Hi Friends,
We are taking a 7 night cruise from Barcelona, Spain in the last week of October, 2015 which will go to a couple of places in Italy, Malta and then would come back to Barcelona, Spain. Then we have our flight to India much later on the same night. We are reaching Barcelona a day and half in advance to our cruise. So, basically we have 2 full days in Barcelona, 1 full day before the cruise and 1 full day after the cruise and I am looking advice and guidance from those who have been to Barcelona, Spain so that we can take maximum benefit from our stay there.
1. Best area and at least 3 star safe, nice, clean hotel to stay and place/s to visit / explore as per our time frame. We have 1 full day before cruise and 1 full day after cruise.
2. Any pointers about the places to avoid in Barcelona as I was reading some adverse comments about the petty crimes such as pick pocketing and or mugging in certain areas, specially during the night.
3. Any must see places or areas to visit?
4. Do we get vegetarian food easily? If yes, then any place to have lunch or dinner as we both are vegetarian.
5. Where to keep our luggage during the time we are visiting places. Do we get any locker service etc.?
6. Best mode of transport for seeing the city? Considering the low value of Canadian Dollar, we need to see where we can save on unnecessary costs.
7. How is the weather during that time of year? What type of clothes to carry?
8. Any other Dos and Dont's.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada
Barcelona for only a day and a half? You are doing gross injustice to both you and Barcelona. Change your flights to spend more time there - it is such a wonderful place.
Ramblas is the the place to stay - the tourist area which is live till almost 2am every night and reasonably priced and safe.
Depends on what you like to visit. Even just walking in those small lanes around Ramblas is so much fun. The architecture is beautiful. Sagrada Familia - the ever being built cathedral is the most famous, but there can be line ups for an hour or more. The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, Casa Batlló by Antoni Gaudí, a beautiful building by their most famous architect (the same guy who built the Sagrada Familia), Plaça Espanya which is more than just a central transport communication hub in Barcelona. It's also the starting point for visits to The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, Museu Nacional d' Art Catalunya de Montjuïc (MNAC) and the Olympic Stadium all of which are attractive and interesting places to visit. Park Güell by Antoni Gaudí is a must see. Then there is one more place whose name I have forgotten - it is like a mini Spain where they have different kinds of buildings found in Spain.
Vegetarian food is plentiful - and you will find lots of Bangladeshis and Sindhis operating shops and road side kiosks and they can help.
Luggage - take it to your hotel - if you stay on the Ramblas, it has subway right underneath and the road above has huge pedestrian walk ways to you will see many people pulling their luggage from hotel to subway.
Transport - buy a stored value card for 10 trips. The same card can be used for more than one person at the same time if need be. Taxis from airport to city are expensive, but cheaper alternative is either shuttle or the best is train - where you can use the same stored value card which I think works out to 1 euro per trip. Each trip is valid for about 2 hrs, so if you change buses and or subway, any journey within the two hour period will be counted as one trip.
Be safe with your carry ons while on the road. A typical thing in Spain is - someone will walk up to you and tell you that he is a govt official and wants to see your identity papers. Never ever give that, and be careful while he is talking to you. His associate will pick pocket you while you are dealing with him, while most probably you are a bit scared since he is asking for your legal papers.
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
Quote:
Originally posted by Pramod Chopra
Hi Friends,
We are taking a 7 night cruise from Barcelona, Spain in the last week of October, 2015 which will go to a couple of places in Italy, Malta and then would come back to Barcelona, Spain. Then we have our flight to India much later on the same night. We are reaching Barcelona a day and half in advance to our cruise. So, basically we have 2 full days in Barcelona, 1 full day before the cruise and 1 full day after the cruise and I am looking advice and guidance from those who have been to Barcelona, Spain so that we can take maximum benefit from our stay there.
1. Best area and at least 3 star safe, nice, clean hotel to stay and place/s to visit / explore as per our time frame. We have 1 full day before cruise and 1 full day after cruise.
2. Any pointers about the places to avoid in Barcelona as I was reading some adverse comments about the petty crimes such as pick pocketing and or mugging in certain areas, specially during the night.
3. Any must see places or areas to visit?
4. Do we get vegetarian food easily? If yes, then any place to have lunch or dinner as we both are vegetarian.
5. Where to keep our luggage during the time we are visiting places. Do we get any locker service etc.?
6. Best mode of transport for seeing the city? Considering the low value of Canadian Dollar, we need to see where we can save on unnecessary costs.
7. How is the weather during that time of year? What type of clothes to carry?
8. Any other Dos and Dont's.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Thanks Chandresh ji and our in house Wikipedia aka Full House,
I wish I had asked this question before booking the flights and cruise (booked more than 4 months ago) and then I would have benefited much more. However, I would still try to take advantage of the time I have on our disposal by taking cues from the detailed pointers given by you both.
Once again, thanks a lot as some body else might take advantage of the advice given by you both.
Regards,
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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by Pramod Chopra
Thanks Chandresh ji and our in house Wikipedia aka Full House,
Regards,
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Fido.
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