Hi Warren. Sorry viz. delay posting the following — two very dear Catalan friends – who married recently, invited us over to Sant Andreu de Palomar for the festes de major. Great fun.
Anyway — read above that you have just about decided to stay for your month in Gràcia. Excellent decision. From your description of the places you are looking at it sounds like the barri Camp d’en Grassot.(Which is where I live)
Why do I recommend Gràcia (and, more specifically, Vila de Gràcia) for a family with young kids?
Well:
a) A good many of the streets are traffic calmed — and the main shopping area is pedestrianized on Saturdays.
b) It has several squares, such as Plaça de la Vila, Plaça del Diamant [which has a play area] , Virreina, del Nord, Rovira i Trias, Sol ,etc where you, the grown ups, can relax with a coffee or a beer or vermut or wine with chips, olives, and maybe boquerones and/or antxoves as the kids run off their energy while encountering local kids.
c) it has many excellent family friendly and inexpensive restaurants. Not only traditional Catalan and Spanish, but many, many very good ethnic restaurants.
d) The district of Gràcia has 3 good food markets — Llibertat, l’Abaceria and Estrella.
e) It has a good many excellent bakeries and pastisseries (including a recently opened branch of the excellent Mistral bakery on Carrer de Asturies).
f) It has dozens of ice-cream shops of all shapes, types and sizes.
g) It has an interesting, very browsable English second-hand bookshop.
h) It has one of the best cinemas in the city — Cines Verdi on Carrer Verdi and Carrer de Torrijos — which shows movies in original language.
i) It is within easy reach of all the main sights in Barcelona, walking, metro or bus.
j) The district also has several very good music venues and cultural centers, such as La Sedeta where you can experience inexpensive quality entertainment.
k) And Gràcia is home to CE Europa — the third most successful football (soccer) club in the city after FC Barcelona and Espanyol. Giant Killers. The senior mens team are currently top of their division. And our women’s team are smashing it. And, kids under 14 go free, gown ups only 10€. And the stadium has a good bar serving drinks and snacks at sensible street prices not silly stadium prices. Great, family friendly atmosphere. I am a member of the club and would be pleased to invite you and family to the ground for a match if your visit coincides with the season.
l) It hosts Casa Vicens — Gaudí’s first house.
m) It has its own craft beer — Virra de Gràcia!
I could go on.
Overall the vibe in Gràcia is very family friendly and laid back — which is not to say that things can sometimes at weekends get a bit too lively after midnight in one or two of the squares.
My daughter and her husband and my (then 18 month old) granddaughter visited during the last week of February this year. They absolutely loved it. They loved hanging out in the squares, having vermuts while their daughter played safely. They loved just ambling the streets, stopping off here and there for coffees and xuxos, dropping into markets to buy erizos (sea urchins) and mussels, window shopping, stoping by art and craft galleries, visiting Park Güell, and going to the football. "Well, this is all very civilized," my son-in-law said as we entered the stadium.
And, obviously with ia-ia i ia-io babysitting, they got some precious together alone time in Restaurate Goliard.
While here they experienced gegantes, bastoners, a correfoc and a calçotada, and a very special childrens play area in Plaça de la Vila. They were here just five nights — and, as they got on the train to the airport, they realised that they had never left Gràcia for the whole time of their visit to Barcelona.
Enjoy your visit (PM me nearer your date of arrival if you think I can help with specifics during your visit. Or just PM me anyway and we'll meet up for a coffe or beer.)