Barcelona stag do - Any pointers welcome

[J B L]

Hello,

We are taking my brother to Barcelona in May for his stag do. We are aiming to rent an airbnb type accomodation for a long week end but not sure exactely where.
Personally it's been a long time I have been there. I remember there's an underground system, don't know if it runs all night but that could be a decider.
For obvious reasons we want to avoid driving around.

The stag likes a nice meal / bar / club. Something fancy is nice but needn't be expensive. I've been recommended City centre or Olympic harbour but I haven't checked anything out yet.

Any pointers welcome:
- somewhere nice
- good/decent nightlife
- easy to get to and from either by underground / bus / taxi

Thanks for your help.

J

[steveo3002]

benidorm !!

[Hoolio]

Café Bagdad

[FrankAbagnale]

NeMiSiS said:

More pickpockets than tourists.

This is the one thing i'd take note of more than any other.

Of the 2 stag do's and one work do I have been on in Barca, at least one of the group has been relieved of something of value each time. One was at knife point on a busy road.

Only take out what you can afford to have stolen.

[Vaud]

FrankAbagnale said:

This is the one thing i'd take note of more than any other.

Of the 2 stag do's and one work do I have been on in Barca, at least one of the group has been relieved of something of value each time. One was at knife point on a busy road.

Only take out what you can afford to have stolen.

This. Pretty city, but rough as... I've know several colleagues who were robbed.

Note no Uber or Lyft. I have had about 1/3 of taxi drivers try to rip me off (meters, very long route to destination, etc)

Make sure you stick together at night...

[IanUAE]

Spent a week in Barcelona last year (last week of August) and stayed in the city centre. Metro is very good and a bit of googling reveals:

Hours of operation of metro and tram

Sun-Thu: 5am-12am
Fri: 5am-2am
Sat: 24h
24 hours also on January 1, June 24th, August 15th and September 24th. On December 24th, trains stop running at 11pm.

We never had anything stolen from us and we were out and about every day, but late at night.

Big Bus tour gets you round the city (like all big bus tours do...).

[cbmotorsport]

Hoolio said:

Café Bagdad

You know.

Do they still have a midget on the door?

[stevethegreek]

As others have said...pickpockets, be very careful everywhere. Regarding where to stay, I would suggest the Ciutat Vella/El Raval area as mostly central, there are loads of apartments on airbnb in that area so have a search.

Oh, and - https://en.apricots.es/ (NSFW)

[Jag_NE]

done two stags there and wouldn't recommend it.

if its a drink fuelled holiday and it has to be abroad you will be better off with the Benidorm/Ibiza/magaluf options, or Amsterdam.

Barcelona is very overrated for a weekend on the beer in my opinion. hookers and blow are available but the place definitely isn't bouncing.

[Robbo 27]

Street Crime may be a problem, friend of mine went, he was pushed into a side street by two men, one held his arms the other put a knife at his throat and went through his pockets and took what they wanted. Reported it to the rozzers who took notes but that was all.

Went back to the hotel, another guest had said that she was in a bus queue, man in front stepped back and pushed her backwards, a man behind her reached into her bag and stole her purse.

I would still want to go there but just be aware.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Wednesday 1st February 14:51

[Cold]

Echo all the street crime warnings and would also suggest that none of your group decide to urinate in public either.

[toon10]

Ditto on the street crime. I was there with some big lads and we were left alone but we did get sized up on a few occasions. That was until one of the older lads I was with lagged behind us and by the time he caught up, a couple of prostitutes had pick pocketed him and he lost 200 Euros. I can't comment on the bars as all we found were generic Irish and sports places. Admittedly, we should have researched a bit more which I do now but it was a good few years back.

The metro system is really good and easy to use. If you like football then the stadium tour was OK and we went to watch a match. It was against a bottom club (Lavente) so not sure if there's any games on when you are there or if you can get tickets as easily as we did.

Back to the street crime. Our digs were a bit ropey and off a side street on Las Ramblas. Whenever we used the street, there was always a dodgy guy standing in the doorway at the entrance on his phone eyeing us all up. When we got to the end of the street there was always another dodgy looking guy on his phone. We made a guess that they were talking to each other and the first one was letting the other one know who to target. Could be wrong but that was the feeling we all got. I wouldn't have liked to walk around there on my own.

[TheJimi]

There was a recent thread on Barcelona, with pretty much the exact same commentary as above.

I would also echo the warnings about street crime. When I was there, I wasn’t actually robbed, but there was two attempts by separate people on different days.

TBh, I wouldn’t bother with Barcelona again, as a city to visit, it’s just not worth the hassle (and that’s coming from someone who spends a lot of time in Glasgow )

[SteBrown91]

If you want a nice city stag do I would recommend Prague or Budapest much better and cheaper than Barcelona

[DonkeyApple]

Olympic Harbour is good for food. But the whole place is riddled with thieving filth. If you want a semi civilised stag do where there is good food and bars then Lisbon or Seville are far superior destinations.

