Recommended Restaurants

Barcelona has many restaurants. Some serve tapas at the bar as well as food at the table. Some tapas bars have dancing and live music. There are various specialist establishments: a marisqueria is a seafood restaurant, while grill usually means meat. A tapas bar may have in its title tasques. cellers or cervecerias, the latter serving beer rather than wine. A bodega, conversely, serves wine rather than beer, while a xampaneria specializes in cava. All the restaurants listed below specialize in local or regional Spanish cuisine.

Barri Gotic
Luxury
Set Portes, Passeig Isabel 11, tel: 93 319-2950. Grand Barcelona institution on the edge of La Ribera. Wonderful Catalan specialities.

Mid-Range
Amaya, La Rambia 20-24 (Ciutat Vella). tel: 93 302-1037. Basque and seafood specialities.
Los Caracoles. Escudellers 14, tel: 93 302-3185. A Barcelona legend: Catalan specialities in rambling old building in the Barri Gotic.
El Gran Cafe, Avinyo 9 (Ciutat Vella). tel: 93 318-7986. French/Catalan specialities with live piano music.
Hofmann's, Argenteria 74- 78. tel: 93 319 5889 closed Saturday and Sunday. Great seafood and wicked desserts.
El Salon, c/Hostal d'en Sol 6-8, tel: 93 315-2159. Stylish bohemian feel with- French/Catalan specialities.

Budget
Museo Picasso, Montcada 15 (CiutatVella), tel: 93 268- 3021. Pretty bar/cafe in the courtyard of the Picasso Museum. Has the same opening hours as the museum.

Gracia and Eixample
Luxury
Botafumeiro, Gran de Gracia 81 (Graciai), tel 93 218-4230. Expensive and prestigious seafood restaurant.

Mid-range
El Pescador, Mallorca 314 (Eixample). tel: 93 459-2564. Fish is their speciality.
Jean Luc Figueras. Sta Teresa 10 (Gracia). tel: 93 415-2877. Stylish setting and Catalan dishes
Tragaluz, Passage de la Concepcio. tel: 93 487-0196. Trendy bar downstairs, light- filled restaurant upstairs. Popular for business lunches.
La Cuina del Trope. Passeig de Gracia 83 (Eixample). Home cooking in old Barcelona house.
La Gran Tasca, Balmes 129 bis (Eixample). Busy restaurant serving excellent tapas at the bar. Great atmosphere.
Casi Casi, c/Laforja 8, tel: 93 415-8194. Andalucian and Catalan cuisine.
El Raco d'en Freixa, Sant Elias 22, tel: 93 209 7559. Sublime, creative modern cuisine.

Budget
El Cafe de Internet, Gran Via 656 (Eixample), tel: 93 302-1154 Cyber cafe- computers to play with.
Drugstore David restaurante Pizzeria, Tuset 19-21. Famous, open all-night. tapas and pizza bar with shops in Eixample. Always busy. No telephone number available

Seafront
Luxury
Lungomare Ristorante. Marina 16-18 (Torre Mapfre), tel; 93 221-0428 Fashionable Italian in the Olympic Village.

Mid-Range
El Rey de la Gamba, Porto Olimpic, tel: 93 221-0012. Fabulous seafood dishes for reasonable prices.
L'Emperador, Edif. Palau del Mar. Moll del Diposit. tel: 93 221-0220. Offering seafood specialities overlooking the marina.
Goyescas, Hotel Arts, Carrer de la Marina, 19 tel: 93 221 1000 Tapas to die for in the city's most stylish hotel.
Llevataps, Plaça Pau Vila, s/n (Palau de Mar: 93 221-2433. Seafood specialities overlooking the marina.

Budget
Can Majo, Almirall Aixada 23 tel: 93 221-5096. Fantastic, bargain seafood in old Barceloneta.

Greater Barcelona
Luxury
Casa Ramon, Passeig St Joan Bosco 47 (Sarria), tel: 93 205-7556. Grills and fondue a speciality
El Asador de Aranda Avinguda Tibidabo (31 St Gervasil), tel; 93 417-0115. Catalan specialities in a spectacular old house.

