itself is a fascinating thing to behold and even in its uncompleted stage, it is already a superb building and listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
- Casa Mila (La Pedrera): Casa Mila's undulating roof line is one of Barcelona's most iconic images. A visit to this Art Nouveau Gaudi masterpiece is essential for any visitor to Barcelona.
- Montjüic is where the Montjüic Castle is located on top, as well as the Olympic Stadium and other Olympic games buildings and Palau St. Jordi, a concert/sports hall designed by the prestigious architect Arata Izosaki for the Olympic Games.
- Port Olímpic (The Olympic Port) was built for 1992 Olympic Games, and has now become a place with many of the finest restaurants in the city, fashionable bars and plenty of discos.
UNESCO World Heritage List
- Casa Milà, or La Pedrera.
- Hospital de Sant Pau ( St. Paul's Hospital).
- Palau Güell (Güell Palace).
- Parc Güell (Park Güell).
- Casa Vicens
- Casa Batlló
- Sagrada Família
- Palau de la Música Catalana (Palace of the Catalan Music)
Events and Festivals
As mentioned above, Barcelona is a city full of life and consequently, plenty of festivals are organised every year.
It would be pointless to name all of them as there are many, but they are mainly about music, theatre and cinema.
In September the city gets ready for "la Mercè" when the whole city celebrates for a whole week. During this period people from various neighbourhoods decorate the streets of the city and many concerts (most of them free concerts) take place in different districts.
Weather
Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate, with very dry summers and rainfall predominantly during spring and autumn.
July and August are the hottest months of the year, but due to the influence of the Mediterranean sea it doesn't get as hot as in the inner regions of the country where there is no sea-breeze. Winters are mild, also due to the moderating influence of the Mediterranean sea. The coldest months of the year are December and January.
Getting there
By Car
Spain has a dense road system. Getting to Barcelona by car shouldn't be regarded as a problem. If you come from Europe, the AP-7 runs from Lyon and all the way down to Barcelona, passing near Perpignan (the largest French city before the Spanish border). In France it is known as A7 between Lyon and Orange, and A9 between Orange and the spanish border.
By Train
Spain may not have the best trains in the continent, however it's not a problem to get to Barcelona by train. The main station of the city is Sants Station and it is perfectly connected to the city centre by either underground or bus.
If you come from Europe you will probably need to change trains in Portbou (the first Spanish town after the border) from where a direct trains runs to Barcelona. The estimated trip time is 3 hours.
Getting there from other parts of Spain is quite easy: there are several trains every day between Barcelona and main Spanish cities such as Valencia, Madrid or Bilbao.
By Plane
Barcelona Aeroport del Prat (BCN) is the second biggest airport in Spain and the 9th biggest airport in Europe. It handles over 30 million of passengers every year and it is perfectly connected to the other main European airports by direct flights operated by either low cost airlines or normal ones.
It is located a few kilometres away from the city, but it is easy to reach by train. The trip lasts 30 minutes and it costs around €2. Another alternative are taxis, which tend to be more expensive. If you leave from Sants Station the trip will last 20 minutes and cost around €22.
By Bus
By Boat
Getting around
By Car
By Public Transport
Barcelona area is divided in 6 fare zones. Zone 1 include all Barcelona city and some of the suburbs (from Castelldefels to Montgat, and from the sea to Tibidabo). You only need to buy multizone tickets if you want to go to places as Sitges, Calella or Montserrat Abbey.
Underground and buses have several kinds of passes. One single journey ticket doesn't allow to make any change. But a 10-journey card ('T-10') and all other passes allow free change of mean of transportation (from metro to bus, bus to metro, bus to bus -but different bus line-...) during 75 minutes after the first validation.
There are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 30 days travelcards, valid for unlimited number of journeys in N consecutive days.
T-10 allows 10 combined journeys in any means of transport. T 50-30 allows 50 combined journeys in 30 consecutive days.
The easiest way to get around the city is either the underground (consisting of 8 lines, 5 from TMB -Transports Municipals de Barcelona- and 3 from FGC -Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya-) or buses. The underground has different schedules for different days of the week: from Monday to Thursday they run every 2-10 minutes between 5am and 00:00. On Friday, Sunday and bank holidays they run every 2-10 minutes between 5 am and 2 am, while on Saturday besides running during daytime they also do for the whole night.
Buses are also quite reliable but however slower than the underground. There are a few lines of night buses starting at different parts of the city and covering diverse districts.
From 2004, the city has two branches of tramway, Trambaix (connecting Barcelona-Plaça de Francesc Macià and Baix Llobregat area) and Trambesòs (connecting Barcelona Zoo, in Vila Olímpica neigborhood, Glòries and Fòrum area).
The more touristy Tranvia Blau is an old-style tramway. It's a short ride, about 10 minutes, connecting Av. Tibidabo underground station and Tibidabo funicular. Tranvia Blau uses an special ticket, bought on board.
There is also two companies running tourist buses: TMB's 'Bus Turístic' (the 'official', managed by the public company that runs city buses and metro), and 'Barcelona Tours' (the 'unofficial', managed by two coach companies). Both buses go to the same sights, and you can go in and go out as often as you want during the validity of the ticket. Currently, Bus Turístic has three lines and Barcelona Tours just one.
Links:
http://www.tmb.net
http://www.barcelonatours.es/
By Foot
By Bike
Eat
In first place, and despite popular belief, we should take into consideration that paella is not originally from Barcelona, but rather from the Valencia region.
Barcelona has a wide range of choices: from the finest and most expensive restaurants, passing through a middle point, to the cheapest ones. Eating out could be quite expensive in the city centre, but if you have the time to wander around you can find very decent places for a very decent price, either in the city centre or in the outskirts.
The main dish from this part of Spain (Catalonia) consists of bread with tomato rubbed on it, with olive oil and salt. This is usually accompanied with different types of sausage (made of pork) such as fuet or llonganissa or Spanish ham.
While some restaurants consider it a main dish, others might just bring it to you as an accompaniment.
Drink
Barcelona is well-known by foreigners when it comes to drink. The main purpose of some people who go there is to get drunk. The reality is that it's not as cheap as it used to be, so unless you have some money in your pocket, getting drunk in Barcelona could be quite expensive.
Many pubs are located in the Old Town but some of them have abusive prices, so it would be a good idea to get away from the city centre.
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This is version 24. Last edited at 15:36 on Sep 1, 08 by Lavafalls (+6). 15 articles link to this page.
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