Barcelona never disappoints

By Loren in Barcelona

Book holidays at the last minute is never a good option if you want to save… Even so, if you are running out of time and have lost the opportunity of getting a good discount in your hotel by earlybooking, there are always destinations that, whatever the time of the year, combine a complete leisure and rest offer with more than affordable prices, both in transportation and accommodation. This is the case, for example, of Barcelona.

Barcelona never disappoints when you plan to organise holidays without room for budgetary manoeuvre. The Catalonian capital has a so wide variety of proposals that is ideal for all kinds of travellers, there converge the most multifarious motivations: seeing a certain exhibition, attending  a music festival or a special concert, having a party weekend with friends, going with the children to PortAventura…

Hotel rooms in Barcelona

Hotel rooms in Barcelona

Barcelona, besides its infinite plans offer for all tastes and ages, has the advantage of offering good connections and accommodations that, despite not being the cheapest, provide a very interesting price-quality relation, in particular, as regards hotels in the centre of Barcelona, where the competition is ferocious, making the hotels in Ramblas and Ciutat Vella to offer really attractive discounts.

Choosing your coast opens up a world of possibilities. Beach hotels in Pineda de Mar, Calella or Santa Susanna are good and cheap accommodation options in Barcelona that, besides offering access to the best beaches for family holidays, boast complete services at surprising prices. The ideal transport would be by own car or you can travel to Barcelona by plane and rent a car there.

These coastal towns are perfect for escaping and getting lost in the most sea-essence of Barcelona, where tradition, cuisine and beach are the main figures. If you travel with children, booking a hotel in Calella, for example, is one of the best options, since it is quieter than the city and offers very varied out of doors leisure possibilities.

2014 destinations in the Barcelona coast

By Luke Durden in Barcelona

Barcelona is much more than an avant-garde city. The province hides one of the most welcoming Spanish coasts, where you can find charming towns inviting you to leave the worries behind and live like in the olden days: peace, safety and good food. Barcelona coast is full of destinations waiting for being rediscovered this 2014: Pineda de Mar, Calella, Santa Susanna…

Many of these coastal towns have succumbed to the urban development and overbuilding but, even so, most of the people keep its image of holiday place where everything happens with the typical calm and tradition of an old small fishing town. One of the most tourist ones is Calella, where hotel and restaurants industry has grown so much that it is difficult to choose where to stay or eat without thinking for a long moment.

Hotel Fergus Montemar

Hotel Fergus Montemar

Hotels in Calella are not, nevertheless, big and overcrowded tourist ships, but rather homely enclaves receiving each year the usual holidaymakers with their families, friends and acquaintances that come to enjoy the sun at the edge of the Mediterranean. It is true that between all of them there is a big foreign community in love with this coast and other ones that have simply arrived as if by chance. All this mixed give rise to an entertaining and extraordinary ensemble where time has a different rhythm from that of the other cities.

Santa Susana is another worthwhile great destination in this Barcelona-Maresme coast, specially if you are considering a trip with family or a sports getaway with you friends: it is one of the best places for enjoying the Catalan coast, since it offers the best and most varied out of doors activities. Even hotels in Santa Susana are specialised and offer specific services for sportsmen as well as a wide range of plans to enjoy with you children.

Hotel Fergus Mar Mediterranea

Hotel Fergus Mar Mediterranea

Between Calella and Santa Susanna you will find another wonderful destination in this Barcelona coast, it is Pineda de Mar, another town standing out by its nearness to the Montnegre Natural Park an its incredible peace. Hotels in Pineda form a great first class residential area, where calm, homely atmosphere and nature mix to form one of the most important long term holiday places of Catalonia: spending a month of holiday in Pineda is an excellent balm against stress.

The high-quality accommodations and services are common in this tourism areas, and prices are, contrary to what may be thought, much more affordable than in other destinations that have become prohibitive because of the fads or specific events.  Sometimes, changing or improvising is the best way of discovering pleasant surprises in a trip.

The revolution of El Raval, Barcelona

By Esther in Barcelona

El Raval neighbourhood in Barcelona has been a forgotten place until very recently, a historic place in the suburbs known for years as “Barrio Chino” and that now -specially its upper part- has become the in style neighbourhood of the city. It is a multiethnic area which keeps the charm of the old things and a meeting place for those who lead the cultural vanguardism in Barcelona.

The advantage of this place is that what used to be the suburbs of the city has now moved to the heart of it: El Raval delimits with the Gothic neighbourhood through La Rambla and with the area of Pelai street. The famous La Boquería Market is part of its network of streets and, in fact, a good example of the bustling and colourful character of the neighbourhood.

Accommodation in Barcelona

Accommodation in Barcelona

El Raval belongs to the old city district and here the traveller will find pleasant terraces, tapas bars with an atmosphere typical from Barcelona and restaurants with worldly cuisines. One of the essential elements in the neighbourhood’s renovation has been the construction of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA) in the area.

Surrounding this institution, the University and many other firms that have invested in the area, we can find all type of businesses which have created an innovative and dynamic scheme, where traditional firms come hand-in-hand with modern firms from technological or design sectors.

Many hotel chains have also responded to the call of this revolution, inaugurating hotels of vanguardist design, accommodations specially designed for young clients, between 25 and 45, preferably for trips as a couple to Barcelona, trips with friends or business trips.

Hotel in Barcelona

Hotel in Barcelona

A good example of the adaptation of these hotels to the new reality of El Raval is the Barceló Raval, located in the Rambla of El Raval, with a 360º terrace on the roof which offers stunning views of this area of the centre of Barcelona.

The Abba Rambla, the Milenni Hotel, the Be Sound Hostel… And close to them, although outside the neighbourhood, we find some hotels of the Basque chain Petit Palace, such as the Petit Palace Boquería.