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Recommended Bars and Nightlife.

Eating in one of the city's many bars is a great way to try tapas and save money. Bars range from very local to very lively: those around the Eixample district are mostly smart.

Barri Gotic
Café de l'Opera, La Rambla 74, tel: 93 302-4180. Touristy, art nouveau bar on the Rambla with expensive tapas. Always busy and safe for single women.
Cafe de Roma, Plaça Angel. Lively bar with invigorating liqueur coffees on the edge of the Barri Gotic
Els Quatre Gats, Montsio 3 bis (Ciutat Vella), tel: 93 302-4140. Charming bar situated in the old quarter once frequented by Picasso and friends.
Textil Cafe, Museu Textil I d'Indumentaria, Montcada 12-14. tel: 93 268-2598. Pleasant cafe in the textile museum, opening hours same as museum.
Bar de Pi. Plaça Pi. Pretty bar located in a shady square off the Rambla, lively day and night.
Bar Ra, Plaça de la Garduña 7, tel: 93 301-4163. Tapas, tex-mex, and Thai food accompanied by music from jazz to rock.
El Velodrome.c/Muntaner 213. tel: 93 430-5198. Trendy two-storey, art deco bar with leather sofas.

El Bosc de les Fades
Passage de la Banca 7
Barcelona

Situated just to the side of the Wax Works Museum in a small alley just off la Rambla, el Bosc de les Fades is a bar set in a fairy inhabited enchanted forest. There are effects such as holograms and trickling water and it is definitely worth a visit.

Eixample and Gràcia
Qu Qu, Passeig de Gracia 24, tel: 93 317-4512. Great deli-style snacks and lively atmosphere.
Le Pedrera de Nit. c/Provenca 261-5, Enjoy live music and drinks on the roof terrace of Gaudi's famous building. Open Saturday and Sunday during the summer only.
Seltz, Rossello 154, tel: 93 453-6099 specialist vermouth bar with excellent tapas.
Tragaluz, Passatje de la Concepcio, tel: 93 487-0196 trendy bar with Japanese menu.

Seafront
Tardá Rock. Marina 16-18 Torre Mapfre (Port Olympic), tel: 93 221-3993. Barcelona's rock café, full of memorabilia. Tex-Mex food.

Greater Barcelona
Bar Tomás, Mayor de Sarrià 49, tel: 93 418-8855. Bar in Tibidabo area, attracting a lively crowd.

Commonly known as discotecas (a 'club' usually refers to a sex show), Barcelona's nightspots are among the most sophisticated in Spain. Some are bars with dancing, while others are nightclubs only. Others have live entertainment. The Guia del Ocio, Barcelona's weekly listings guide, will have details of what's on in all the clubs.

Blue Note, Arago 221, tel: 93 454-6321. Live jazz performances.
Dry Martini, Aribau 162. Fashionable bar serving every possible permutation of a dry martini.
Garatge Club, Pallars 195. Live music and several dance floors.
Oliver & Hardy, Avinguda Diagonal, tel: 93 593-595, or 419-3181. Busy discoteca, open until 04:00.
KGB. Carrer Alegre de Dalt 55, Gracia, tel: 93 210-5906. Fashionable, warehouse-style club with spying theme.
Nick Havanna, Rossello 208, tel: 93 215-6591. Trendy designer bar with cowhide- covered bar and huge video wall. Popular with 30- somethings after 01:00.
Universal, Maria Cubi 184. tel: 93 201-4658. Dancing and space for chilling out and conversation.
Otto Zutz, Lincoln 15, tel; 93 238-0722. Currently the trendiest of all, frequented by supermodels and young media types. Huge old warehouse conversion with dancing on three levels Dress fashionably.

Montjuïc
Tablao de Carmen, Arcs 9 (Poble Espanyol), tel: 93 325- 6895. Andalucian flamenco performances throughout summer; touristy but interesting and atmospheric.
Torres de Avila, Marques de Comillas. s/n, tel: 93 424- 9309. Futuristic designer club in the Poble Espanyol.

