Barrio Guide

I’m sure I’ll edit this more later, but here goes the first draft.

All the places below I’ve visited, experienced and very much enjoyed. Ultimate favorites I’ve starred.

Also, some of these places might not be under the neighborhood they’re technically in, but that’s how they are in my head. You’ll find them, anyway.

From the mountains to the ocean…

Barceloneta: The beachy babe

Sights: The beach, Catalunya History Museum, Columbus Statue, Miro Statue, the Port Olimpic waterfront (near the Hotel Arts), End of Las Ramblas (Maremagnum - tons of stuff at the mall and around it) and the ports.

Eats: Champagneria*, Paella and Sangria in any random place lining the street near the Barceloneta metro stop, Buenas Migas along the beach for cheap, good cafe-type food, Cafe La Miranda on the top floor of the Catalan History Museum (don’t have to pay museum entrance to go). Tons of gorgeous expensive restaurants a little out of my price range.

Drinks: Drinks on the beach (ie Princesa 23 on the beach), Cafe con leche at UPF

Outs: Catwalk, Shoko, Opium, Carpe Diem Lounge Club (the last three have terraces on the beach…gorgeous at night)

Recs: Eat at the cafe on the top floor of the Catalunya History museum. Listen to live music under the palm trees outside the Catalunya History Museum. Prepare to be jostled at Champagneria. Walk along the beachfront to take it all in. Sit near the harbor and take it all in. Look out at the wide Mediterranean and take it all in. And beware a heavily tattooed exhibitionist/naked man.

Barrio Gotico: The old, cultured, attention-lover

Sights: Las Ramblas, Museo de la Historia de la Ciudad, Roman Pillars, Plaza Jaume (the Ajuntamiento and Generalitat), Plaza Reial, Plaza George Orwell, heck, as many plazas as possible! Catedral (the area outside of it is always lively), Museu Fredric Mares (not a must-see but the plaza it encompasses is), La Boqueria, Papabubble for caramels, sweets and the smell.

Eats: Bar Pinoxto in the Boqueria, Clasic Gotico (once Picasso’s studio), Bilbao for Gallego-style pay-per-toothpick montaditos, Maoz for killer falafel, Wok to Wok for killer stir fry (to go), Bagel Shop (owned by Canadians, only bagel place in Barcelona), Venus Cafe, Cafe de la Academia, Can Culleretes (oldest in Barcelona), Els Quatre Gats (lunch is the best deal; touristy but at least worth seeing), Vinateria del Call, Crema Canela, Milk, Bo de B

Drinks: La Granja* for countless types of chocolate caliente (must-try!), Clandestina is another great cafe; the pubs across from Plaza Reial if you feel like hearing English/Irish accents, Bosc de Les Fades, which is part of the Wax Museum, tons of bars with places I can’t remember because there are so many and they’re all funky/adorable/fun. Try anything in the Avinyo/Ample/Plata streets area or just wander and walk in.

Outs: Jamboree (jazz Mondays), Karma and the other Plaza Reial spots. (This neighborhood is more bar-heavy than club focused. Go bar hopping or just pick one and chill because seriously I love all the ones I’ve randomly been to.)

Streets: Princesa/Jaume/Ferran, Avinyo and everything around it, Portal del Angel (great shopping), Lledo and what it becomes farther down (cafes, cheese maker, art galleries, hipster souvenir shops and stores - same goes for Avinyo)

Recs: Get gelato…pretty much anywhere that looks good. Throw yourself down any and all of the small, windy sidestreets and know that you’ll probably come out at some place you recognize at some point (plus the city posts these handy map/guides at critical points). Just do it; you’ll love it. Find a small, authentic-looking place to eat and I can guarantee it will be delicious. See all of La Boqueria; pick up some fruit, fish or bread. Whatever looks good. Find the little plazas which pretty much requires turning anywhere. Sit in Plaza Reial (ideally with Maoz, which is right across Ferran) and soak up the sun. Stop by Maoz between 2:30 and 3 a.m. (when out, of course), which is their closing time. The staff is often high at this point and tosses free falafel and fries at you. Watch your stuff, especially on Las Ramblas if you’re watching some street statues, performance, whatever. Don’t eat on Las Ramblas - tourist traps. Don’t stay on Las Ramblas exclusively either, please! The best streets in this area are the ones between Portal del Angel and Las Ramblas. Sightsee essentially for free.

