Holiday by yourself..where?? (2 Viewers)

[infestedwipe]

barcelona for definate... sun, beach, wicked record shops, great sights, and u can always get on a train if your bored,travel an hour to port aventura and have a good laugh..|..|
Accomodation is cheap enough.

 

[Squiggle]

well, we're getting the eurostar to brussels and overnight train to berlin and we're camping near the Reichstag - http://www.tentstation.de/englisch/index.php

we'll tour east and west - I've been there before and herself lived in berlin many years ago

How did this work out? That place looks really interesting.

Anybody have some good accommodation suggestions for Barcelona? Thinking of going there near the end of next month and haven't been before.

 

[Mormon Nailer]

How did this work out? That place looks really interesting.

Anybody have some good accommodation suggestions for Barcelona? Thinking of going there near the end of next month and haven't been before.

HOTEL: Adagio Hotel
CITY: Barcelona
ADDRESS: Adagio Hotel
Ferran 21
8002

I stayed here. Not overly elegant but it's just off La Ramblas. The street is a bit hectic at night - lots of dealers and prostitutes but you are in the very heart of the city and it's not too expensive.

 

[Mitchum]

Anybody have some good accommodation suggestions for Barcelona? Thinking of going there near the end of next month and haven't been before.

Hostel Opera.
What Nailer said.

 

[hugh]

Squiggle - My advice would be to avoid the environs of the Ramblas like the plague! It's far from the nicest part of the city, it's tourist central during the day, and at night, as Nailer says, it's full of junkies/dealers/prostitutes are you are likely to be robbed (ok I am being slightly alarmist here but I know so many people that have had hassle around there at night). Really there is no reason to stay around there, particularly since Barca has a brilliant transport system and is reasonably compact anyway.

I would suggest trying to find somewhere in

- El Born - other side of the Gothic Quarter from Ramblas. Lots of great bars/restaurants etc. And you are within striking distance of the Champagneria (which you have to go to).

- Barcelonetta - very quiet but walking distance from both the centre of town and the beach. Dunno if there are any hotels there though ....

- Gracia - a bit far out form the centre maybe but it's still only gonna take you half an hour or so and its a deadly area again with lots of stuff to do day and night.

- Eixample - plenty of places to stay here. All the Gaudi stuff is in this area. If you are on the city centre side of it then it's walking distance to centre of town as well

Shit, you really can't go wrong. Just avoid the Ramblas.

 

[Mitchum]

I just presumed getting mugged and harrassed by hookers was all part of Barcelona's charm.

 

[Squiggle]

Thanks Hugh, that's very helpful, much appreciated.

I just presumed getting mugged and harrassed by hookers was all part of Barcelona's charm.

I don't think I'd be harrassed by hookers too much, but I'd just as soon not take the risk.

 

[Mormon Nailer]

I just presumed getting mugged and harrassed by hookers was all part of Barcelona's charm.

Yeah
I never found the area unsafe - just a little lively.

 

[broken arm]

How did this work out? That place looks really interesting.

Anybody have some good accommodation suggestions for Barcelona? Thinking of going there near the end of next month and haven't been before.

well, after camping/travelling through bosnia, slovenia, croatia hassle free and amazing!!! etc. our tent got broken into in Berlin on our first night. All they got was some sterling coins and a few snotty hankies - we don't have much and anything of value is on us. We got off lightly because there was a school tour of polish kids and they had loads of shit.. MP3 players etc robbed off them. The cops were in the campsite but we got home too late to notice all the fuss.

Other than that - it was handy camping in the city, nothing special about the place other than they showed the European cup on the big screen in the outdoor bar and the polish people were buzzers....


as for barcelona, I was there last week for work and I stayed in this place http://www.somniohostels.com - It is a hostel run by two american/canadian ladies. It isn't amazing but it's new and clean. I had a single room (shared shower facilities) and it was €40 a night. It's just off Passieg de Gracia so it's fairly central and mugger free.

It's only new but already has good reviews on tripadvisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...ews-Somnio_Barcelona-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

 

[F. Fred Palakon]

10 days would be just right for a nice san francisco - death valley - las vegas - los angeles drive

Have you done this? Where's the best to fly in/out of?

 

[the strange guy]

I've done this, flew in and out of SF.
Rented a seven seater which could fold the back rows flush with the floor
and the two of us slept in the back.
Some buzz!

 

[F. Fred Palakon]

I've done this, flew in and out of SF.
Rented a seven seater which could fold the back rows flush with the floor
and the two of us slept in the back.
Some buzz!

Tell me more! What route did you go?