Theatres
Theatre performances are mainly in Catalan but should you wish to see a show, tickets are sold from the kiosk on the corner of carrer Aribau and the Gran Via. Alternatively, try the Centre de Localidades on Rambla Catalunya 2. There are four mainstream theatres in the city centre.

Casinos
There are three casinos within driving distance of the city.
Barcelona
Gran Casino de Barcelona, Sant Pere de Ribles, tel; 93 893-3666.
Girona
Casino Castell de Peralada, Peralada, tel: (972) 53-8125.
Casino Lloret de Mar, Lloret de Mar, tel (972)36-6512 CASINOS

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Shopping

Barcelona is a shopper's dream, with everything from haute couture to typical ceramics on sale. For designer fashion, jewellery and furniture stores, the Passeig de Gràcia is the place to Look. Similar to London's Knightsbridge or New York's Fifth Avenue. Don't miss the fabulous Vinçon either, Barcelona's design emporium situated just next door to the Casa Mila.
The Barri Gòtic is best for browsing, with great art and antique shops as well as several xocolateries - high class confectioners. Along the Rambla prices are inflated and quality lower, aimed mostly at tourists, although the flower stalls and bird market arc fascinating for browsing. Remember to see La Boqueria too, Barcelona's main market, open Monday-Saturday.
Spain only has one famous department store chain, El Corte Ingles, which has two outlets in Barcelona, one on the Placa de Catalunya and a second on the Diagonal. There are modern shopping malls along the Diagonal from the top of the Passeig dc Gracia to the Plaça Reina Maria Cristina, featuring international names such as Habitat. For fun style ideas to take home, visit the Maremagnum Centre opposite the Columbus statue where shops, tapas bars and restaurants are all under one roof overlooking the port. The best art posters are from the museums, and carrer Montcada, home of the Picasso Museum, has ceramics stores as well as endless poster shops. On Montjuïc, the Poble Espanyol sells typical souvenirs from all over Spain at rather inflated prices.

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Other Useful Information.

Learn Spanish!
Don Quijote
An excellent website catering to the needs of those learning Spanish with free resources like the Spanish word of the day, level test and online course to ensure you are speaking fluently.

Getting There
Barcelona is accessible by road, rail, air and sea with domestic connections vastly improved since the Olympic Games in 1992.
The ultra-modern airport, Aeroport del Prat, is located southwest of the city, 25 minutes from the centre by taxi. A wide range of countries is also served from Madrid, with good internal connections to Barcelona.
Motorways (autopista) connect the city to the French border, one and a half hours away, and to the rest of Spain. Travelling around Catalunya by road is easy: Girona, Tarragona and Valencia are all accessible via the motorway. Other roads include autovia, dual carriage- ways and carretera estatal, all good main roads.
Sants-Estacio is the city's main railway station There are several types of trains; RENFE is the national rail company and trains vary from Pendular (the fastest inter-city services) to Talgo and Electrotren to Expreso and Rapido (ironically the slowest, regional services). English is spoken at the RENFE office at Sants.

