Thread: 'On your own' day tour of Barcelona!

Barcelona, Spain- On your own day in Port.
I find Barcelona one of the best cities to just get out and walk or hop the double decker "On and Off tourist bus without a ship tour. It gives you more of an opportunity to get a feel for the City and it's people. We never felt uneasy during our day and though I'd been to Barcelona previously, could be followed by a child. Grab a map of Barcelona before you cruise, it'll give you the layout.

It was a Sunday in Barcelona, which meant many of the stores would be closed. Despite this, many families were out and about. Grabbed a taxi to the bottom of the Las Ramblas metro entrance for appx. 6 Euros. ( The Christopher Columbus statue is there, we visited it on our way back later in the day.) We decided to try the Metro System as there was a marathon being run through town. We found the Metro System to be easy to navigate and cleaner than many.

We headed to the La Sagrada Familia Church to look at one of Gaudi’s largest works. Construction continues today, many years after his death, and the designers are suppose to base the design on his original wishes and ideas. It is a very unusual design. Some of the steeples were topped with fruits, apples and oranges, as well as other Gaudi inspired designs.

We then wandered back to the Metro and went back to the Passeig de Gracia and headed to the Playa de Catalunya to pick up Hard Rock Café tees for the boys. The Passeig de Gracia is where the upscale shops, clothiers and Cartiers are. If you are so inclined, there is some of the most wonderful Gaudi designed homes in this area which are now museums and tourable. We declined to go see them because of my DH's bad knee. (more climbing than he could do)

Although the shops along the Passeig de Gracia and elsewhere in town were closed because it was Sunday, we were able to experience the weekly "Sandistas" dance which takes place every Sunday at noon in front of the Gothic Cathedral in the old part of town (the Barri Gothic). We headed from the Playa de Catalunya a couple blocks thru the Barri Gothic to the Gothic Cathedral to wait to see the local Sandistas dancers. Sure enough as the clock struck noon, the band erupted and older ladies and men, who had changed into their dancing shoes, moments later erupted into a couple very large circles and many other smaller circles and danced and danced. This is a show of unity that the Barcelonians continue weekly as a show of support for Catalan and a Catalonian way of life.

We then stumbled through the old streets of the Barri Gothic to Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a wonderful walking street which although touristy is a must do. Sit and have a coffee or brew at one of the cafes and watch the world pass by. It was filled with people, tourists and families, enjoying their warm and sticky Sunday afternoon. We headed down Las Ramblas pass the Christopher Columbus statue out into the port to the ultra modern and wonderfully designed Ramblas del Mar.

We had a lovely outdoor lunch of tapas at a tapas bar near the Aquarium in the Harbor that was filled with young locals enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon. We ate tapas starting with a Russian salad, and ending with some fish plates. It was a lovely, warm day with a great view of the marina. We then headed through the shopping center and were blessed to find a cab delivering someone to the area. We quickly grabbed it, as Bob’s knee had handled quite enough touring already today.

Back to the ship for a well deserved nap.

WOW! On-Your-Own certainly sounds like the way to do it in Barcelona! Great Pictures!

Question Please: In the past we haven't had a problem exchanging money in the "pre-hotel" or on the cruise ship; but, NOW, friends tell us to at least TAKE some Euros with us. Would appreciate your thoughts on this....

What a fabulous report, LocaLady!
Everyone neecd to read this! I sure would like to get to see Spain some day.
Want to see El Prado, especially ...

Originally Posted by LuLu

WOW! On-Your-Own certainly sounds like the way to do it in Barcelona! Great Pictures!

Question Please: In the past we haven't had a problem exchanging money in the "pre-hotel" or on the cruise ship; but, NOW, friends tell us to at least TAKE some Euros with us. Would appreciate your thoughts on this....

Lulu-
We found it easier ( and less stressful) to take some Euros with us just so we knew that if there were ATM failures (it happens), we could get around a bit. Also many of the more local hotels will give you a discount on your room if you pay in cash. Hotel Santa Maria in Rome offered a 10% discount, saving us 22 Euros a night. As it turned out, we had no problem withdrawing more money in Rome as well as Barcelona.
It is so much easier to travel in the Western Med, generally everyone accepts Euros!! What a pain it used to be for me trying to convert my purchases into Lira, and Francs, etc. to figure out that I wasn't getting taken to the cleaner!

Originally Posted by localady

Lulu-
We found it easier ( and less stressful) to take some Euros with us just so we knew that if there were ATM failures (it happens), we could get around a bit....

Thanks so much for this info! Always wise to consider there could be an IMMEDIATE need for MONEY! .... and, not ours, THEIRS!

I tried to get this to take before -- maybe I will have to break it down into parts.

We have been to Barcelona several times. A couple of our cruises, we over nighted there. One time at the end of a cruise we stayed there for a couple of days before flying home.

I give uo == maybe I can post this some other time when I am n ot having problems with this site.

Giving it another try.

We have been to Barcelona several times. A couple of times our cruise ships over nighted there. One time we stayed there for 3 nights before flying home.
On one of our visits we took an all day tour out to Monsterrat. It is about an hours bus drive from the pier. The monastery is about 5000 feet above the plain. We happen to be there just after fires scorched much of the land. We had to go by tram to get to the top. The church is noted for its Black Madonna which is made from black wood. The church is filled with all kinds of artifacts and statues. There are a couple of tourist shops that sell all kinds of religious icons and post cards. You can go a little farther up the mountain via another tram, but the day we were there is wasn’t working. After touring around the grounds and church we headed a short distance down the mountain were we stopped for lunch at a restaurant with spectacular views of the plains. We had a typical meal of paella, beef, fish, bread, red and white wine.

Another time we took a city tour which included the ruins of the old town. Our tour included stops at Ciudadela’s Park, Montjuic Fountain, the Mila House on the La Pedreda, the Arc Triumf, The Holy Family Church Sagrade Familia, Casa Batllo’, site of the Olympics -- what a view!!

Another time we went out to the Gaudi’s Gardens to the fairytale houses, gardens, and statues.

On one of our cruises, the evening before we got to Barcelona, we warned our table mates about the gypsies here. We explained how they hold open newspapers and pretend that they are reading and praying. They usually travel in groups of 3 and wear long tan dresses. They will try to separate couples and they are very quick at picking pockets and grabbing purses. The one couple didn’t believe us. The next day while we were walking the Estrada, 3 came quickly upon us. We couldn’t get out of their way, but both us raised our arms up and knocked them apart - two of them fell to the ground. We quickly disappeared. That night at dinner, the doubting couple showed up late for dinner. She had a black eye. The gypsies got his wallet and her purse. We didn’t say one thing to them.

hey,Localady and Krazy Kruiser...Thanks so much for the great info.We will be going a day early and staying 2 days after our cruise. Your posts are invaluable and I am going to print them to keep with my files.Great source of information
Thanks again