Barcelona in 5 or 6 days

You can stay in the Gràcia Neighborhood. It is a lively neighborhood in Barcelona and centrally located.

https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/gracia-barcelona-guide/

https://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/page/417/gracia-i-park-guell.html

We enjoyed 4 nights at Hotel Jazz in Barcelona. It's a charming boutique hotel located in the center of Barcelona. It was well appointed, quiet and an easy walk to Catalunya and La Ramblas. We were there the month of September and enjoyed the rooftop bar & view. Perfect place to relax after a day of touring. The breakfast buffet was the the best we had in Spain. We would definately stay there again. www.hoteljazz.com. We took 2 free walking tours of Eixample & Gothic Quarter with www.runnerbean.com. We had knowledgeable, enthusiastic tour guides. RS recommends this company. We were very pleased!

How old is your teen?

Thank you all for the replies! All options look great so just deciding on Airbnb or hotel. I usually love the air bnb route as that’s what we normally do while traveling in Europe with the ease of a washer and kitchen. However since we are on a shorter trip this time I wanted to possibly book a small boutique hotel. My teen is 15 and beyond excited to see Barcelona. With the architecture and food the options are endless and I’m glad we made decision to stay in Barcelona. Any other tips/or ideas would be greatly appreciated as I am putting the rough itinerary together this week.

As for areas, I'd consider El Born. It is adjacent to the Gothic quarter (or a part of it depending on how it is described) and is neatly tucked away from the intensity of La Ramblas. The lovely Picasso museum is there as is the beautiful Santa Maria del Mar, and you know your in Spain here. Best area to walk at night is among the tangled, narrow streets of El Born and the Gothic quarter. Tapas in little hole in the wall places that seem to be around every corner. My wife and I on our last visit had a wonderful hotel on La Ramblas - the hotel was great, the location was a little too crazy for us.

For a little more spacious but still very lively and beautiful area, I'd second the earlier comment on the Gracia area.

As an avid AirBnb person myself, I think it'd be great to stay in one there but you should know that Barcelona is cracking down hard on illegal rentals of apartments. You may want keep that in mind as you book your accommodations. Enjoy - you'll love it there.

I ended up booking using miles/points at Well and Come boutique hotel. The reviews were great! Any negatives booking thru loco2.com for our train ride after landing in Madrid to head to Barcelona? I know there’s renfe also. Train tickets are quite costly as we land at 7:45 am so I was thinking after 9 or 930 for a train departure? Not sure if I’m allowing enough time. In Italy we never booked our train ahead of time just purchased at station butI am concerned looking at pricing now it’s about $300 US dollars for three tickets. Not sure if I want to take a chance that they might even pricier the day we land in Madrid.

I would certainly not book a 9 or 9:30 train if my flight was scheduled to arrive at 7:45. I am always so brain dead upon arrival that I have no clue how long it takes me to get out of the European airport (which on one occasion was Madrid), but I have certainly run up against long waits on a few occasions. And your flight could easily be late arriving.

Have you checked fares for your entire arrival day? There might be something a good bit cheaper leaving later. That day's going to be pretty much lost to jetlag anyway (at least it would be for me), so does it make a lot of difference whether you walk around Retiro Park in Madrid, trying to stay awake until a later train departure as opposed to walking around Barcelona after arrival? There's also a Botanical Garden near Atocha Station; that's where I went on my arrival day in Madrid.

Have you looked at airfares from Madrid to Barcelona? You might get really lucky and find something that's cheaper than the train. (Don't forget baggage fees.) I much prefer trains, and the AVE is super-fast, but since you'll already be out at the airport and have missed out on the bargain rail tickets, flying isn't a terrible option. Of course, the plane ticket will definitely be a throw-away if you miss the flight, and you do have the option of buying a (costly) flexible rail ticket. Be sure you know the rules about when you have to cancel to get your money back, though. That probably has to be done before the train departs Madrid.

I haven't used loco2.com, but others on the forum like it, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I had trouble with the Renfe website.

Thanks for your reply. We always prefer the train thruout Europe also. I will most likely buy the later tickets and just enjoy arrival at the station and walk around Madrid until the train leaves. Thank you!