Barcelona DIY

[Presto2]

Just wondering how easy it is to do Barcelona as a DIY excursion. We had heard that a tourist bus stops near to where we dock. Does anyone know if that is right?

 

Thanks

 

:)

[lancashire_cruisers]

Just wondering how easy it is to do Barcelona as a DIY excursion. We had heard that a tourist bus stops near to where we dock. Does anyone know if that is right?

 

Thanks

 

:)

 

Hi Presto

 

Take the shuttle bus from the ship and it will drop you off at the World Trade Centre (just by the Columbus statue) and literally the HOHO bus is across the road.

 

We did this in 2008 and it was so easy, we even bought our tickets for the HOHO on-line and received them 2 days later.

 

Debbie:)

[humpy]

hi presto2.yes the free shuttle bus does drop you off outside the port its about 5mins transfer time by coach.you are then about a 5 min walk from the bottom of las ramblas.once you get there i think there are a few open top bus tours around the city to the major sights and you can hop off and on as you like we usualy just walk around the city shops and have a drink in las ramblas.hope this helps.happy sailing..humpy

[Thejuggler]

Read the 'Blogging from Ventura" thread and go to the blog - there's a recent Barcelona report.

 

It looks like the ships now dock about a mile from the city, but P&O put on a bus.

 

Barcelona is like London very easy to DIY, but like London it is huge so you need to decide where you want to go and have a basic itinary, otherwise you'll spend too long deciding where to go - the main sites are some distance apart and you need to get the tourist bus or the metro and all this takes time.

 

As an example just walking the Ramblas and the main market (which is stunning) could take a minimum of half a day, that doesn't leave much time for anything else!

 

Parc Guell is great for the views over the city, Sagrada Familia is one to tick off, but we have never been in. Montjuic and the Olympic area is well worth visiting for the views and the cable car back across the bay, but this also takes a few hours.

 

We have been three times on longer trips and not seen half of the City - a day is a blink of an eye.

[tightwad]

We were there in April on Ventura and as others have already said P&O put on a free shuttle bus from the ship into town and the hop on hop off sightseeing buses are literally right there , they can be quite pricey, £20 each , but if you use them to their full potential and see plenty of sights then i suppose they are value for money.We just went on foot and still managed to see plenty and i hope you have better weather than us as it rained all day while we were there , it is still a lovely city though no matter what the weather.

[LibraLass41]

A good idea is to get your tickets as early as you can for the HOHO, We left the ship after breakfast, walked up La Ramblas and bought a ticket in the square, as the morning went on there were lots of people at the bus stops, some not getting on as bus was full. And large queues for tickets in the afternoon at the kiosks, where we had not queued earlier. Also the earlier you start off, the better chace of seeing 2 routes which you can do on one ticket.

 

As you walk up La Ramblas, look out for the market on the left, this is one stall in there, a chilli stall:

 

 

We went in there after being 'stung' at one of the sidewalk cafes, with waiters trying to entice you in. They look reasonable prices with menus outside, but somehow it worked out very expensive! We then walked into the market, and saw the locals sitting on stalls eating wonderful tapas, a fruit stall bursting with melons and peaches etc selling fruit smoothies for 1 euro and we had paid 10 euros for a sangria and 15 euros for a small bottle of wine ! Not a half bottle one of those one glass bottles...Also they say 'beward of pick pockets in La Ramblas they are rife I was warned...

[Thejuggler]

There are lots of scams on Ramblas - if you do eat outside don't leave anything lying around.

 

We saw this happen twice. Diners leave money on the saucer waiting for the waiter. Some kids come up and put a large map in front of the diners, over the saucer. By the time they have gone so has the money. In both cases it was 50 euros.

[Presto2]

Thanks for all of that info everyone - off to check out info on the HOHO bus :)

[robanddiane]

We did the hoho bus last year and really enjoyed it. We paid 21 euro for the ticket which covers all 3 routes. You were given a map and a set of earphones. There were quite a few places where you could change routes from blue to red etc. The longest we had to wait for another bus was 5 mins. We would definately recommend this.

[mommamd]

How much to take the city bus from Placa Catalunya to Parc Guell? If that is all I want to do, I don't want to spend 21 Euro on the HOHO.

[LibraLass41]

No idea, google it and there maybe some prices - Barcelona Tourist information or Barcelona bus fares.....?

[Thejuggler]

For short single trips take the metro - but a word of advice.

 

Unlike London (and every other Metro I've been on!) where they have one entrance serving both platforms, some stations in Barcelona have seperate entrances depending which way you want to go.

 

Check the map before descending the stairs!

[tom_uk]

I've just spoken to the Future Cruises/Loyalty manager currently on Ventura (Helen). She has confirmed that in all recent cruises that she's been on (going back several years) the ship has docked where Ventura docked on this cruise, i.e. about a mile from the bottom of La Rambla, and that P&O arranged a shuttle bus around to the World Trade Centre. It's on;y smaller ships that dock by the WTC, it seems, and even they may not do so if there's room in the new cruise terminal.