Holiday in Barcelona

Welcome to Holiday in Barcelona

Are you looking for a holiday in Barcelona? Barcelona can offer a history that ranges from Wilfred the Hairy, a Roman walled city, Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia  to the modern city that retains its charm and appeal with beautiful beaches, cafes, restaurants, shopping and sightseeing possibilities and modern architecture to compliment the old.  All this in beautiful sunshine.  Barcelona is the ideal place for a short break, city break, as a base for exploring Catalunya and even for a family holiday. More and more people are coming to Barcelona because Barcelona is proud of what it has achieved and works hard to preserve it's character, a great feat it acheives by balancing the interests of the residents with those of the visitors.  In fact, people come to Barcelona from all over the world helping to build the unique atmosphere (and explaining why there is so much designer shopping in Barcelona).

You have to visit Barcelona for your holiday.  There are pages and pages of descriptions on the Internet extolling the virtues of The Rambla (now described as Spain´s most famous street), Parc Guell, the miles of beaches, Gaudi and the other Modernist architecture (including of course the Sagrada Familia), the Picasso Museum, eating Tapas in the streets and squares (like Placa Reial), drinking Cava, glorious Mediterranean weather and of course the transformation of Barcelona since the Olympics were staged here in 1992 and which has left the legacy of the Olympic Stadium, a great and inexpensive Metro system and a rejuvenated beach that stretches for miles. But it’s nothing like being in the real Barcelona.  Smelling, the smells, catching glimpes of fascinating history and culture, tasting the tastes, almost feeling the incredible Barcelona light is the only way to do it.

When you arrive at your Barcelona Flats holiday apartment our staff, who all live permanently in Barcelona,  will give you information that you won’t easily find on the internet.  Whether it is gourmet seafood restaurants, Catalan cuisine, shopping in the many small Barcelona boutiques, especially the one´s around your apartment in the Borne,  to the location of the Chocolate Museum, our Barcelona Flats staff will be able to give you the insider’s view of Barcelona.  We will give you a list of the do’s and don’ts to ensure that you get the most from your holiday. Simple things such as "walk on the shady side of the street" will make your trip here much more enjoyable. 

 How to book your Holiday in Barcelona

If you would like to book self a flat or appartment in Barcelona, we recommend Barcelona Flats

 

 

	Here is a selection of our holiday apartments for rent in Barcelona.  Point at the picture to find the number of holiday apartment bedrooms and to view more accommodation details.  Double click on the picture of the holiday apartment in Barcelona to go straight to rent apartment.

There are many fiestas, festivals and festa mejors in Barcelona and the surrounding areas.  If you would like to be kept up to date with forthcoming events in Barcelona and the surrounding area send an email to Barcelona Flats at info@barcelonaflats.co.uk and we will send you our regular "Barcelona Briefing" listing events and often featuring a look at something special about Barcelona.  An example of this something special is the Gracia Festa Mejor.  Gracia is a barrio (district) in Barcelona which is predominately residential.  For the festa mejor, Gracia streets are elaborately decorated, there are special street events, much free music in the placas or squares and a very great party spirit.  During the festa there is a parade of drummers, a really atmospheric event, as this happens in old and narrow streets.  In the same streets the Correfoc takes place.  Literally translated this is a 'run of fire' and that is excactly what it is, with devils running through the streets with whirling, whizzing fireworks spraying onlookers with sparks and each firework finishing with a thundering bang.  The devils are accompanied by dragons that spit fire and have also been cleverly designed to disgourge their own array of sparks and bangs.  You are unlikely to have seen such a splendid display of fireworks so close up - without doubt it would be banned in Northern Europe and America.  But if you are in the main, typical, tourist  areas when you come to Barcelona you would miss this spectacle too.  Whilst only just a little way from the main tourist areas in Barcelona this is mainly a local event and so not actively promoted.  At Barcelona Flats, we can tell you when and where the Gracia Festa Mejor is in progress. 

As our staff are experienced they can often give you direction for whatever your request, no matter how quirky.  

But did you know?!!......  in Barcelona

The biggest attraction is the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s unfinished masterpiece. 
Camp Nou, Barcelona FC´s stadium, is in the top 5 visitor attractions in Barcelona.  

There are 72 cheap flights to Barcelona from the UK a day.
       
There are over 10,000 taxis in Barcelona.

There are numerous hotels in Barcelona but we are all waiting for the new Barcelona Sail, a copy of the sail hotel in Dubai. 

The number of holiday apartments in Barcelona rentals is still increasing and it is believed that there are over 6000 holiday apartments. More and more people are opting for the greater flexibility of holiday apartment rentals over hotels.  With the massive choice of food for all budgets in Barcelona, people with an apartment rental don’t have to worry about cooking while they are enjoying their short break in Barcelona.

You get a 2 for the price of 1 holiday in Barcelona.  The city drifts lazily down to the beach meaning you get a two centre holiday in one. As Barcelona is built on a gentle slope it is even easy to walk from the city to the beach and back. Barcelona Flats holidays flats and apartments are perfect for both the beach and Barcelona city.

Bicing is the name given to the remarkably successful bike scheme introduced this year.  Strategically placed computer controlled parking points for cycles have been placed around the centre of Barcelona, allowing people to pick up a bike at one point and drop it off at another, close to their destination.  Some 85,000 people have now joined the scheme and you cannot miss the red and white Bicing bikes (Not all 85,000 get on a bike at the same time).  Yes, we at Barcelona Flats are fans of Bicing.

