Time to Sightsee in Barcelona?

We are on the Barcelona to Istanbul cruise next week. Our plane from Newark is scheduled to arrive into Barcelona at 9:15 AM. The Riviera leaves at 8:00 PM.

It will obviously take time to get our luggage and go through customs. But then what? Any ideas? We spent three days in Barcelona prior to our previous Oceania cruise, but that still leaves plenty unseen -- including the interior of Sagrada Famila.

Ken

We are on the Barcelona to Istanbul cruise next week. Our plane from Newark is scheduled to arrive into Barcelona at 9:15 AM. The Riviera leaves at 8:00 PM.

 

It will obviously take time to get our luggage and go through customs. But then what? Any ideas? We spent three days in Barcelona prior to our previous Oceania cruise, but that still leaves plenty unseen -- including the interior of Sagrada Famila.

 

Ken

In that case, I'd say go to the Sagrada Familia as soon as you can (assuming you have a place to stash your bags). But one question: how many ships will be in port that day?

When we visited the church (don't forget to go through the museum as well) in November 2005 there wasn't a wait. We wanted to go back on our last visit (2009?) to see the progress and the lines were several blocks long. Four ships were in town, and I think one of them was a huge Royal Caribbean ship.

An alternative is the HOHO bus ... see what you want along the way.

Have you done the Gaudi houses? Those are other options if not.

Mura

I second the Gaudi houses (interior visits) - my favorite sightseeing in Barcelona (tapas doesn't count as sightseeing, does it? :D)

The 3 houses open to public are:

Casa Batllo, La Pedrera (Casa Mila) and Palau Guell (the only one I have not seen as it just opened recently).

If you've seen those, visit Palau de la Musica Catalana (with an inside tour) followed by a stroll through the Mercad de la Boqueria.

Enjoy Barcelona!

Paul is right about all of these! In fact, we did visit the Palau Guell two-three years ago but it was under renovation so we only saw a small part of it.

I just love these buildings and they don't take as long to see as the Sagrada Familia (unless you skip the Museum which I highly recommend you do not miss).

Also, I'd forgotten about the Palau de la Musica Catalana! This is a wonderful visit. If you can see a concert there, so much the better. Nothing was "on" when we were there, so we did the tour. I really would have loved to "hear" music in the building ... of course they don't permit photographs which was a regret.

Stairs are a question in the houses and concert hall for those with mobility problems. But these buildings are so fascinating, and none is like the other.

There ARE elevators in the houses as I recall ... you just have to know where they are, I think. But the concert hall (on the tour) was a "walk up yourself" proposition.

I was just checking out my diary but discovered I never entered the Barcelona portion of our Miami-Barcelona TA in March 2009 so I am going by memory. Which can be faulty!

Mura

Another suggestion is the often overlooked, but simply terrific, Maritme Museum. It's just off La Ramblas and near the monument, making it quite close to the ship's pier. Absolutely worth a visit, with no worry about long lines.

IF u are interested in going inside the Sagrada Famila, it is very worthwhile. You can book tickets and a time on the internet which we did last time and it worked very well.

We're on the same boat (literally). We are renting a car at BCN, driving up to Montserrat, then returning the car downtown and boarding mid-afternoon. The luggage will stay in the trunk.

If you want to tour in Barcelona proper and won't have a car trunk to stow your bags, there are lockers at Sants station. You can take the train from the airport to Sants station, lock your bags there, then go sightseeing. Sants has metro too.

...Also, I'd forgotten about the Palau de la Musica Catalana! This is a wonderful visit. If you can see a concert there, so much the better. Nothing was "on" when we were there, so we did the tour. I really would have loved to "hear" music in the building ... of course they don't permit photographs which was a regret...

We were in Barcelona on a Thursday but were fortunate enough to attend the Palau de Musica for a concert by young people's orchestra and, after intermission, the winner of a junior piano contest in a concerto with the orchestra. Almost, but not quite professional quality, but still better than a dry, daytime tour. Our tickets were 10 Euros each, exactly the cost of the tour, so we really struck it lucky.

I often forgo flash opn my little point & shoot camera, so I managed to sneak a couple of photos -- remember that I'm tryng to disguise what I'm doing, as they aren't that great...;)

My only regret about not taking the daytime tour is that the glass skylight above is supposed to be much more spectacular when light is pouring through it.

Visit http://www.palaumusica.org/ for information about upcoming concerts; there is a little place on the upper right to click for English. The schedule can be less than intuitive to navigate.

