In Barcelona now- bars, nightlife, restaurants?

figroll

Hi Folks,

I'm here in Barcelona with my husband, sisters and Dad and we had our first night out in Barcelona lastnight and we found ourselves a bit stumped on where to go. Does anyone know or could anyone suggest a good bar to go to (Irish bar maybe with some music to keep Dad happy) and maybe areas in general. We're staying in Eixample but we're still fairly central.

Help is appreciated cause we found ourselves walking around Las Ramblas being totally paranoid about pickpockets at 1am lastnight and i don't really want a replay of that. I just want to decide on where to go and stay there!

Thanks so much!

Figroll

biko

Head down to the Born area, lots of nice places there and even an Irish place (not very good mind). From there walk down towards the beach. Ramblas is ok but not the best Barcelona has to offer.
Barcelona Zoo is great. It's in Parc de la Ciudadela, enter from Carrer de Wellington, southern end or from PcD.


PdC is worth a visit in itself, just hanging around eating ice cream and people watching.

Tadhg17

I didnt like Las Ramblas as it was quite seedy at night time and full of tourists. I stayed in the Gracia neightbourhood, just north of Placa Catalunya on the green metro line. Get off at Fontana metro stop and walk to Placa del Sol. It is full of Catalans and some nice restaurants, cafes and bars open late. It is a really relaxed vibe and there are hardly any tourists there. Everybody we met was really cool there and really liked the neighbourhood. Link here on Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.401568,2.156796&spn=0.007854,0.013797&z=16

Placa del viernes has some nice bars too in Gracia but not as many as Placa del Sol. There are some nice bars and restaurants on Carrer del torrent de l'Olla as well in Gracia.

Born is a nice area for bars as well though I would'nt knew it too well. Plaza Real off Las Ramblas is really nice as well.

Here is what a basque friend of mine who lived in Barcelona for many years recommended. He recommends Gracia. Enjoy:


Going out in Barcelona, do not go to Maremagnum (full of European and American tourists who don’t know the city) and do not go to Puerto Olimpico (full of Latin Americans who can be sometimes bad people).
I would recommend you to go to Port Vell (Catalan) / Puerto Viejo (Spanish), where there’s a ship (boat) which is a bar. Very close to here it’s El Born, where you can have a drink relaxed. In El Born there’s a bar called “Mirame Lindo”, where you can drink “mojito”, which is a Caribbean sweet drink with rum. Off El Born and off Princesa street a very nice Latin American bar "Upiaywasi" (Allada-Vermell, 11).

Also you should go to Plaza Real (off Las Ramblas, not far from Port Vell and El Born) to a pub called “Pipa Club”, where you can play pool. The address is Plaza Real, 3. It's in the 1st floor. You must ring the buzzer, they'll open the door, you enter the building and go upstairs. It's hidden, but if you find it, you'll like it.

And la Xampanyeria next to Estacion de Francia (France's train station) and Paseo Juan de Borbon. Here you'll be packed cos it's quite small, you'll be standing but... you'll enjoy. You can eat "bocadillos" and have a glass of sweet "cava" (our champagne). Very economic. They close early, I think about 10 p.m.

In Las Ramblas (bottom) you can go to El bosque de las Hadas http://www.bcninternet.com/bars/details.php?contentid=218 (Bosc de les Fades in Catalan) and off Las Ramblas (top) you must go to Oveja Negra, a myth in Barcelona, don't miss it.

I don't know this place, Salsitas (off Las Ramblas), but you can have a look at http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/barcelona/salsitas-barcelona.htm

Also close to the Cathedral (“Catedral”) you can go to have a drink to the “Museu Frederic Mares” in its terrace (free entry for the terrace-bar), lovely!. Walk around this old quarter (“Barrio Gotico”) because it’s really beautiful!, you just need to get lost through its narrow streets and enjoy the journey.

The preceding was to chill out and chat. Now to get more excited, you should go to Tibidabo to the club “Danzatoria”. It’s big enough with outdoor and indoor areas, really cool. It’s free entry and sometimes because of this you have to queue. Try this discotheque man!!!. Also you have more discos and clubs in Tibidabo. To get it you need 1st the subway and then commute to Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat. Finally you need to walk 10 minutes from the station to the disco. Or you can take a taxi!.

Another area which is good is Santalo. There are pubs here. We call pubs to bars with music to dance. This area is posh.

This area I didn't know very well but heard that it's cool, I think there're many bars and pubs. I took the following line from a friend, probably she took it from the net: BARRI DE GRACIA- Cool old area, very funky and trendy, It would be the answer to the Soho in London. Nice bars all around, lovely squares and designers shops. If you want to meet local people on a Bohemian environment. Highly recommended. Take the Metro, green line, to Fontana and start walking around! Very close to city center. Very authentic, the real Barcelona.

biko

If you like vegetarian food, try Maoz
I go there every lunch when in Barcelona