10 Things To Consider When Visiting Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona is a splendid city, with long summers, lengthy sandy beaches and a lively bustling atmosphere. Below we look at 10 things to consider when visiting Barcelona.
1. There are two languages used in Barcelona. Catalan and spanish are the two languages of Barcelona and at time you may need to speak both. You can get by in English in the touristy areas but in some places a grasp of some Spanish and some Catalan words are helpful.
2. There are two main football teams in the city of Barcelona. Everyone associates FC Barcelona with the city, but there is also Espanyol and they also play La Liga.
3. Sitges just South of Barcelona is considered to be the most expensive place in Spain. There are many quite amazing properties on the sea-front and none for less than a million or more Euros.
4. Barcelona is only a few hours drive from the South of France. The Languedoc area of France is an easy drive from Barcelona and worth considering for a weekend break in addition to Barcelona.
5. The weather is well documented as being very nice all year round in Barcelona. In the winter months it can still get quite cold though and it can rain a lot in February and March so be prepared.
6. Las Ramblas is the main tourist area and it is very pleasant in that there are a number of impressive street performers. Be careful on Las Ramblas though also for pick-pockets. One of the people to look out for on Las Ramblas performing is the Ronaldinho lookalike who is amazing with his ball juggling.
7. The aquarium next to the port is well worth visiting and also next door is the Barcelona IMAX theatre. This area is also excellent for restaurants and is very close to the beach front.
8. Barcelona is excellent for trying a variety of sports such as ballooning, Karting and a variety of water-sports. There is a huge amount to do in a city of Barcelona's size. The diversity of things you can do is this city is certainly one of its strong points.
9. Another well documented part of Barcelona culture is the fact that Gaudi lived and designed many buildings in Barcelona. There are some excellent Gaudi places to see in this city.
10. You can see bull fighting in the centre of Barcelona, even though bull fighting in normally more popular in more remote parts of Spain.
