Barcelona - Bus or Underground From Sants Train Station?

València is a very long street... without a number it's impossible to respond.... :))

Thanks. Sorry, close to where it intersects with Carrer de Villarroel.

... the address is indeed "merely" 8 blocks away from the station, that's slightly 3/4 of a mile. The walk is very pleasant and there are buildings with nice façades along the way.

For info, in Barcelona, especially in l'Eixample district (the one with the "grid" pattern!), the rule of thumb is one block = 120-150 metres.

Yet if you don't feel like it... I would probably get the bus, which, if you exit Sants thru the main door, crossing the square you'll find the H10 bus stop. I wouldn't go for the metro for two reasons: (1) from the station you're going to be walking a maze of underground corridors to the metro station and (2) once you exit in Hospital Clínic metro stop, you'd have still to walk two blocks to your hotel. In summary, that's a lot of walking, you might well simply walk from the station.

Thank you. I don't mind walking. I will be rolling a suitcase though, do you still feel it's feasible to walk?

I'm only asking because my experience in Valencia, Seville, etc is that the sidewalks are often made of tiles with decorative bumps on them and it's not so easy rolling a suitcase. I did walk though in Valencia from the Colon metro station to my hotel, which was also 6-8 blocks and I remember that sidewalk issue.

Also, do you happen to know which branch of the El Corte Ingles department store is closest to where I will be staying in Barcelona? I usually get some things to keep in my room from their supermarket. Or is there perhaps another better supermarket in that area?

I've only ever visited the El Corte Ingles supermarkets and none of the others. I tried to go to another supermarket once on a Sunday in Valencia and it was closed. So I find the good thing about the El Corte Ingles supermarkets is they are at least open everyday. Thanks.

I don't remember bumpy sidewalks in Barcelona, but I only rolled my suitcase between Pl Catalunya and my nearby hotel, so I might not have noticed irregular pavement. I highly recommend walking everywhere you can in Barcelona. You'll encounter interesting buildings all over the place. Should you anticipate using public transportation quite a bit, a T-10 ticket (good for 10 rides) is a great bargain at just under 10 euros (as of last summer). You can buy one at the tobacco stand that is diagonally across the concourse from the Tourist Office stand inside Sants Station. I assume the T-10s are also sold in the vending machines inside Metro stations.

El Corte Ingles has a very large store on the NE side of Pl. Catalunya. There's a two-story Carrefour supermarket on the Ramblas a few blocks from Pl. Catalunya in the direction of the port. That market appears not to be open on Sundays but is open until 10 PM Mon-Sat. This website has information on Barcelona supermarkets that may be helpful; I cannot vouch for its accuracy.

Out of curiosity I looked up these cross streets. I noticed that were you are staying is close to where we had a great meal last time we were in Barcelona. Check out Paco Merlago on Carrer de Muntaner - about a 10 minute walk. Enjoy!

Thank you both for the suggestions, much appreciated.

Looking at Google Maps the El Corte Ingles you mentioned looks to be about a mile away. Not that close, but if it's the closet one that's fine. It need not be the biggest, only the closest for convenience.

Yes, I pretty much walk everywhere. I need the exercise :) and I like to see buildings, people, neighborhoods, shops, etc.

I've only used transport in Spain so far when moving around from city to city with my suitcase, either by bus, train, or taxi.

Marc, I don't know that the El Corte Ingles on Pl. Catalunya is the closest, just that it existed as of last August. You can try using Google Maps to search for El Corte Ingles; perhaps other downtown locations will show up.

Hi Marc,

I usually get some things to keep in my room from their supermarket. Or is there perhaps another better supermarket in that area?

According to google maps, there's a, "Mercadona" supermarket, very close to the hotel where you'll be staying.

It's also known as, "Mercat Municipal del Ninot", on Carrer de Mallorca, 135, 08036 Barcelona, Spain

Enjoy Barcelona!

Yes, bumpy, but pretty sidewalks. Lol
http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/features/barcelona-history-underfoot-the-city%27s-tiles/
(Not really a big hindrance)

I remember seeing those tiles mainly along Passeig de Gracia and perhaps the parallel streets, and I didn't think they were particularly high-relief tiles. However, I wasn't pulling my suitcase north of Pl. Catalunya, so I guess I'm not the best judge. With luck, Marc may not encounter those on his path from Sants to hotel.

Those who fall in love with the pavement can take home replicas of the tiles (intended to serve as trivets for hot dishes, I guess) purchased at the shops of many of the modernista sites in the city.

Wow... I think I'm late to answer you Marc... excellent suggestions above :))

I particularly second the idea to get your groceries in Mercat del Ninot, actually in any "mercat" (Catalan -the local language- for "fresh food market") for that matter. There are over 20 across the city. You'll find dozens of stalls with all sort of fresh food, from veggies and fruit to fish, meat and everything in between.

Also, in the underground level of that market, you have a Mercadona supermarket so you can finish your purchase of canned food and beverages there. They have a decent section of reasonably priced wines too... :) Btw, since you're visiting Catalonia, I strongly suggest you "stick" to Catalan wines... you'll find a trove of good ones. Also to mention that instead of purchasing your food in supermarkets, I would invite you to visit some of the specialised little shops that you'll find all over the city as the quality of the food is far better that the processed food by the industrial chains. For example, just in front of the Mercat del Ninot you have an excellent charcuterie and not far from it there's a bakery that offers a large variety of bread and pastries, etc.

