Hi,

I went last year and we got on a tour Bus which was really worth it, you get to see lots of Gaudi architecture as you go by which is pointed out to you and described on the headphones, and you can also get off and do to the museums. If you want to go into any of the cathedral/churches then the ladies need to wear skirts past the knee and tops that cover the shoulders - and all of the bits in between! The bus goes past Barcelona football stadium and everywhere.
I was there on a hen night and the clubs were excellent but don't open til late, about 12-1am.
There are some really dodgy places to eat - I'd do some research on trip advisor if I was you.
Have fun!
p.s. mind the dog poo!

As said earlier the place is very rife for pickpockets etc so make sure you look after your belongings - but the city is beautiful I remember going with school and being chased along the waterside at the top of la rambles by a dog foaming at the mouth and no it wasn't a hooker

great city - my favourite in europe, hope you find this info useful.
the placa de catalunya is the central point - a large square nearly all the buses head into this area and there is a tube stop there. from here you can get all over the city. public transport is excellent and some sort of flat fare system operates, cant remember the exact details but its cheap - forget taxis

for breakfast the main road north of the placa, the passieg de gracia has excellent coffee bars and some genuine and cheap tapas bars for lunch. theres some of the famous gaudi buildings further along here too. the further you go out of the centre the better value things are

if you want paella most folk head for the marina area and a road called passieg de joan de borbo which fronts onto the marina. we were told it was a bit tacky but we must have chose well as our meal was huge and excellent

on most nights we headed to an area east of the ramblas known as the barri gotic (gothic quarter). its full of narrow streets lively squares, loads of bars and restaurants and street parties, plus some amazing buildings. the main food street is carrer de la princesca, but search the streets around here for some brilliant places to eat and drink. we did not find anywhere we didnt like. its one of the great cities for food and i can't recommend this area enough, and as the others have said dont buy on the ramblas, its a rip off. the spanish do everything late - work until 7 or 8, then have an aperitif or two, eat around 10 and then head out on the town at midnight, so the good news is that most bars stay open late. (the spanish roll into the coffee shops about 11 in the morning with banging hangovers and neck a double expresso for brekkie before heading to work - watch em its great fun).

there is a decent beach too but its hidden away a bit - best bet is to get a bus there. the tourist info centre below the main square is very helpful.

theres loads of other stuff to do but one thing i would recommend is the gaudi park, parc guell. you will need to get the bus there. its like going to another world, he must have been on good drugs that gaudi.

for the best view of the city get the cable car up the olympic mountain

theres loads of other stuff to do and its a really compact city too so getting around on foot is easy

there always seems to be some sort of festival going on too. when we were there there was a wine festival taking place in 2 huge tents on the seafront - pay a flat 10 euros then all wine is free, you could walk around with it too, and it was wierd to see whole families walking along the seafront drinking wine, something you don't really get at Brid

here ends the promotion for the catalan tourist board

Amazing! thanks for taking the time out to post this information i have wanted to go to Barcelona for a long time, i will print your post and am sure it will help guide us for the trip.
Would be nice to catch the fc game on tv there if possible, so if anyone finds a bar that does show it please let me know.

cheers

theres a couple of english pubs which show games, the black horse is one - you can find them with a google search

Saw the title of this thread and thought is was about Barcelona FC, the club owned by it's fans.