definitely buying a few of those as gifts
never heard of the Caganer!!!
If the Christmas market is up near Sagrada Familia, there is a mix of kitschy and nice gifts – there is a particular stall that has beautiful metal christmas tree ornaments. I have been buying one each year for my now three year old daughter, as I tend to be in Barcelona in mid December for an annual meeting. Missed it this year unfortunately.
I was there this past June and am going back in January. My suggestion is to give the Gothic Quarter a miss - it is about as touristy as it gets.
If you can, have lunch at the bar at Restaurant Coure located at Pasaje Marimon 20. I also recommend Xerta (1 star) - the sommelier Miguel is very knowledgeable. I’ve already made a reservation for my next visit and have been in touch with him.
Monvinic @ Carrer de la Diputació, 249 has a great cellar and pretty damn good food.
Also had a great time at Gresca.
Also check out https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/spain/barcelona-local-guide/
Enjoy.
Any suggestions for a family friendly place near the Nou Camp?
3 nights? We are going for 10 hours.
Well it was an eventful 10 hours. Barcelona seems quite a petty crime centre. This was in a main central underground parking. The staff were not slightly interested in helping.
Las Rambla was miserable. Avoid.
The boys loves the Nou Camp though.
Geez Russell, did they get anything? Stupid punks.
Russell…very sorry to hear. Sh!tty luck. Hope they didn’t steal anything too valuable, i.e.: completely ruin your trip.
RT
Really odd. Nothing was taken that we can spot anyway.
My $1000 Stone Island jacket was still there in the trunk as was a bag with all our FC Barca goodies.
I can’t work it out. I assume he was somewhat smart as he picked our rental crappy Toyota that doesn’t have deadlock doors, but didn’t take anything. I assume he (she?) only wants stuff that can immediately converted to cash.
Perhaps a mistake but rather than ruin the whole night we decided not to bother with the police and just pay for it ourself. Meant a chilled dinner in Girona over a very long wait in Rambla police station.
Normally, normally… parking garages are the safest place to park. I am really sorry that happened to you.
Ah it happens everywhere. Can’t let it spoil things or they win! Thank you though
On the bright side… Girona! Don’t get me wrong; I love Barcelona, but the day trips are even better - Girona, Sitges, Montserrat, etc.
Awesome they didn’t gank your stuff!
so, 3 days is enough…
the barcelona arts is a great hotel. right on the water with amazing views and excellent staff. it’s also not a bad walk to barceloneta, and taxis are easy and plentiful.
there is good food everywhere, although frankly tapas kind of blend together after a while. thanks to so many of the reccs in this and other threads, we ate at tapas 24,
kiosk universal, bar del pla, jai-ca, monvinic, bar mut, gran viana and probably a few more i’m forgetting. mut was the highlight for us and we went twice.
la boqueria was fun to eat all the joselito and 5j’s you can possibly can, but i could live without sitting to eat there.
knowing a few of the top cava producers helps a lot (mestres, raventos, recaredo, gramona and others). most of them are quite affordable as well.
la rambla is congested no doubt, but not nearly as bad as 5th ave in nyc at xmas. also despite being out at all hours we never felt threatened even the slightest bit.
next time we will go longer and venture out of the city.
thanks all ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}