There’s a saying in Spanish that translates something like, “Barcelona is a great city if you have money. Barcelona is a great city if you don’t have money.” So true.

Born

Sights: Picasso Museum, Design Museum across the street, Palau de la Musica Catalana (even if you just see the outside, it’s worth it), Santa Maria Basilica del Mar, Parc de la Ciutadella, Arc de Triomf and the strip/park below it, the Convent on Comerc (formerly…now more of a civic center, always with cool stuff happening)

Eats: Pizza del Born, Crepes del Born, Itztil (both for fast-er/cheap-er food), Comerc 24 (major splurge, a culinary experience), La Paradeta* for the best seafood I’ve had in BCN, El Xampanyet* for homemade cava and delicious tapas, Sagardi, Xocolat (trendy chocolate), Taller de Tapas, Sandwich and Friends (illustrated by Jordi Labanda, a favorite local designer), La Fianna, La Bascula for vegetarian delights, Textil Cafe for great food and location, Bocamel to pick up some of their melt-in-your-mouth turron (a typical Catalan treat). Like Barrio Gotico, find somewhere cute, small, authentic-looking and it will be good.

Drinks: Since Born and Barrio Gotico blend together, the same logic holds for the bars. Passeig de Born is a good place to start, then try the streets off it. Princesa 23 is also a nice intro with good drink deals. I can’t even begin to name all the adorable places there are.

Outs: Not really any clubs here; highly recommend the bar scene.

Streets: Passeig de Born, Montcada, Carders

Recs: The area around the church is wonderful; some of my favorite wandering streets. ALSO, great place to find cute, cheap scarves.

Eixample The classy, calm, residential, (probably Catalan-speaking) monied local.

Sights: Gaudi’s handiwork: Casa Mila, Casa Battlo, Sagrada Familia, La Manzana de la Discordia (three houses on the same block - including Casa Battlo - from three leading Modernist architects), Plaza Catalunya, Fundacio de Antoni Tapes, University Gardens, Hospital Sant Creu

Eats: Ceveceria Catalana* (the hostess and I are muy amigas), Ciutat Comtal is also under the same owner and is similar in options and deliciousness, Bodegueta, Paul for some gourmet bocadillos, Trobador, La Rita. (Eixample has a ton of - I’m sure delicious - expensive restaurants mixed in with tiny, local places. All worth a try.)

Drinks: Chupitos (obviously), Dry Martini

Outs: Sutton***, Ribelinos, Roxy, City Hall, Mojitos, La Fira, Lotus Lounge, tons of places up and down Diagonal, Arena for a hetero-friendly gay scene (includes a ton of clubs…def. fun). Eixample is definitely big on the discotecas.

Streets: Passeig de Gracia, Rambla de Catalunya (is not Las Ramblas), Diagonal

Recs: Sagrada Familia can be appreciated just as much from the outside, Casa Mila/La Pedrera is so worth paying to go to the roof. Even if you can’t afford the shopping, just windowshop; the stores are all slightly below street level and most do a great job with their window displays. Sutton doesn’t really get going until 3; it’s the choice discoteca of many locals and definitely an experience. Oh, and Plaza Catalunya is where the world converges.

Gracia The level-headed Catalan with natural charm who never tries too hard

Sights: Very residential so not too many must-see tourist spots, but definitely wander between plazas (Plaza del Diamante, Plaza del Sol, etc.) to absorb the relaxed local feel. There is a Domench i Montaner-designed building (now a hotel)…

Eats: Haven’t eaten here often (it’s a little farther from me…), but Flash Flash is fun.

Drinks: Bars around Plaza del Sol, places I don’t remember. I know a lot of people who are diehard Gracia bar-scene people, probably because of its relaxed, local feel.

