Barcelona holiday travel

Located in Spain’s Catalonia this city is in constant competition with its rival Madrid. It is a fusion of many things. Medieval buildings, interspersed with stunning Antonio Gaudi architecture, beaches and fantastic viewpoints overlooking the sea.

Where to stay – hotels

Barcelona hotels are amongst the most amazing in Europe. Being a large city that attracts tourists there are hotels to suit all tastes and budgets. Many of these hotels also have some of the city’s finest restaurants. An excellent resource for Barcelona Hotels is DirectRooms; please try their easy to use, comprehensive web site.

Hotels in Barcelona go from the generic to the truly unique. Baroque, minimalist chic, jazz and green themes are all available in amongst Barcelona’s winding streets of Las Ramblas and beyond. Visit the following site for hotels in Barcelona.

For less flamboyant surroundings try one of the many cheaper hotels and guest houses that are actually called ‘hostals’. For information on Barcelona based hotels go online.

What to do

A popular destination with tourists is Barcelona’s Las Ramblas. It is a busy district of buskers, street cafes, windy streets and old buildings.

The works of Gaudi and Picasso both give this city a surreal feel. Find out more about Picasso at the Museu Picasso while there are many walking tours that celebrate the unique style of local architect Antonio Gaudi.

Other popular destinations include the Zoo and the L’Aquarium which happens to be the largest aquarium in Europe. The Olympic Port (Port Olímpic) was developed for the 1992 Olympic Games and is a great place to go shopping or to sample some of the local wines and tapas.

The beach is also a favourite destination. The closest to town is Platja de Sant Sebastià with play areas for children it is a great place just to relax under the palm trees.

What to see – by car hire

Catalonia is home to stunning mountain ranges, beautiful coastline and small traditional villages where the pace of life is still slow. Hiring a car is the ideal way to explore outside of the urban metropolis. Click for Barcelona hire car bookings.

Hire a car and visit Tibidabo. Reach the summit by a lift that rises 115m into the clouds. Besides an amusement park to entertain there are also amazing views of Barcelona down below.

Renting a Bacelona hire car is also a good way to get to places like Monestir de Montserrat, situated about 40 miles from the city. It has been a pilgrimage destination since the 11th century and still attracts large crowds today. Its ancient hermitage caves set amongst craggy rock formations give this site a truly mystical feel.

For those impressed with the Gaudi architecture in then Parc Güell will also be of interest. This place, with awe inspiring forests of stone columns, mosaic floors and generally surreal design was the place where Gaudi lived the final years of his life.