Barcelona Beckons!

Gaynor Burgess on 04 April 2016
I wanted a city break that would cater for families so after doing some research I booked a three night stay in Barcelona for myself, husband and 7 year old daughter. It certainly didn't disappoint.

Barcelona gave us a great balance of sightseeing with plenty of things to occupy my daughter too.

The first day we arrived at 10am, went straight to the hotel to dump our bags and we headed straight to the beach. It was late March but the weather was warm enough for my daughter to have a little paddle.

Down at the beach areas of Villa Olimpica and Barceloneta, the beach was spotless with plenty of great restaurants and bars, perfect for sampling some local tapas and admiring some lovely views. It was great to see the influences of the 1992 Olympics too.

Our hotel The Novotel Barcelona City was situated a little out of the main drag on Avenida Diagonal, but this didn't matter as we had access to the Metro, tram, buses and taxis to make our way around very easily. Along with the Glories shopping centre where there were numerous restaurants, we certainly didn't feel isolated.

The hotel itself was very modern with a lovely roof terrace, pool and bar situated on the 19th floor, which gave great views of the Torre Agbar and Sagrada Familia.

The second day we decided to head to Parc Ciutadella where Barcelona Zoo was located. What a fantastic zoo, it cost 50 Euros for the three of us, which is great value in comparison to Zoo's back home. We spent longer than we intended here as there was so much to see. Elephants, Penguins, Tigers, Lions, Crocodiles, Gorillas and the like. Numerous wild birds were flying freely around the zoo. With plenty of ice cream stations dotted around, it was a refreshing treat on a warm day.

After here we headed to the beach again which was within walking distance from the zoo, where we stopped off for a late lunch.

After a long day at the zoo, we called it a day and went back to the hotel where we had a pre-dinner drink on the roof top bar before we went for dinner at one of the restaurants near the hotel.

For our last day in Barcelona we wanted to take in as many of the sites as possible and to save our little legs, we chose to purchase the Hop on Hop off bus tickets, which are valid for 24hrs and for either one or two days.

The bus stop was right outside the hotel where we jumped on and took in many of the sites stopping at Place de la Catalunya, where we spent the afternoon walking down Las Ramblas and enjoying the La Boqueria Markets, squares, street performers and the Christopher Columbus statue.

We went for dinner at the Hard Rock Café, which was very busy but you could just have drinks whilst you wait with a pager for your table to be ready.

It was finally time to head back to the hotel. Hopping on the bus again, we were able to take in the last of the sites we had missed.

Barcelona was a great city that has something for everyone and I would definitely go back as it had a great vibe!