Unless you’re allergic to perfect weather, high fashion, exquisite food and wine, rapturous flamenco music, and genre-defining art and architecture, Barcelona ought to be near the top of your list of desired destinations. Even if you are allergic, you should probably just suck it up and go.
More posts on Barcelona’s cultural appeal will follow, but for now let’s talk about where to stay. Rather than booking a hotel room or rooms (which tend to bottom out at about €100 per night), consider renting a furnished apartment during your stay. You’ll save money for one thing; apartment rental rates are favorable, particularly as the size of your party increases, and with a full kitchen at your disposal you won’t have to dine out as often. But there’s also something qualitatively different about returning to an apartment each night instead of coming back to the cloister of a hotel room. You feel less like a tourist, more like a native.
Our three-bedroom apartment was quintessentially European: a bit compact, but comfortable, clean, and beautifully designed. We were only two blocks from a metro station, and we had a nice food market, a pharmacy, and multiple cafés within hopping distance. The five of us stayed for more than a week at a rate that worked out to about €40 per person per night. Larger apartments can sleep eight to ten people comfortably, and it’s not uncommon to find rates from about €25 per person per night.
The metro is easily the best way to get around Barcelona. It’s cheap, clean, and efficient, and lines extend in all directions. You can stay virtually anywhere and still be a quick metro ride from the Ramblas or one of Gaudi’s mind-sprung wonders, and the farther away from the main attractions you are, the better the deals you’ll find.
It’s not necessarily a bad idea to wait until the last minute to book; you can find special rates on apartments less than two weeks before your trip. Check out Rent4days and Friendly Rentals, among others, for some short-notice savings.
On the ground floor there is a salon with a grand piano and books stacked higher than you can reach, as well as the dining area where fresh fruit, croissants, coffee, and juices are laid out each morning. After showing us around, Ian sat us down with a hand-drawn map of San Telmo, which was marked with a few recommended restaurants and activities, and rattled off a list of his favorite Argentine wines to try to find.
I’ve actually stayed in some of the hotels listed on this website, including the ice hotel in Quebec (more about that later). I think the weirdest one may be the two-storey beagle that you can stay in for $92 a night. Where is this fantastic find you ask? The middle of Idaho where the list of local attractions includes a drive-in movie theater.
In discussing our honeymoon destination, my wife and I went back and forth trying to find a place that would satisfy us both. She wanted pure relaxation after a harrowing half-year of work, wedding planning, and family demands. I wanted to decompress with a physically challenging trek in a faraway place. We found the perfect compromise a hemisphere away, in Chilean Patagonia.
Meals in the big dome were fantastic: succulent barbecued lamb and beef chops, fresh salads and sides, and delicious Chilean wines. Our hiking guide was friendly and informative, with a strong command of English (certainly stronger than my command of Spanish). As the name suggests, the EcoCamp adheres to the ethics of sustainability; recycling and composting whenever possible, it does its part to preserve the sublime beauty of the park.