Barcelona pointers

Barcelona is an awesome city and anyone who visits will enjoy it!

In Barcelona they speak both Spanish and Catalan, and they are two totally different languages (not just a dialect as some people think). Street names and neighborhoods are written/spoken in either Catalan and/or Spanish, and so one may have to use their imagination sometimes to translate between the two.

If you are considering staying in a central location I would try to stay close to Plaza Catalunya or anywhere near Paseo de Gracia "Passeig de Gracia" (in Catalan), or you could consider the following neighborhoods which are cool and great locations: Gracia, Eixample, El Borne (or El Born in Catalan). Wherever you stay, Barcelona is a noisy city and many of the buildings are very old, so soundproofing is not good.

Barcelona is a small city geographically (with 4 million people), and you can probably walk across the city in about 45 minutes - You should pay attention to distances on Google Maps to figure out if you feel close enough / too far away. Also, public transport (subway and busses) in Barcelona is awesome. You should consider using google maps to figure out the public transit when you want to go somewhere.

You should check out AirBnB.com for private apartment rentals - it is a multi-billion dollar company with an incredibly good product that allows people to rent out their private apartments to tourists.

Below are my general recommendations for Barcelona:

Interesting things to see:

• "Sagrada Familia" (a church that they have been building for over 100 years, and that has an amazing architecture) - designed by Gaudi.
• "Parc Guell" - designed by Gaudi, and has some very cool buildings and outdoor areas. Very nice to walk around, and is free to enter.
• Parc de la ciutadella and Arc de Triumf (they are beside each other)
• the beach and the port (port vell) - beside each other
• From Plaza Catalunya Walk down Avinguda del Portal de l'Angel (this will take you to a plaza that has the Cathedral and other cool buildings)
• Continue walking down to the plaza "Ajuntament de Barcelona" (city hall)
• wander around the old neighbourhoods (Barri Gotic, El Raval, El Borne)
• Walk up and down Paseo de Gracia (High-end shopping) and Las Ramblas (although all the guides say how great Las Ramblas is, it is actually pretty disgusting and no Spanish people go there - and there are a lot of thieves and prostitutes on that street),
• Walk up Rambla Catalunya (is a nice street with high-end shopping)
• Consider going up Mont Juic (nice view of the city and the industrial port, as well as a really old fortress on top - I ride my bike up there quite often). You could walk up to the top if you want to go for a "hike".
• Possibly up Tibidabo for a nice view of the city. I used to ride my bike up to the top all the time, and quite often down the back side as well.  
• have a look at "Palau de la musica" (an architecturally impressive concert hall in one of the old neighbourhoods)
• check out the roman ruins near Plaza Jaume 1  (near the "Museo de Historia de la Cuitat de Barcelona")
• Hop-on-hop-off tourist bus is a good way to get an overview of everything and will take you to many of the above sites (it is pretty expensive - don't remember the exact prices, but it might be worth it).
• Another option to consider for getting around is to rent a scooter from Cooltra - it is near Barceloneta beach. https://www.cooltra.com/en/
• Take a day trip to Sitges and have a paella in a restaurant on the beach (is about 45 minutes away by train and is a very nice beach town - very easy to get to). The beach there is very nice, and it is known as a "gay" destination.
• Possibly take a day trip to Girona which is a nice somewhat medieval town about an hour train ride from Barcelona.

A few more pointers.