 

[the strange guy]

This is a copy & paste from a post I made last year with a few alterations for ya...

I rented a Dodge Caravan for a few weeks with the missus in San Francisco. It was a 7 seater SUV, we got the model where all the rear seats come down flush with the floor. We got an inflatable mattress and slept in the back. Great craic altogether! I don't remember how much it cost but it wasn't cheap, less than $1,500 for three weeks (with full insurance and breakdown assistance which more than doubled the price) but it was well worth it. It only had 1000 miles on the clock.

We drove north to Humboldt, hooked up with some old friends and smoked it up. Nothing like Amsterdam weed though, this shit is rocket fuel and will knock you out for the day with a one skinner.

After that we drove back down south and then across to Yosemite park. I don't remember the camp site we stayed at but it was about a 40 min drive from the 'town' with the shops. That was great fun, barbeque every night, amazing walks and places to swim in total privacy. Highly recommended.

We drove from there to Death Valley which has to be seen to be believed. It was hot hot hot though, pouring water over ourselves in the middle of the night to cool down.

From there we went to Vegas and slept in the Circus Circus car park, right at the top. You wouldn't be able to afford a room with that kind of view EVER, I tells ya. We got snared by a security guard towards the end. We told him that we lived close by with a mate but got hammered the night before and didn't want to be irresponsible and drink and drive. He let us off and shook our hand! Moved to another carpark after that. The parking is free in loads of places in the states.

From there it was an epic drive back to LA. We did the Fear and Loathing route backwards and ended up in Barstow, kip of a town with a KFC straight from the 70s, the people working behind the counter had probably been there since then too.

In LA we parked up in Beverly Hills for the laugh. We were woke up at 5am with the sound of people running towards us and thought we were rumbled but it was actually groups and groups of health nut yanks going for a morning jog. After that we stayed around Venice Beach and the outskirts of Hollywood. Not Hollywood itself which is a kip of giant proportions.

Back to SF and we kipped around Haight and Golden Gate Park, the panhandle. A really worthwhile experience. Though there's some mad road rules they work by in the States. You can turn right on a red light if you're at a crossroads with no pedestrians. Some cars have RED indicators so what you may think is a huge lorry with one brake light out and one blinking on and off is actually indicating to move into your lane thus nearly crushing you in the ensuing confusion. Other than that you'll have a great time!

 

[pete]

Have you done this? Where's the best to fly in/out of?

Aye, Christmas 2006

We flew in to san francisco a week before the christmas. stayed for a few days doing yer touristy stuff - bike the bridge! - then hired a car and made for the pacific coast highway. We stopped in Santa Cruz and Carmel, then stayed in Monterey for the first night.

Drove on down the coast through Big Sur and all that before turning inland at Ragged Point with a view to staying in Bakersfield, but we left it too late and wound up staying in a motel in Lost Hills, which appears to be a very big truckstop and little else.

Next day we drove past Bakersfield and on to our palatial Death Valley accommodations (basically a shed) in Panamint Springs Resort which, although in Death Valley National Park, is FUCKING FREEZING IN DECEMBER. The great location more than made up for the 19th century standards.

Went in to Death Valley proper the next morning and I can confirm that it's fucking awesome. And hot. From there it was on to Vegas. Stopped off in Pahrump (as featured in a few Studio 60 episodes but I can report that it's actually a pretty big town).

Gave back the hire car to Hertz in Vegas, then spent about 5 days of the christmas week in The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. You have to, really.... Christmas dinner was a gourmet veggie burger, then out to see Penn & Teller at the Rio that night. Stephenseses night we went to see Jerry Seinfeld at Caesar's Palace.

Hired another car then left Vegas for LA, which was the longest, most boringest drive of the whole trip. Seriously dull, that one.

Stayed in The Farmer's Daughter hotel - which is right beside the Farmer's Market (and a Chipotle mmmmmm) - for 3 nights then bought a PS3 and flew home.

the end. there's photos from the trip on me flickr.

best advice i can give you is make sure to get GPS in the car.

 

[It Will Never Last]

best advice i can give you is make sure to get GPS in the car.

But also make sure you get a good map, cos satnavs have an awful habit of sending you the quickest route, or the shortest route, but not always the prettiest route.
Also, it's handy to have for if you want to stop off at a few places, as with some satnavs they don't really like you just selecting a town as a waypoint (the one I'm using on this trip makes me pick a street in said town, and sometimes that can bring you off the road to get back on again)

It took me ages to get mine to accept I wanted to drive the entire Cascade Loop drive (350 mile drive east of Seattle) instead it kept sending me on shortcuts.