Outs: Otto Zutz

Recs: Gracia is a great neighborhood to get away to, so to speak, that isn’t impossible to get to.

Montjuic The aesthetic escapist

Sights: Plaza Espanya, Fundacio Joan Miro, Refugio 307, the gardens on Montjuic, Olympic leftovers, Font de Montjuic - fountain shows every Friday, I believe.

Recs: Walk around Montjuic as much as possible. Gorgeous views, serenity and an almost on-top-of-the-world feeling.

Raval The hip, gritty friend, always in the know

Sights: MACBA and the Placa dels Angels* (good contemporary art and constant skater practices in session), the cathedral and free MACBA mini-exhibit in the Plaza, too, CCCB and its events, Rambla de Raval and the cat statue, Elisabets Street and the PLaca de Vicenc Martorell

Eats: Zarabanda, Pla dels Angels* (best/cheapest Menu del Dia), Elisabets, Dos Trece*, Restaurante H Original

Drinks: Perhaps the best bars/bar scene in the city. Some people in my program have become Raval bar experts. Favorites include: Oveja Negra*, Senses (2 for 1!), Dos Trece (downstairs, hookah, too), Betty Ford’s Bar Aurora, Rouge, Ambar, Bar Raval, Marsella (absinthe bar Gaudi and Picasso visited…kind of shady street so group-trek), Le Petit Apolo for taps on the tables

Outs: Sala Apolo*, Les Enfants (very Spanish), Fellini, Moog* (tiny, electro, fun)

Recs: Raval repulses and attracts at the same time. I went out here my first night in BCN then wrote it off for a while, only since to be pulled back in. Place del Angels is one of my favorite spots in the city, and Elisabets, Carme, all of those - some of my favorite streets. Travel with a group (ideally with at least one guy) at night, but go - many, many times. It’s artsy, hipster, grungy, up-and-coming, run-down and alive all at once.

Elsewhere because some of the best places merit a little hike

Sights: Parc Guell***, Tibidabo*** (cathedral, amusement park, sweeping views of the city), Camp Nou for an FC Barcelona game

Drinks: Pippermint’s for drinks the size of your torsoe, Mirablau* on Tibidabo

Outs: Mirablau can also be a dance-crazy night spot (but seems to be more of a drinks location), Mirabeye* (also on Mirablau, both are two of my absolute favorites), Razmatazz for a warehouse of a club (always pay a cover: boo, tons of concerts: plus; it’s also not that far from where I currently live…Marina metro stop), Elephant for a converted mansion night experience, Discotheque to feel like a true clubber, Bikini* for a Latin room, huge space for house music and one of my favorite nights in Barce

Recs: Go to the farther-away places on Saturday nights when the metro runs 24 hours. Take the T2 Tibidabo bus from Plaza Catalunya for the easiest way to get to the top of Tibidabo (and eliminates the chance that the Funicular isn’t running), same for the 24 bus direction Carmel that takes you right to the entrance of Parc Guell. Some of my best memories are from Tibidabo - the nightspots, sights, rides, cathedral…Go.

Worth-it Day Trips

Shopping Recs

Last-minute Advice

Don’t pay to get into clubs. I have a theory that a list for every place can be found somewhere, somehow…try Facebook, guestlistbcn.com, clubzone.es…Oh, and call before going to clubs you’re not positive are open because some are summer-only. And look at restaurants’ hours online before going - make reservations on the weekends. (Stop by or add some $ on Skype!) Don’t be afraid to try squid tapas, or any tapas for that matter. Learn to love coffee if you don’t already. Always remember the Menu del Dia is the best deal. Ever. Just because it’s a narrow, dark street doesn’t mean it’s shady, or dangerous for that matter. Trust your instincts, of course, but it’s really just old. Find plazas, big and small, because they’re the center of whatever little universe they’re in and usually have great restaurants, cafes, gelato, bars, etc. bordering them or nearby, as well as gorgeous old churches.

Wander, observe and discover - everything has so much character and life. That’s really the best advice anyone could give about this city.

Dec 20 2008

Text