They apparently have something called Flamenca I Opera in the Palau:

FLAMENC A BARCELONA

OPERA I FLAMENC

HISTORIA D'UN AMOR

C.Eleta Almarán: Bolero, "Historia de un amor"

P.Sorozábal: La Taberenera del Puerto, "No puede ser"

Popular Flamenco : Alegría

G.Verdi: Il trovatore, "Miserere"

G.Puccini: Tosca, "E lucevan le stelle"

G.Bizet: Carmen, "Habanera"

G.Puccini: Tourandot, "Nessum dorma"

M.Penella Moreno: El Gato Montes, "Torero quiero ser"

M.Falla: El Amor Brujo, "La canción del fuego fatuo"

Organitza:

DES SL

M&M SRL

Next time we are in Barcelona (Nov '13) I will look for it.

Try the Picasso museum

When we boarded in Sydney we went to ship, left luggage on the carts and went out for a few hours. When we returned there were no lineups and we were processed immediately. Luggage was waiting for us outside the room.

Mo

Paulchill,

We attended a performance of Flamenco i Opera 2 years ago while we were in Barcelona. It was a wonderful. My husband was initially doubtful when I told him that we were going, since he is not an opera fan, but he really enjoyed it and told our new friends on the cruise about the show. I bought the tickets online, but you can also buy them from vendors along La Rambla during the day. We attended an evening performance and am unsure whether there is a day performance, so this would not work for someone arriving the day of the cruise. We spent 10 days in Barcelona touring the city and environs before leaving on a TA.

Paulchill,

We attended a performance of Flamenco i Opera 2 years ago while we were in Barcelona. It was a wonderful. My husband was initially doubtful when I told him that we were going, since he is not an opera fan, but he really enjoyed it and told our new friends on the cruise about the show. I bought the tickets online, but you can also buy them from vendors along La Rambla during the day. We attended an evening performance and am unsure whether there is a day performance, so this would not work for someone arriving the day of the cruise. We spent 10 days in Barcelona touring the city and environs before leaving on a TA.

Betty,

Thank for that additional information.

We are planning to spend 2 days before our cruise in Barcelona, so if there are performances during that time, we should be OK.

We are looking forward to it.

Paul

When we boarded in Sydney we went to ship, left luggage on the carts and went out for a few hours. When we returned there were no lineups and we were processed immediately. Luggage was waiting for us outside the room.

 

Mo

Thanks, everyone! Lots of terrific ideas.

The above is sort of what I was looking for.

Will it be doable to go right to the ship, check in, and then grab a cab for a few hours? When do we truly need to be back for an 8:00 pm departure?

You need to be on board 2 hours before departure, so 6pm. It shouldn't be a problem to go to the ship first -- I THINK. Never tried that myself.

Regarding Palau, when we took the tour of the facility a few years ago we were staying in Barcelona for several days but nothing that was on appealed to us. Or perhaps something was but was already sold out. We would have been very happy with the opera evening! So we opted for the tour ... which made it impossible to sneak photographs since our guide was watching us like a hawk! (And my camera is too large to sneak photos anyway. Maybe on our next visit I'll use my cell phone, if I can figure out how it works!) Thanks Hondorner for posting your photos. It's a happy memory of a beautiful building.

During our tour there was a rehearsal underway on stage which was a plus for us. I recall a very nice cafeteria as well ... maybe I'm wrong. We didn't get the benefit of the skylight because it was lightly raining that day ...

Mura

I highly recommend the Sagrada Familia. We were just in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago. We bought our tickets for the Sagrada Familia online in advance, and were among the first dozen people inside. There is a separate line for people with advance tickets. You just scan your ticket and go inside.

We have been to Barcelona five times in the last 12 years, and the Sagrada Familia is always on our list of places to go. It is stunning inside.

When we boarded in Sydney we went to ship, left luggage on the carts and went out for a few hours. When we returned there were no lineups and we were processed immediately. Luggage was waiting for us outside the room.

 

Mo

How early did you drop off luggage? Were you given a luggage receipt? Will be arriving at Barcelona port about 8:00 AM next week and want to go sightseeing/shopping for a few hours. Thanks for reply.

We dropped off about 11 as we were returning the rental car and meeting someone for lunch at noon. No receipt, just left the luggage on the carts with the attendants. We could have checked in but there was a line so we left and returned later.

On our most recent cruise that started in Dover we got there early (maybe 10:30) and had to wait to check in. They start at 11 but the luggage carts were available earlier. Not sure how early. They start check in with the suites and as soon as they are dealt with the rest of us were processed. A few minutes wait only.

Mo

One of our favorite spots (and really crowd free) is the city museum...located behind the cathedral...but go DOWN in the elevator..instead of up...and you wind up wandering on catwalks over Roman ruins !!! Really interesting, with great explanations, and markers that orient you to locations "on the surface above" ....