Spain Catalonia 

A Guide to Barcelona

The city of Barcelona is the second largest city in the country and is the capital of the region of Catalunia. A long time rival of the capital Madrid the two cities have competed against each other throughout history, this is evident in the fact that the city speaks two different languages Catalan and the Castillian Spanish which is the language of Madrid.

The city is full of sites to see including the fantastic Cathedral pointing high into the sky as one of the most spectacular sites in the country. The city has a varying population on whether the outer towns are included. The City is a Mediterranean city situated on the coast and so offers a range of activities available on the sea front including a variety of water sports as well as fantastic beaches perfect for relaxing or taking long walks by the deep blue sea.

For all the sports fans the city of Barcelona is the perfect place to come as it has one of the best soccer teams in the world. After being champions of Spain and Europe Barcelona has attracted some of the best names in world soccer including Ronaldinhio and Lionel Messi who if you are fortunate to make one of the matches at the stunning Nou Camp Stadium the team provides fantastic entertainment with an exciting brand of football which will keep even first time viewers glued to their seats to the very end.

When you are in Spain more often than not there is the choice between Madrid and Barcelona and if you choose Barcelona you will not be disappointed. When in the city you must taste some of the regional culinary delights served in the fantastic restaurants who are ready to cater for your every need. The night life is second to none in the country though those in Madrid might beg to differ. There are many different bars and clubs in the area which are perfect for all those who love to party into the early hours of the morning. Barcelona is one of the best destinations to visit not just in the country but in the world and one of the places to stay for any trip to the country.


If you are planning a trip to Barcelona, whet your appetite with this stunning photo-blog of Barcelona's food markets.
 

Destination Traveler suggests:

Votes:3, Traveler Consensus:
Beautiful Barcelona
by Julie May (07 February 2011)
Barcelona is a wonderful city with so much to see and do. I was in fact unaware of all the lovely things to see until I arrived. Perhaps this is because I was staying with friends just outside of the city I didn’t prepare my usual list of must see sights until I was there. I regret that I only had one day in Barcelona and it meant rushing through the sites to make sure I could take in as much of the culture as possible. I only got to view the beautiful beaches and I insist that if you have more then one day in this city to make that feature in your top 5 things to do list.

I took a train to Barcelona from Castelldefels, this didn’t take to long (about 30 – 40 minutes) and once there I decided to do a bus tour as I had limited time. As per usual there are a number of different bus routes for you to try, but I had my heart set of seeing Gaudi’s Sagrada Família and chose the route that would take me there first. I did however, get quite distracted along the way and found myself hopping on and off quite a few times before I finally made it there, if you are heading to see the Sagrada Família I suggest you make a early morning of it as it can get really busy and the queue time to get inside is unbelievable as it is so small they only let a certain amount of people in at a time, I had unfortunately left it too late and decided against spending 4 hours in a queue and explore the rest of Gaudi’s works and see what else Barcelona had to offer.

My top 5 things to see in Barcelona:

1) Gaudi’s Sagrada Família

2) Gaudi’s Park Guell

3) Take a cable car up the mountain (the view is amazing)

4) Have loads of Spanish tapas (be prepared to eat very late with siesta)

5) Spend time on the beautiful beaches

I really enjoyed my time in this City and I hope to revisit it soon!




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