City Rating: Barcelona
Population: 1’600’000
Date of visit: October 2018
Attractions & sights: 4/5
Nightlife: 4/5
Safety: 3/5
Infrastructure: 4/5
Low budget factor: 3/5
Total: 👍👍👍/5
The city in a nutshell:
Barcelona is a big and lively city with many things to see and do. The city has great food, a good bar scene and I can absolutely understand why many call it their favorite city. I’ve been to Barcelona twice now, and I must admit that it’s not my type of city. For me, everything is too spread out and the city is simply too overrun by tourists.
Where to stay:
You stay ideally in Barrio Gotico or at least near La Rambla (I wouldn’t stay directly in La Rambla though), which is the center of the city. Another option would be taking a hotel at the beach, however, don’t stay too far from the center. W Hotel is definitely a nice choice if money doesn’t matter.
The Good:
Getting bored in Barcelona is impossible, I guess. There are so many things to see and do that you can easily fill three or even four days with sightseeing. You will find churches, parks, landmarks, museums and so on.
Visitors, who are not into sights, don’t have to worry. They can relax on the beach, go swimming, eat tapas in world-class restaurants or have a long night out. Barcelona is also a good city for shopping so that options seem to be endless. And if that is not enough, there is also the possibility to watch one of Europe’s best football teams play in the Camp Nou stadium.
Another big plus is that “Barca” is lively year-round. Many bars make this city also a great stag/hen party destination, which leads to another problem though…
The Bad & The Ugly:
…Barcelona is one of the most touristy cities in Europe. Hordes of tourist make a pilgrimage to the capital of Catalonia and the city gets pretty crowded. This is also a problem for the locals, as living gets more expensive due to the high amount of AirBnB apartments. If you don’t care about other tourists, then you’re good. However, the city was overrun even in mid-October.
Another minus is that Barcelona is sprawling and it takes time to get from one place to another. Rome for example is also spread out, but it’s still worth walking from the Vatican to the Collosseo, as you can see many nice things on your way. It’s different in Barcelona. As soon as you leave the center and head towards Sagrada Familia or Park Güell, you will walk through many ugly districts without anything nice to see on the way.
Another negative thing about Barcelona is the crime-rate. There are a lot of shady people in Barcelona (definitely more than in any other major Spanish city), and petty crime is omnipresent. I heard from many people that they got robbed even during day-time. Things like that happen especially around La Rambla.
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