Barcelona

Barcelona is Spain's second largest city, with a population of 1.5 million people, and the capital of Catalonia. The city is on the Mediterranean coast, and has a wealth of unique historic architecture. Barcelona emerged as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe during the 1990s.

It's a beautiful city, full of markets, shops, museums and churches, and great for walking around. There’s an area called “La Rambla” where people like walking. It’s a favorite tourist attraction because there are flower sellers, street performers,paintings and restaurants. However, you can go to the beach, which is near, or you can walk around.

Barcelona has seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km of coastline. Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both 1,100 m in length, are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona. The Olympic port separates them from the other city beaches: Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant. These beaches were opened as a result of the city restructuring to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, when a great number of industrial buildings were demolished. At present, the beach sand is replenished from quarries given that storms regularly remove large quantities of material. The 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures left the city a large concrete bathing zone on the eastmost part of the city's coastline.

August is probably the busiest time in Barcelona; at the same time about 10% of shops and restaurants can be found closed from mid-August to early September, when the owners go on vacations. You'll find cheap accommodation and a much quieter city as a vast majority of Spaniards go on vacation in August. Business is low, people from Barcelona tend to be on vacation, hotels, that remain open but don't have their business customers tend to lower prices and make offers. However there will still be plenty of tourists. Barcelona has decent enough beaches but the locals will really appreciate it if visitors do not consider it a beach resort don't wear beachwear when visiting churches, etc.

Barcelona is great off-season and is a lovely city even in winter months of January and February as long as the possibility of rain is low. Given the high humidity, 19-23 degrees Celsius is considered comfortable weather, which is normally the temperature between April and June and between late September-November. This is the best time to visit the city. Anything warmer than this can feel too hot.

Barcelona's cuisine is inconsistent in quality, as with all highly touristic cities, but good food does exist at reasonable prices. The golden rule of thumb applies well in Barcelona; to save money and get better food, look for places off the beaten track by fellow travellers and seek out cafes and restaurants where the locals frequent.

Most restaurants (and some bars) offer a menú del dia (menu of the day), which usually means a simple and unpretentious two course meal (one salad, main dish and a drink; plus a desert sometimes), 3 or 4 options each, with a drink and a dessert, for €8 to €15-20, depending on a restaurant. During the week, some smart restaurants offer lunch specials from 2pm to 4pm. The savvy traveler will try the hip places for a fraction of the price during the day.