Barcelona Neighborhoods

I recall you had a very similar topic only a few months back, did anything change/updates?

I felt I didn’t get enough feedback so that I could choose a neighborhood that would be good for us. Need 2bedrooms/2baths. Relatively reasonable rate. Maybe close to Placa de Catalunya b

We were very happy with our hotel in the Eixample in 2017. We walked everywhere except to Park Guell, and felt perfectly safe. I am embarrassed to think about how worried I was about my safety in Barcelona.

Taking the train to Madrid for a day requires a five-hour round trip. If you just want to see the Prado, that could work - it's an easy walk from the Atocha station. But honestly, that doesn't sound like such a great idea.

There are tons of easy day trips you can take from Barcelona.

We stayed in a hotel in Eixample, too, so I would definitely recommend Eixample. It is an elegant neighborhood, very safe, and within walking distance to so many sites, such as Sagrada Familia, Casa Battlo, Casa Mila, etc. We walked to Parc Guell from SF, but then took a taxi back to our hotel from Parc Guell. And lots of restaurants nearby too.

I do not recommend a daytrip to Madrid from Barcelona. It's too far away. You would spend most of your time on the train. if you really want to see a bit of Madrid, you should stay overnight. Day trips from Barcelona are Girona and Besalu, and Montserrat.

I think the other posters have given you good advice re: barrios/neighborhoods. My only advice is make sure your piso/apartment has a registration number to be legal. I noticed that many VRBO's and AirBnB are still flouting the law. If you don't see a registration number on the website, ask the seller. I had one owner try and tell me he didn't need to have one.

For a neighborhood to stay in Barcelona, I would recommend Gràcia, specifically the Vila de Gràcia area. It is the "cool" place to be now, with its co-working spaces and artist studios, but also feels very cozy and welcoming, something that is becoming hard to find in a big city like Barcelona. It is within walking distance to most of the Gaudí sites and has good access to public transportation.

Very important - as astutely mentioned by Heather above, I would double check to see if a particular listing has a H.U.T license/number (Habitatge d’ús turistic), this is required for short term tourist stays in Barcelona. If the listing does not have/provide one, then it's probably illegal and I would look for another one.

Madrid as a day trip from Barcelona is infeasible, there are plenty of other fantastic day trips from Barcelona that don't require 6+ hours of travel.

Thank you for the great information. Do you think we’ll have any trouble with language if we stay at an Airbnb rather than a hotel?