We booked a holiday for my wife and I and our three kids to Barcelona. We used hotholidays.co.uk to make the booking and I would not use anyone else in future. From the moment we made contact with them, the process from enquiry to booking to departing was excellent. Their staff are extremely knowledgeable and efficient, making the whole process very smooth. Every aspect of the holiday was fantastic and Barcelona is a must visit place. There was plenty of activities for the kids and the city offers so much.

We booked a holiday for my wife and I and our three kids to Barcelona. We used hotholidays.co.uk to make the booking and I would not use anyone else in future. From the moment we made contact with them, the process from enquiry to booking to departing was excellent. Their staff are extremely knowledgeable and efficient, making the whole process very smooth. Every aspect of the holiday was fantastic and Barcelona is a must visit place. There was plenty of activities for the kids and the city offers so much. We will be going back again! Thanks to hotholidays.co.uk

Barcelona is a beautiful city. We stayed in the gothic area which is fairly central & has lots of good restaurants and bars, from the cheap & cheerful to the upmarket expensive.. We mostly walked around the city but public transport is easy to use, especially the metro. As well as the historical sites, the aquarium is worth a visit.

We found Barcelona to be a lovely city with masses to see and do, you really need to plan ahead and research opening days/times etc. to get the most out of your visit.
Decide what you want to do and consider whether you'd get benefit from a Barcelona Card which gives discounted entrance into some museums and free travel on buses/metro.
It also gives free travel from Barcelona airport (but not girona which RyanAir use).

We didn't go for shopping but there did seem to be lots of great shops, mainly along La Rambla and in Barri Gotic.
The modernisme buildings (Gaudi) were stunning, especially Casa Batllo & La Sagrada Familia.

It's very easy to get about on the metro.

The people were very friendly and made an effort to understand us (my hubby was trying out his limited Spanish).

You can pay a lot for food but most of the restaurants do 'Menu del Dia' at lunchtimes, which gives you a (limited) choice of starters, main course and sweet with bread and a drink (in our case 1/2 bottle of wine each). This costs around 9 - 12 euros per person.
Some restaurants do similar for evening, at a higher price.

As it was January and we were only on a city break, we didn't go on the beach but it looked pretty clean considering it was in a city.

We'd definitely visit Barcelona again.

Barcelona, after getting up at 3am and traverling to Luton airport, leaving the car at Alpha Car Storage off airport but only a 5 minute transfer/pick up and no a bad price.
www.alphaparking.com

Our flight was with easyjet ( only half hour delay)but made up the time and were in the airport at Barcelona on time 1 hour 45 minutes flight time we got the Aerobus to Placa de Espianya (first stop)less than €4 each, then made our way to the B hotel just over the road, unpacked and was having a beer just along the the main road Avinguda Gran Via De Les Catalanes on our way to sights around La Rambla's before lunch.

So after lunch we walked to La Rambla (hand on our wallets just incase)about 15 minutes this was a bit of a let down after all we had heard about it, the street was packed with people all just walking about looking at the flower and pet stalls, lots of human statues some very good some poor till we got to the end with the Monument to Christopher Columbus and had a look round the port area, spent an hour or so round here and then went in the Maremagnum for a bit of shopping and tuck our photo useing the mirrows above our heads on the way in.

That night we went to Taverna La Tomaguera, 58 C/Margarit and had a super meal with lots of Rioja.

Day 2, Stayed round the Montjuic area near our hotel, went up the moving stairs passed the Font Magica to the Museum Nacional d'Art de Catalunya very good Museum if you like your art some from as far back as the 12th cetury.
www.mnac.es

Then up to the Estadi Olimpic and then to the Joan Miro Museum, more of your modern art not realy up my street but it was alright.
www.bcn.fjmiro.es

We had hoped to go up to the Castle on the chair lifts but this is not working at the moment (April/May 2006) so we got the road train up to it, the Castle is free to walk round but if you want to see Museum Militar you have to pay.

Had a few more beers just to cool down of coarse and then out again for another nice meal at the Bella Napoli restaurant with a bit more Rioja, 14 C/Margarit.
Day 3 gor the metro to the chuch Sagrada Familia as you do, I must point out we never went in side it as it still just a building site and as a builder I have seen more than my share of scaffolding, but the outside is a must to see, the metro bring you right outside the church and if you walk all the way round it you can see how the old and the new bit are all comming together, it is a must to see.

From here we then went to the old Gothic area with all the old buildings and the Cathedral the inside is great but the front has scaffold round it at this time, also did a bit of shopping and got some nice gear for our summer holidays.
www.catedralbcn.org.

We then went to the Maritim Museum this was my favourite again worth the money, the ticket price also get you in the Schooner Santa Eulalia a old ship by the port.
www.diba.es/mmaritim.

This ended another great day out and with our legs warn out we made our way back to the hotel, we did have a beer or two on the way just to cool down of coarse on the night we went to a restaurant across the road from the hotel but I have forgot its name I did have a super T bone steak in there though and a bit more Rioja just to keep sales up.

Never had time to go on the beach but it did look alright, so would we go back to Barcelona it has got to be yes there is so much more to see so after a few more city's we will be back for some more sites and some Tapas and Rioja.

Transport is very good, the people are great, the food is good, the B-hotel was first class and of coarse the vino tinto is just super.

Hope this is a help,
Dave

Barcelona - A wonderful city. There is so much to see and do. We took the tourist bus and would recommend the orange one which goes from Placa Universitat and you get earphones and commentary in 8 languages - and no queues as there is in Placa Catalunya. The first full day went all the way around (3 hours) to pick the sites we wanted to visit again the following day - buy a 2 day ticket which does not cost a lot more than 1 day. Next day you can revisit and get on and off the bus when you like. Mount Tibidabo is a must - wonderful views across the city and a nice ride on the funicular and tram. Guell park and Gaudi's house is very interesting. Also a lot of other Gaudi designs there and a lovely park to spend time in. Sagrada Familia is another must. The size of it is staggering and all the carvings and statues on all 4 sides. Picasso museum is lovely - we learnt a lot and saw so much more of Picasso's other (normal) work. The food is generally cheap (we used Pans a couple of times for take-away picnics). We don't know about beaches as we did not go to any. Montjuic park also very nice. The Gothic Quarter is very quaint with street performers. The city centre is lovely and clean - the streets get washed every night (hosepipe and brush job) and there is no litter in the centre. The Metro is very easy to use and cheap when you buy a 10 ticket carnet (can be used for 2 people at the same time). There is too much to do and see to recount and we would love to return one day. The best way to see the centre is just to spend some time walking and you'll discover so many more intesting things not mentioned in tourist guides.

Barcelona is a great city to visit. Public transport is cheap (especially if you get a Barcelona card that allows unlimited travel and metro, buses, trains and discounts in lots of places) and very punctual.
I personally didn't like Las Ramblas - it's too touristy and there are beggars. We only walked up the street once and I felt like I had to keep an iron grip on my bag.
We did read to be wary of pickpockets but I found that taking the usual precautions in a big city was enough - wearing your bag crossways, leaving credit cards in the safe, not carrying much money, putting nothing in your pockets etc.
Barcelona was quite clean, and we often saw street cleaners.
There is so much to see and do that every taste is catered for - museums, parks, a beach, lots of lovely squares and pavement cafes. There is a great choice of restaurants.
We also went to the grand prix while we were there. Travel to and from the track can be a bit of a nightmare as Montmelo station is tiny and the exits from the circuit are real bottle necks. If you are considering it, start your journey early as the trains get very busy.

All in all it was a great break, we were there 5 days and didn't get to see everything so we will definiately go back.