• People in Spain are very fashion conscious..
• Taxi drivers will drive you in circles if you don't know where you are going (true anywhere in Mediterranean Europe)
• Be *very* careful with your belongings while you are in Barcelona - it has one of the highest pickpocket rates in the world. They have many ingenious techniques to steal from you -- if a stranger talks to you, assume that they are trying to steal something and you will be right 70% of the time.
• I have personally witnessed about 4 or 5 robberies in Spain, and there are hundreds of purse snatchings/pickpockets every day. However, in general the crime is non-violent -- they will steal from you if you are not alert but if you are alert then they will move on to the next tourist.
• People in Spain don't go out to dinner until 9pm. If you try to find restaurants before that time, you will likely only end up in unsatisfactory tourist restaurants.
• Expect to have lunch at around 2pm.
• Bars start to get busy at about 11pm, and nightclubs generally start to pick up at about 2:00 or 3:00 am and are open until 6:00am.
• In Barcelona they Speak Spanish and Catalan. Therefore, sometimes you will see a street name on a map in Spanish, but on the street it may be written in Catalan .. they are similar but not identical (and sometimes totally dis-similar), so if you are confused by some of the names, that will be why.
• Check out the restaurant "Ciutat Comtal" on Gran Via - good Spanish food and not too expensive
• A cool restaurant on the beach is "Salamanca" (not super cheap, but nothing in Barcelona is, in spite of the fact that they are having a massive economic collapse) - you can try a paella or some seafood
• If you want a good burger, check out "Kiosko"
• Check out "The Borne" neighbourhood. A good place to go for some drinks (starting around 10pm) before hitting the late-night places -- lots of tourists there too.
• If you are looking for party spots, "Opium Mar" on the beach is a cool place. As a club that attracts a lot of tourists, this place gets busy earlier than most clubs, (in the summertime it gets packed most nights of the week, and I am not sure what time the lineup starts - be there by 10 or 11). It plays mostly Electronic/European music and is open until 6am.
• I don't suggest that you go to the more spanish (non tourist) clubs, as people in Spain don't speak much english - unless you are fluent in Spanish
• All nightclubs in Barcelona enforce dress codes, which generally means that if you are wearing running shoes or a t-shirt or shorts, that you have no chance of getting in. Always wear black or brown shoes. Don't wear a t-shirt.
• The W hotel on the beach has two bars/clubs that you might want to have a look at (one on the top level, and the other on the 2nd level with a pool)
• People in Barcelona are sick of tourists, so don't expect to interact much with the locals.
• Partying in Barcelona is relatively expensive. Expect to spend 7 euros for a beer or 10 to 14 euros for a mixed drink at the cool late-night spots.  At the bars (ie. places that are busy from 11pm to 2am) the prices will be a bit lower, but not by much.
• Customer service in Spain is not great, and even worse in Barcelona than in the rest of Spain. You are on vacation, so don't get upset when it takes them 15 minutes to take your order and half an hour to bring your food.
• It is not customary or expected to leave tips.. If you have a 50 euro meal, leave maybe 2 or 3 euros .. they don't work for tips or expect them (which is obvious by the bad service that they give).
• There is lots of graffiti on the metal doors that people pull down over their shops when they are closed -- this does not mean that you are in a bad neighbourhood.
• When you go out to eat or to a bar or whatever, don't leave your purse hanging on the back of your chair -- it will likely get stolen if you do this. You will see while you are there that all Spanish women put their purse on their knee while they eat. Barcelona is *not* dangerous at all, but there are many petty crimes. Likewise, keep an eye on your wallet and phone, or anything that might be a target for theft.

Other stuff:

If you are interested in beaches, the beach in Barcelona is very popular, but I personally find that the sand is a bit dirty (it is not a natural beach, and they put the sand there by sucking up the sand/dirt from the bottom of the sea and putting it on the beach).  Definitely is worth checking out, but there are also other nicer beaches that are quite near.

If you want to see a nicer beach that is about a 45 minute train ride away (which costs just a few Euros to get there), it is probably worth checking out Sitges (http://www.sitges-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/getting-to-sitges.html#gettingSitgesBarcelonaTrain) for a  day trip. It is also a nice beach town.  Another option that is a bit close, and that has a nice beach as well is Casteldelfels. You can see train routes and schedules for "local" (cercanias) train service at http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/barcelona/index.html

You are probably aware of this, but if you have an iPhone or Android, and you load the maps while you are in your hotel (or by using any wifi spot) for areas that you are going to be visiting , then you can continue to use the map that you previously loaded (no data connection required at that point), and the GPS will show you where you are on the map, even if you don't have internet access.

Another option is to buy local SIM card and put it into your phone (if it is unlocked).

Another interesting day trip could be to Girona, just to see what a neat midevilish town is like .. and it is less touristy than Barcelona .. in any case, there are many more things to see than you will have time for, so these are just additional options.