Getting Around
Barcelona has an excellent Metro system, easy to use, clean, punctual and relatively safe. The best value is a block of 10 tickets which gives considerable savings over 10 singles. Local women seem quite nervous on the Metro at night so tourists should follow their example: always sit with other people, guard your belongings and after about 21:00 or towards the end of the lines, take a taxi.
Barcelona's 11,000 taxis are convenient and not particularly expensive. They can be hailed on the street or found on taxi ranks. A green light on the top means the taxi is free. Drivers do not tend to speak English but all taxis are metered so communication is rarely a problem. There's an extra tax for travel with large pieces of luggage. Tips are appreciated but not expected.
Buses also run all over the city and a special tourist bus operates in summer, the Bus Turistic or Bus 100. During the summer season, from mid-June to mid-October, the Bus Turistic runs on two circular routes, stopping (26 stops in all) at the main places of interest in the city. The ticket is valid all day and allows passengers to get on and off the bus for as many times and for as long as they want, as well as obtain major discounts on some visits. The ticket is purchased on board. Service starts and ends at Plaça Catalunya. In addition, there's an antique tram (Tramvia Blau) running from Tibidabo train stop to a funicular railway which travels to the top of the mountain. Cable cars operate from the top of Montjuïc to the harbour and on to Barceloneta, with sweeping views of the port.
Trains leave Sants railway station for Sitges every half an hour. The Sitges station, behind the town, is about 20 minutes from the beach. Getting to Montserrat is easy. FF.CC trains (commuter trains - Ferrocarils de la Generalitat de Catalunya) depart from the Plaça d'Espanya for Manresa. Leave the train at the Montserrat Aeri stop and take the cable car, which runs every 15 minutes, to the monastery. One of the best ways to travel up the Costa Brava, just 60km (37/ miles) to the north, is by boat. Crucero boats depart from Lloret de Mar, the first big resort, calling at most major ports to the north. For a schedule, tel: (972) 36-4499.

Tours and Excusrions
Typical coach tours in and around the city include half day and full day regular sight- seeing excursions with several museum visits. Further afield regular tours operate to Montserrat, cava cellars, Andorra and the Costa Brava. Guided tours in different languages are operated by:
Julia Tours, Rda. Universitat 5, tel: 93 317-6454. fax: 93 318-5997.
Calesses (horse-drawn carriages), tel: 93 421-8804. Half an hour to an hour, round the major sites
Gaudi Tours, tel: 93 450-0775 Or book on- line for specialist tours of Gaudi's heritage at: www.tours@barcelona.com

Harbour tours
Small sightseeing boats make regular excursions around the harbour.
Golondrinas. Portal de la Pau, s/n, tel: 93 442-3106. Departures: 11:00-18:00 every 30 minutes. Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. November -March. 11:00-18.00, March- June and October. 11:00- 20:30, July-September.

Torre de Collserola
Free transport from top of Tibidabo to the communications tower for spectacular views across the city and beyond. Open daily. Check times on tel: 93211-7942

Casa Mila. 'La Pedrera', Guided tours of Gaudi's famous apartment building including a visit to the roof. Visits must be booked in advance, tel: 93 487-3613 and 93 488-3592.

Concert tours
Palau de la Musica Catalana Closed in August. Visits by arrangement, tel; 93 268-1000.

Outside the city
To stay in the mountain refuges of Calalunya including the two at Montserrat, get permission from the Federacio d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya, tel: 93 412-0777.

Montserrat information:
tel: 93 835-0251 ext. 586. Mass at Montserrat is sung at 11:00, 13:00 and 18:45.

Museum tours
Fundacio Antoni Tàpies, tel: 93 487-0315.
Museu Frederic Mares. Closed on Mondays, tel: 93 310-5800.
MNAC-Museu D'Art Modern. Parc de la Ciutadella, tel: 93 319-5728.
Museu Picasso. Closed on Monday, tel: 93 319-6310
Fundacio Joan Miro. tel: 93 329-1908.

Useful contacts
Iberia Airlines of Spain: Infoberia, tel: 93 412-5667 National bookings, tel: 93 412-7020 International bookings, tel: 93 412-4748
Airport, tel: 93 478-5000 www.iberia.com
RENFE (Spanish Railways), tel: 93 490-0202 www.renfe.es
Transmediterranea (ferry service), tel: 93 443-2532 FF.CC
Generalitat (Autonomous Government Railways), tel: 93 205-1515
Tourist guides-interpreters, tel; 93 345-4221, 268-2422, 412-0674
Taxis, tel: 93 57-7755, 358- 1111.392-2222,387-1000
Emergency Medical Service, tel; 061
Police, tel: 091
Police Assistance (Tourist Attention), tel: 93 301-9060
Lost property, tel: 93 318-5531
Directory Enquiries, tel: 1003