[The jiffle king]

I lived in BCN for a number of years and yes there are pickpockets on Las Ramblas and on the Metro, but violent crime and knife crime is very low. The pickpockets look for groups of guys as they know they will have had a drink and are careless compared with others. Only take out cash, a card and put it in your front pocket.

Las Ramblas is not really the best place in Barcelona and I would go to Mont Juic for culture, cable car, the olympic museum and the magic fountains. Casa Milla (la Pedrera) is excellent, but Sagrada Famillia is the place to visit. Casa Batillo is good too.

Eating - The best tapas place is in Example district and is Paco Meralgo. It like the other restaurants only opens at 8:30 or 9pm, but if there are lots of you, La Polpa, Flamant are good choices. If he really is a foodie, then Casa Paloma is quite good. There are also a couple of secret restaurants but you'll need to do your research first. Any restaurant in Example is better than near the tourist area if you are prepared to walk 15 minutes. Many hotels have rooftop terraces which you can go to. The ones on Passeig de Graica (straight up from Las Ramblas) are the best generally

Drinking... The locals don't go near Las Ramblas, and the bars have changed in the 3 years I've been away, but I would head to Gracia for drinking as it will be a better price and more atmosphere.

The metro.. Cheap and pretty good, but the pickpockets look for you from the airport... (They work in pairs, usually a woman with a coat over her arm who passes it to a guy) You'll see them as they only stay on for 1 stop!!

Barcelona is a great city, go to see Parc Guell if you can, if it's summer, have a drink by the beach, but don't buy from one of the beach sellers in a bag as they hide the drinks in Sewers.

I never had any trouble there, but Barcelona is much more than the very touristy bits and I only tool out a card and cash and left the passport at home and all non-essential cards

I would stay in Example or Ravel or Born, but away from Las Ramblas (sensing a theme here). Be aware that food only starts at 8:30 or really 9pm and bars only get busy after 11pm and clubs 1am is the real start time. Clubs on the beach close about 9am and 6am is not unusual

enjoy and don't be put off by the pickpockets

[The jiffle king]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Do you have tickets? You can buy them on Las Ramblas at the ticket place, but you will be int he tourist part. Touts are around the ground during the day, but less so at night.

Pickpockets will target you rather than him as he can run and you might not be able to chase. They will also target you if you look hammered or look like a tourist. Wallet in front pocket, take out 1 card and cash and not your passport. It's great seeing Messi live and watch who actually controls the game... I was fortunate to see Messi, Xavi and Iniesta play and it was a dream to watch

[toon10]

SteBrown91 said:

If you want a nice city stag do I would recommend Prague or Budapest much better and cheaper than Barcelona

I didn't want to put the OP off as I know some people really love Barcelona but I'm with you. There's better places such as Krakow, Prague, Tallinn, Berlin, etc. Budapest is absolutely lovely and I'd go back in a heartbeat. They also have a really good gun range which is a lot cheaper than most places I've seen. Good way for a stag and company to kill a few hours before hitting the pubs and clubs.

[J B L]

The jiffle king said:

I lived in BCN for a number of years and yes there are pickpockets on Las Ramblas and on the Metro, but violent crime and knife crime is very low. The pickpockets look for groups of guys as they know they will have had a drink and are careless compared with others. Only take out cash, a card and put it in your front pocket.

Las Ramblas is not really the best place in Barcelona and I would go to Mont Juic for culture, cable car, the olympic museum and the magic fountains. Casa Milla (la Pedrera) is excellent, but Sagrada Famillia is the place to visit. Casa Batillo is good too.

Eating - The best tapas place is in Example district and is Paco Meralgo. It like the other restaurants only opens at 8:30 or 9pm, but if there are lots of you, La Polpa, Flamant are good choices. If he really is a foodie, then Casa Paloma is quite good. There are also a couple of secret restaurants but you'll need to do your research first. Any restaurant in Example is better than near the tourist area if you are prepared to walk 15 minutes. Many hotels have rooftop terraces which you can go to. The ones on Passeig de Graica (straight up from Las Ramblas) are the best generally

Drinking... The locals don't go near Las Ramblas, and the bars have changed in the 3 years I've been away, but I would head to Gracia for drinking as it will be a better price and more atmosphere.

The metro.. Cheap and pretty good, but the pickpockets look for you from the airport... (They work in pairs, usually a woman with a coat over her arm who passes it to a guy) You'll see them as they only stay on for 1 stop!!

Barcelona is a great city, go to see Parc Guell if you can, if it's summer, have a drink by the beach, but don't buy from one of the beach sellers in a bag as they hide the drinks in Sewers.

I never had any trouble there, but Barcelona is much more than the very touristy bits and I only tool out a card and cash and left the passport at home and all non-essential cards

I would stay in Example or Ravel or Born, but away from Las Ramblas (sensing a theme here). Be aware that food only starts at 8:30 or really 9pm and bars only get busy after 11pm and clubs 1am is the real start time. Clubs on the beach close about 9am and 6am is not unusual

enjoy and don't be put off by the pickpockets

Thanks a lot.

And thanks to all of you for the feedback.

[55palfers]

Lisbon is very civilised.