To clarify Priscilla's post... in that location there's a fresh food market, the Mercat del Ninot, with dozens of individual vendors. Underneath the market, there's a supermarket from the chain Mercadona. Nothing to do one with the other. So it happens that the covered fresh food markets of Barcelona, some of which date from centuries ago, were remodelled into what we know today during the 19th century and beginning of the 20th and they have now been undergoing a process of renovation during this past decade or so and the City Hall has teamed up with some chains of supermarkets (especially Mercadona, due to its philosophy of sustainability and helping local producers) to pay for it. In the resulting bartering, these supermarkets have been allowed to have a store next to them -normally in the underground level.

Incidentally, those visiting Barcelona this year and curious about our fresh food markets, aside of visiting some of them (ie L'Abaceria or La Llibertat in Gràcia, Santa Caterina in the Old City, obviously La Boqueria too, etc), you might want to drop by El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria, located in the Old City, where you'll find a short exhibition about the El Born fresh food market, which had been the central market for the whole city in the past. Now it's an exhibition centre. Aside this exhibition you'll also find in permanent display some recently unearthed ruins of the Barcelona of the 1700s that will help you to understand the struggle of the Catalan people against the Spanish.

Thank you all for the great replies. Sorry I don't have that much time to write right now, been out all day in Cordoba, but thanks for all the recommendations on supermarkets, fresh markets, and so on.

When I get to Barcelona in a couple of days I'll try walking from the Sants train station to my hotel and I'll let you all know how it goes with rolling my suitcase for 8 blocks on Barcelona city streets.

For grocery shopping, I'll only be needing a bit of deli meat, yogurt, muesli, and cheese. Maybe a couple of bananas and a bag of salad. I doubt I'll be able to fit much in my hotel room fridge anyway, so any supermarket will probably work fine. I plan to just buy local brands anyway, so I think that Mercadona close to my hotel would suffice. I'll check it all out when I get there. Thanks again everyone for all the great tips. Got to get some zzzzs at the moment. Chao.

Just arrived in Barcelona. Walked from Sants to my hotel. Took about 15 minutes. About half the distance was tiled sidewalks, and a bit bumpy while rolling my suitcase, but wasn't too bad. I thought about taking the bus as I passed by the H10 bus stop, but decided to walk as it was good to get a bit of exercise after spending over 4 hours on the AVE train from Cordoba.

told ya! :)

Yes you did, thank you. When your rolling a suitcase though, and carrying a backpack as well, everything feels a bit further away than it is. But it was fine. Weather is nice and cool here in Barcelona at least. Not nearly as hot as Andalusia at the moment thankfully. Actually, Granada wasn't hot at all. Seville wasn't too bad either. Cordoba was really hot midday though.

I just wandered through that Mercat Municipal del Ninot. Great market! Im a big chicken fan and they have this chicken butcher in there dedicated to just chicken and doing all kinds of chicken stuff. Looks fantastic. I got there just after they stopped cooking, but I will hit it tomorrow late morning or early afternoon when they start cooking again. I think they cook until about 4PM.

Also, just found out, because it's Easter weekend, that everything will be closed on Friday, Sunday, and Monday. Not so easy for me. I guess I'll try and stock up on some stuff tomorrow. Can't fit much in the mini bar fridge in my room though unless I pull all the hotel's stuff out of the fridge. Not sure how happy they will be if I do that though.

Eating out, "menu del dia" in many restaurants at lunchtime is 10-12€ In most restaurants it's a good value for money.

Marc,

Can't fit much in the mini bar fridge in my room though unless I pull all the hotel's stuff out of the fridge. Not sure how happy they will be if I do that though.

I presume most of the stuff in the fridge are beverages, so if you must take them out to place your food, I doubt the hotel staff will mind. Just make sure to place the beverages back in the fridge before you check out.

I'd send a PM to Enric to find out which restaurants may be open on Easter weekend.

Thanks for the suggestion Priscilla... the answer is: quite a number of them. The city has over 15000 eateries only in the central districts and there's no single day during the year when all of them are closed. On bank holidays, festive days or certain days of the week (mostly Monday) many are closed, but there are always plenty of open eateries (including restaurants)... if on a normal day you only have to raise your eyes to spot one wherever you are, on these days you might need to walk two blocks. Something else is whether this or that one that's on your bucket list will or will not be open that particular day :))

If you're interested in a particular restaurant, try checking either his website or better still, http://www.bcnrestaurantes.com/eng

Thanks everyone. I just ate in that market place for only 8.50 Euros including a bottle of sparkling water. Had 2 nice marinated chicken kebabs freshly grilled, a bit of capsicum salad on the side, came with some nicely dried potato wedges, and bread.

I also stocked up on a bunch of yougurt, nuts, dried fruit, and some deli meat turkey and creatively rearranged my fridge and managed to get everything in there without having to remove any of their stuff. So I should be good if it isn't so easy to find much open on the holiday days.

Off now to wander around and see a bit of the city. Going to head towards La Rambla, El Born, Gothic, etc.

It's a beautiful day outside...