Woody Allen has been seen walking around Barcelona during the filming of his new film with Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, provisionally named the Spanish  Project.  (updated 28th Septemeber 2007 - "Midnight in Barcelona Spain" looks like being the new title). The baseball cap he wears should have been enough to identify him but in fact it gave him the anonymity he wanted to wander the streets and squares on his own.  The film is due for release 19th September 2008.

Barcelona is set to become the most used place for commuting to London, according to a UK study by Future Trends, ahead of Tallinn in Estonia and northern France.  Most people work remotely for part of the week in the glorious sunshine, watching Ronaldinho playing unbelievable football (and perhaps even having a drink with him in the local bar), working out their next presentation whilst sat on the beach, taking a little cava and tapas, enjoying the fiestas with the remarkable firework displays etc etc….   OK we are biased.  We at Barcelona Flats think it is much better here than Tallinn or northern France.

The new AVE Train service from Madrid, via Barcelona to Paris is going right under the Sagarda Familia.  A statement of confidence in the engineers building the tunnels is that is being built under the whole of Barcelona including the cities most famous landmark and biggest tourist attraction, the Sagrada Familia.

 El Prat and Girona airports are doubling in size.  Barcelona Flats understands that there are now 30 million visitors a year to Barcelona.  At the Queen's birthday celebration the British Ambasador (from Madrid) informed us there were 6.7 Million British visitors a year.  Many were coming on short breaks to Barcelona, but in our experience at Barcelona Flats, many of these people are people who have come once, enjoyed it so much that they have come back again.  At Barcelona Flats we know of one couple, with the great excuse of having a brother here in Barcelona, who have visited seven times alone this year.  Just the sort of people Barcelona Flats like!!

Did you know that the statue of Christopher Columbus, at the bottom of the Rambla, was designed to show Columbus pointing to America. When the statue was being built it was realised that if he pointed towards America from his position at the bottom of the Rambla, he would be pointing not only towards America but also Madrid.  Due to the animosity between the Castellans and the Catalans the column was turned so that Columbus points out to see.  Did you also know that you have this view of Christopher Columbus by walking out your Barcelona Flats apartment or flat just one street and this is your view.

 

 

 

Barcelona consists of two parts.  The old part, including the Roman walled city called Barcino, is a hickledy pickeldey patchwork of interlocking streets.  A good street map is essential, on a short break in Barcelona you will never find your way around without one. This district is known as the Barri Gotic and includes the Picasso Museum, The Dali Museum, the Cathedral, the Chocolate factory and El Borne and many of the holiday apartments to rent in Barcelona.  The other part is a piece of complete  town planning called the Example.  When Barcelona was allowed to expand by Madrid they devised a grand city plan based upon a grid.  It is user friendly having Tibidabo on a hill behind Barcelona as a great reference point wherever you are in the Eixample.  Streets are known as up the hill ( although it is only a gentle slope) or across the hill. When arranging to meet Catalans and those of us who live here will arrange to meet "Mountain side or sea side" of a crossroads.  Magnificent Architecture is everywhere in Barcelona but there is a feature throughout the Eixample which is most unusual.  All the crossing points between two streets have their corners chamfered or cut off.  This makes for open and light streets and an interesting feature of the city.  Look at the Google Map of Barcelona.  From this shot you will be able to see both the old town and the Eixample and even the old port.  You can see the difference in town planning between the Barri Gotic and the Eixample.  If you zoom in you can see Plaza Catalunya, Paseo de Gracia, and even the cut off corners of the Eixample.  Remember to come back to www.barcelonaflats.co.uk to rent a holiday flat in Barcelona or a holiday apartment.

Just outside of Barcelona is the monastery of Montserrat (below).  A famous pilgrimage location because of the Black Madonna it is also a must see tourist attraction because of it´s stunning location, history  and views.  Rising some 3000 ft above sea level it is a prominent feature of the Catalunya countryside and can be seen for miles around. It is also very simple to get to without a car.  Take the train from Placa Espanya to the station Aire Montserrat.  Leave the train and catch a cable car  and you will be rewarded with a spectacular journey across the river and up the mountainside to the Montserrat monastery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down the coast from Barcelona and an easy journey by train is Tarragona and a little further still the mini Barcelona, the city of Valencia.  Valencia is now famous for the America´s Cup and it´s bid for a Formula 1 street race to rival Monaco.  However, both Tarragona and Valencia are steeped in history and have much to interest the amateur historian especially from the Roman period.   Up the coast from Barcelona, in the Costa Brava are some beautiful coves with beaches.  Crystal clear blue waters make this a perfect area for snorkelling and there are many diving centres (Sub aqua) on this part of the coast.  Iles de Medes are a Spanish underwater national park with some of the best diving in the Mediterranean.  

In land in the Costa Brava is the town of Girona, with an old town, cathederal and what was once a thriving Jewish quarter.   Figureres is a little further up the AP7 motorway and is home to the Dali museum and it´s own Rambla. 

Girona and Figureres are accessable by train.  The Costa Brava coast is a nice day trip but you will need to do this trip by car.

How to book your Holiday in Barcelona

If you would like to book self a flat or appartment in Barcelona, we recommend Barcelona Flats

 

	Here is a selection of our holiday apartments for rent in Barcelona.  Point at the picture to find the number of holiday apartment bedrooms and to view more accommodation details.  Double click on the picture of the holiday apartment in Barcelona to go straight to rent apartment.