Staying in Barcelona: Family accommodation

Choosing what area of Barcelona to stay in for your holiday or vacation and selecting the best accommodation type can make things sometimes confusing and overwhelming. If you also have a family to think about, this can make things even more complex. So looking at the accommodation types and your choice in Barcelona:

Hotels: If you are staying for 1-3 days then a hotel simply might be your best bet. A hotel in a reasonable area and standard and you will be easily all set for your short stay. With a family room you will have enough space for the short stay and since only for a few days, eating out or in the hotel restaurant should be okay. A price aggregator such as www.activehotels.com can be a good starting point.

Holiday and vacation apartments: For stays which are longer than 3 days and if you are as a family or large groups, a holiday apartment in Barcelona could well be your best bet. A short-term rental apartments normally means a lot more space and self catering facilities - with a kitchen included. For anyone with kids, this can mean being able to feed them the foods they actually like and the chance to save on food costs with several mouths to feed. If you do not ant to cook then you still of course have the option to eat out.

Camping: In the city of Barcelona itself, there are not really any great camping options. If you love camping though and do not mind to go outside of the city, there are numerous camping areas and these include the likes of Camping Tres Estrellas in Gavá.

Carnival time in Barcelona

If you are not sor worried about the summer months and lazing on the beach, another great time to visit Barcelona if during carnival time. Four days of parades, live music, street vendors, entertainers and a whole load more.

11th through to the 14th February are the dates set for this years Barcelona Carnival with only 3 weeks to go, a large number of floats are signed up for the parade and now 675 years old (with the event first having started in 1333 at least according to records)

Another Carnival nearby and which is also excellent, in case you can not make it to Barcelona Carnival, is Sitges Carnival. Sitges Carnival takes place 11th to the 17th February. Located 20 minutes by train from central Barcelona, Sitges is an excellent location with its own beaches and quaint town.

Make sure to book Barcelona accommodation early because the city gets very busy during carnival week. You will still be able to find somewhere to stay but the choices will be fewer.

A perfect Saturday morning in Barcelona

My idea of a perfect Saturday morning in Barcelona would be to start the day with a leisurely stroll down Rambla Catalunya. Heading down from Diagonal toward Plaza Catalunya, the street is a wonderful tree-lined boulevard littered with small boutiques and cafes.

A slow breakfast at Mauri´s Café is a great chance to sample a variety of freshly made traditional catalan pastries and sandwiches, while watching the local ladies who do lunch….well do brunch! Of course there some families with children having a morning out and one or two tourists seduced by the cakes. After all the coffee and carbs, time to get walking or take a taxi!

One of the most beautiful parks in the city the flower filled Cervantes Park. Nothing beats sitting on a bench with book surrounded by roses…..

Mauri
Rambla de Catalunya 102, the Eixample
Metro Diagonal
(+34) 93 215 10 20

Botanical Gardens Parc de Cervantes
Avinguda Diagonal 706
(+34 93 41 32 400)

Stuck in London getting to Barcelona - Happy Xmas

Well, it has been an unpredictable year and mine has ended exactly that way also with all of the snow falling in the UK (despite global warming) and closing dozens of airports and meaning hundreds of cancelled flights, in the UK and around Europe.

So the long and short of the situation is that I missed my flight back to Barcelona and will not be in Barcelona for Christmas Day. Having a lot of family in England though, the thought of being forced to stay here and take advantage of:

• Minced pies and fresh cream.
• Traditional Roast dinners.
• Boxing Day (26th December) pub and sport.
• The Boxing Day sales.
• Around family.

There must be much worse places to be for Christmas. Wherever you are in the world and in whatever situation, have an excellent Christmas and hope 2009 was good for you and 2010 even better.

Barcelona Christmas Market in Barri Gotic

Just like most major European cities, Barcelona has its own Christmas markets and one of the best goes locally by the name of 'Fira de Santa Llucia'. I was down at the market last weekend and overall there seemed to be roughly 200 stalls and certainly covering a wide variety of products and foods.

The market continues through until 23rd December and the easiest way to locate the market is by asking people to direct you to Barcelona Cathedral. The market takes place right outside the cathedral which is located at Pla de la Seu in the Barrí Gòtic area.

Barri Gotic is a great area to spend a few hours in anyway with several very good museums, shops, bars and restaurants in the area. It also tends to be one of the key holiday apartments areas in the city and thus popular with tourists.

Madrid Barcelona - Barcelona's Best restaurant

I have eaten in probably a hundred plus restaurants, bars and cafes in Barcelona over the last few years and there is a clear winner in my mind when balancing quality, to cost, to service and to location.

I do not work for the restaurant and have no association with it - and my favourite restaurant and place to eat in Barcelona is the interestingly named Catalan restaurant "Madrid Barcelona".

'Madrid Barcelona' is located very centrally on Carrer d'Arago, 282 and generally open from around 8-830pm. The great thing about this place is that they serve very affordable food, have menus in different languages, are very efficient service wise and the food is outstanding.

This restaurant is based on the place where the old Madrid to Barcelona train used to stop at the start of the last century and this restaurant has remained one of the best places to eat every since. Yet, it is relatively unknown and discussed by tourist.

Stag and Hen Weekends in Barcelona

Barcelona attracts a wide range of visitors for a wide range of reasons. Twenty somethings love the Barcelona nightlife, bars, cafes and beaches; the retirees love the warm weather and fresh seafood and chance to sit and relax in the tree lined streets and sports fans love the Nou Camp and water sports.

Another definite group who love to visit the city and who are often easy to spot on streets such as Las Ramblas are the Stag and Hen groups. Stag and Hen weekends continue to be very popular in the city and bars and restaurants for the most part do embrace these groups, such are the benefits of the income they bring to local business owners.

There are some excellent choice in Europe these days for stag and hen weekends. Prague, Helsinki and Riga are some of the latest destinations along with Barcelona which are popular these days. All have their own benefits and all are great cities for a weekend. From a Barcelona the point of view, the benefits of Barcelona are the weather and the coastal location if has to offer. Companies such as Barcelona Adventure offer Stag and Hen weekends in Barcelona.