Barcelona/Madrid (1 Viewer)

why not just go and hang out in valéncia? it's closer and it's also deadly. deadlier than madrid imho... if I had to choose between barcelona and madrid I'd choose barcelona. madrid is a working city. barcelona has a beach. plus madrid tends to be hellishly hot in the height of summer.

having said all that, I still really like madrid.

also, if you ever happen to be driving btw benicassim and barcelona, keep a look out for the delightfully monikered town of PEÑÍSCOLA.
 
wasn't totally into madrid for the same reasons as plug but it's still good.

as for restaurant tips in barcelona. for cheapness go to the cava bar (La Champagneria) in barceloneta. as far as i remember if you buy 2 sandwichs you can buy a bottle of cava for about 2 euro (or else you buy the cava and get the sandwiches??). there are no seats and it's always packed with locals.

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as for restaurant tips in barcelona. for cheapness go to the cava bar (La Champagneria) in barceloneta. as far as i remember if you buy 2 sandwichs you can buy a bottle of cava for about 2 euro (or else you buy the cava and get the sandwiches??). there are no seats and it's always packed with locals.

I second that! Great great place. But ... it's really hard to find.
 
I'VE a mate headin to Barcelona next week and he's lookin for a mad out of it hostel.
Anyone any tips on one crammed full of good shitheads and young wans?

thanks
 
Bars+boutiques:
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=51325
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=50474
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=49095

Accommodation:
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=46933
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=726838&postcount=14

http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=45849
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=21118

General tips:
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=25990
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=23561

flights:
http://www.thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=22061

Can you believe I just did that? That's pretty much all the Barcelona threads in the travel forum.

And now I can ask without worrying it's on another thread: can anyone recommend the following?

* Nice hotel, somewhere we can splurge on a bit for a few days over Christmas, but which is worth it (and by splurge, I'm not talking gazillions of euro)? doesn't have to be in the city centre.

* Tips for spending Christmas there? I know there are some restaurants open (although if we do decide to treat ourselves to somewhere a bit out of town for the actual Christmas, we'd probably be okay there), but also just if there are any cool Barcelona traditions to look out for/special treats to eat, etc.
* What to pack for winter weather there?

* Pre/post Christmas sales or shop deals, or cool independent boutiques (of the Cow's Lane variety, not labels), second-hand/vintage shops?

Also, YAY, we're going to ESTHPAIN for La Navidad! YAAAY!

Thinking of doing apartment for half and then moving to a nice hotel. Or something. We're staying from the 19th to the 28th, so we think it might be nice to treat ourselves for a few of the nights even though we can't afford fanciness for all nine nights.
 
Yo, Jane, when I was there a few weeks ago, I stayed in Hostal Gat Xino - it's a cheap, but commodious hotelslashhostel in El Raval near Ramblas. Not the nicest area, but a good spot. They have a sister place, Gat Raval or something.

If I were to go back (and I will), I'd rent an apartment in Grácia again. Some good restaurants, squares, bars, boutiques. It just gets you away from the busy city centre, into Barcelonian village-life.

Spend all your money in the local markets and bring back loads of food and wine.

I was told about some new, posh, minimalist hotel in some posh area that doesn't cost much (it looks like an iPod, basically), but I lost the website address.

La Champagneria is fun.

Food-wise. It's all pretty good, but I don't think I found anywhere amazing. Tips muchos appreciated.
 
Do you really have to have an apartment with a chapel AND a games room? Fair enough, but you've kinda narrowed it down to a field of one:
http://www.casa-serra.com/photos.html

This is where Harrison Ford stays when he's in town, although I think they launder (or frame) the sheets when he leaves.

GAWD, they call *that* a games room?
 
Also, thanks folks! The hotel prices aren't that bad. You can do 4-star for half the price you'd pay here, although the rooms don't look huge. But then, like, the apartment thing might be more comfortable if we want to sit on our butts and read novels for days on end. Plus, we could take advantage of lovely local produce and cook some good food, as opposed to eating eggs, spuds and cheese for every meal (which would be tasty, but I reckon I'd be well uncomfortable after a few days of that).

Gracia is gorgeous. I think that'd be the area we'd look for.

What are El Born and L'Eixample like? I think the latter is between Gracia and the City Centre, and if I remember correctly from my one short trip to Barcelona, is really lovely. I'm always looking for areas that will have nice places for me to run, too.

Anyone know any cool Barcelonian Christmas traditions/foods/things to know?
 
Born is very nice. Posh, particularly around Mercat del Born (under construction), to the east of Barrió Gótico. It's out in the direction of the Picasso Museum, but a bit further on. There was an art magazine gallery where I nearly (but not really) bought a Donald Judd print for €2k. Exiample is north from that, I think, and stretches from Placa Catalunya to the bottom of Gracia, taking in Sagrada Familia. But it can get manky near the bus station (if that's the same area, maybe not).

Those areas are nice and all, and probably well worth exploring (lots of shops and restaurants [or whatever they call them] down narrow streets), but when you get into new bits of Born and Eixample, it looked as if it lost character a bit, compared to Grácia or El Raval.
 

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