Tourism in Barcelona » Useful information

Fiestas de Gracia

Jordi — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:55:28 +0000

For those people visiting or staying in Barcelona during the month of August, there are some nice and interesting activities to enjoy their visit to Barcelona. One of these activities would be the well-known Festes de Gracia.

From mid August and for 9 days, the Gracia area is filled with joy, music and party all the time. Since many many years , streets are decorated by neighbours in search of becoming the most beautiful and attractive street of the whole area. This would be one of the biggest Barcelona traditions.

Gracia Area is located at the north side of Barcelona, at the end of Paseo de Gracia. The closest Metro stations are Fontana (L3 line) and Joanic (L2 line).

This year, and after a difficult decision, Verdi Street was coronated as the best coronated street and it looked like this:

Gracia are not the only ‘Fiestas’ holded in August in Barcelona as when Gracia are ended, ’Fiestas de Sants’ starts. Sants Area can be reached by Metro at stations: Sants Estació (L5 and L3 line) and Plaça de Sants (L5 and L1 lines).

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Is August a good time to visit Barcelona?

Dani — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:59:52 +0000

In my opinion it definitely is, as the city is less crowded so you have more “space” for you to enjoy your vacation.

The main reason for this, is that a large amount of business are closed in August so people are “forced” to take holidays. Locals normally leave Barcelona in August to go to the beach or the mountain so the city gets less crowded, but just to certain extent, don’t think the city gets empty as this is definitely not the case.

Of course some shops and restaurants will be closed but mainly at “local level” in non-touristic areas. City centre and the main tourist attractions will remain open so you will not miss anything.

Of course it is probably the warmest month of the year which could be hard for people coming from the UK or Ireland for example, but it is not as bad as the south of Spain, so just try avoiding outdoor activities during between 12 and 17h and use suncreen products.

For those of you who enjoy the sun, barcelona has several beaches easily accessible using public transport. If you go to the beach, just remember to apply sunscreen at least 20 minutes prior to sun exposure.

Anoter positive thing is that in August there are less queues for restaurants, museums, nightclubs, … so it is easier to get a table in a restaurant or get a taxi to get back to your hotel.

On the down side, sport activities really slow down so you will not be able to watch any F.C. Barcelona game as the football season does not start until the first week of September.

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Free WiFi Internet connection in Barcelona

Dani — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:30:47 +0000

Barcelona City Council has just launched a project to provide free WiFi internet connection in Barcelona. This service is completely free and available to everybody.

This free WiFi Internet access service is limited in terms of time and bandwith, although it depends on the WiFi hotspot you are connected. Once connected you will get a pop-up screen informing you of time (normally 1 hour) and bandwith availability (normally 200Kbits/s).

This free wireless Internet service does not allow access to ethically unacceptable websites such as internet gambling and gaming, pornographic sites, IP telephony, file sharing or videoconferencing.

There are currently 170 WiFi hotspots although there will be 500 all over Barcelona by the end of 2010. Most of the hotspots are located in municipal amenities (libraries, civic centres, sports centres, museums, …). Click here for a list of the different hotspots.

The wireless network name is ‘Barcelona WIFI’ so the easiest option would be to do a refresh on the wireless networks and if you see the network Barcelona WIFI in range, just connect to it.

Click here for further information regarding this service, unfortunately, this information is just available in Spanish or Catalan.

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Flying to Reus with Ryanair

Dani — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:41:49 +0000

If you are travelling to Barcelona with Ryanair, be aware that you are not flying directly to Barcelona airport but to either Reus or Girona which in fact are more than 100km away from Barcelona.

Reus airport is located just 3km from Reus, 13km from Tarragona and 110km to Barcelona.

However, don’t panic as Ryanair in conjunction with Hispano Igualadina organize a direct bus service between Reus Airport and Barcelona (Estació de Sants) so each single Ryanair flight is covered by this bus service. The journey from Reus to Barcelona is 1:30h.

Once you get to Estació de Sants you can use public transport (metro L1 – Sants Estació or taxi) to go wherever you accommodation is.

Click here for further information regarding .

Ticket prices:

One way	€12
Return	€21

* Tickets are paid directly to the driver.

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Summer in Barcelona: What to wear?

Dani — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:09:14 +0000

Summer daytime temperatures can easily reach 30ºC (86ºF) in Barcelona, and humidity could be high as well, making the temperature feel even higher, so you should keep this in mind when packing your suitcase.

Ensure that you take cool, light-weight and loose-fitting clothes (preferably cotton). Take a hat or baseball cap, shorts and sandals, but please do not wear socks when wearing sandals as you will be identified as a tourist from miles away and pickpockets may target you.

Avoid direct sun and ensure that you bring sunglasses and that you use sunscreen products, otherwise you will get burnt.

Finally, remember to drink plenty of water or other fluids.

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Basic Spanish

Jordi — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:43:53 +0000

Are you visiting Barcelona and would like to get understood but you don’t speak Spanish? Do you wish to know a few words in Spanish to move around on your own? If both answers are yes, you have come to the right place.

With only 5 easy lessons you will learn the necessary words to be able to move around not only in Barcelona but anywhere in Spain.

In Barcelona 2 main languages are spoken: Spanish and Catalan. Both of them are pretty similar although they are not not the same, they are two different languages. Those of you that speak Spanish may be able to understand Catalan, to a certain extend of course.

Be aware that although English is taught in schools since an early age, English level is Spain is a pretty poor so it may be able difficult to communicate with the locals so knowing a little bit of Spanish may be very useful.

We hope this information will help you to enjoy your stay in Barcelona.

Lesson 1: Places
Lesson 2: Conversation tips
Lesson 3: Meals
Lesson 4: Asking things
Lesson 5: Useful information

As you probably may find, there are quite a few words that are very similar in English and in Spanish, although the pronunciation varies, others of course are totally different.

Lesson 1: PLACES

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
Hospital	[hos-pi-tl]	Hospital
Bar	[bahr]	Bar
Restaurante	[restau'rante]	Restaurant
Comisaría	[komisa'ria]	Police station
Discoteca	[disko'teka]	Discotheque
Cine	['θine]	Cinema
Museo	[mu'seo]	Museum
Iglesia	[I'lesja]	Church
Catedral	[kate'dral]	Cathedral
Estadio de Futbol	[es'tadjo de 'football]	Football Stadium
Parque	['parke]	Park
Centro Comercial	['θentro komer'θal]	Shopping Center
Centro de Ciudad	['θentro de θju'dad]	City Center
Playa	['plaja]	Beach
Piscina	[pis'θina]	Swimming pool
Montaña	[mon'tanja]	Mountain
Aeropuerto	[aero'pwerto]	Airport
Puerto	['pwerto]	Port

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