Best Neighborhoods to Stay in Barcelona and Madrid

Can’t speak to Madrid, but for Barcelona I love El Born! I always stay in St Germain-des-Prés when I’m in Paris and always stay in El Born in Barcelona for what that’s worth. Santa Caterina market is in the heart of the neighbourhood, characteristic little streets, great shops. Walkable to all of the Gothic Quarter sights and I also found it walkable to the various Gaudi sights in the Eixample (though people’s tolerance for walking varies).

We stayed at Hotel Europa in the center of Madrid. We enjoyed the vibe and central location to walk to sights and restaurants. We chose an upper floor room with a balcony with an amazing view and activities of Puerta del Sol. The balcony windows were well insulated from any noise.

We would highly recommend Hotel Jazz in Barcelona. It too is centrally located to sights & restaurants. We walked everywhere except Park Guell. We took a taxi. www.hoteljazz.com.

Both hotels were well appointed, great breakfasts, and superb customer service.

Just to point out, not to confuse would-be visitors to Barcelona: El Born is not a neighbourhood nor a district, it's merely the name of a short 300-yard fairly narrow boulevard. While it's true that, out of ignorance, some locals -especially expats!- refer to the area around that boulevard as "the neighbourhood of" or the "district of", the fact is that the area is in the neighbourhood of La Ribera which belongs to the district of Ciutat Vella. See neighbourhoods and districts. Saying so because if, for example, searching on rental apt websites, these tend to be organised by neighbourhoods (actual ones!) and/or districts. If one tries to search "El Born" it shouldn't be found.

... and a few ideas on what to visit if you're walking the area immediately next to the boulevard:

1.) A visit to the CENTRE CULTURAL EL BORN, where the huge Catalan flag is located -you'll understand where I mean when you are there!- is well worthwhile. There you can understand the origins of the animosity between Catalans and the Spanish dating back several centuries. Before you ask: "no, many Catalans we don't consider ourselves Spanish" :)

2.) The church of Santa Maria del Mar, located just around the corner, dating from the 14th century was built by fishermen to honour Virgin Mary, hence the name "del Mar" -Catalan for "from the Sea". If you like to read, this is a good international bestseller you might like and it's based around this particular church.

3.) Curious shops: just behind Santa Maria del Mar there's an old shop, Casa Gisper which you might want to visit. Period :). Also, at the esplanade in front of 1.) there's another one called Casa Perris. Both are featured in this article . Also, on your way to Casa Gisper you'll see Kukuxumusu. Then, on the other side of the church, you'll come across La Botifarreria de Santa Maria And, if you like me like chocolate, in front of 2.) there's a pâtisserie named Bubó. In all, these shops are a few minutes walk from each other.

Thanks for the great information!
Do you have any specific hotels you can recommend near El Born?
We would like to keep the price under $200/night if possible but don't need anything too fancy. We would like an elevator and a shower in our room. Breakfast would be a plus.
Any suggestions?

Since we plan on being in Barcelona for 5 days, an apartment might be a good possibility too.

Hello from Wisconsin,

We have stayed in four different areas of Madrid. Each had its own charm and made us want to return to it. None were real close to Plaza del Sol or Plaza Major which are densly filled with tourists. Get out 6 or 8 'blocks' from either and the coffee shops and restsursnts are accustomed to serving repeat customers ( locals).

As for Barcelona. The Ramblas, THE mian street for tourists splits the old town. If you are walking towrd the water, I think you are going mostly south. So west would be to your right. To the west of Ramblas it is not so gentrified. A bit more real. S grwat place for experienced visitors. The east is where airbnb guests stay and probably better suited for less experienced guests.

Wayne iNWI

For Madrid, consider La Latina (the area around La Latina metro station) We found it to have lots of local flavour, while being very near Plaza Major and Puerto del Sol. We loved the area, tons of awesome bars and cafe's with grocery stores and local shops as well. We stayed one block off Calle Toledo in an apartment we found through Mad4Rent.

Thanks for the clarification Enric :)

I’ve stayed in the Yurbban Trafalgar hotel which is just on the edge of La Ribera. A very short walk to the street El Born!

The Plaza Santa Ana area is ideal, I have stayed twice at Guesthouse Hostal Atocha Almudena Martín, although when I stayed there it was simply "Hostal Martin." 43 Calle de Atocha; this is a busy street but as you get closer to Plaza Mayor it gets lets and let busy and actually pretty quiet. I might choose something more upscale myself on my next trip to Spain, but this general area is a great location. Easy walk to major sights, near Calle de Huertas pedestrian boulevard.

Barcelona does not allow Uber, FYI. There are plentiful and cheap taxis EVERYWHERE there, they are great. We liked the Glories area of Barcelona, not sure if that is the official neighborhood name, but it was clean, you can see the ocean from your hotel if high up enough, great outdoor shopping center with restaurants and a grocery store, and easy access to the more crowded touristy areas. See https://goo.gl/maps/LiMDz9WvvueZEFvq9

We preferred the Eixample neighborhood of Barcelona.
In Madrid, we stayed near Gran Via which was so convenient to Retiro Park and the museums.

Even if you're not looking for "cheap" places to stay, I find the EuroCheapo website very helpful. Here's their take on neighborhoods in Barcelona: https://www.eurocheapo.com/barcelona/hoods/
and Madrid: https://www.eurocheapo.com/madrid/hoods/

Here's another take for Barcelona neighborhoods, from TripAdvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g187497-s204/Barcelona:Spain:Neighbourhoods.html

In Barcelona we have stayed in apartments in the Gracia neighborhood twice. It is a bit off the tourist track, but easily walkable to most sites. It is a more residential area with nice neighborhood shops and plazas. We will be in Barcelona again the end of Sept. with another couple. Unfortunately we could not find a 2 bdrm, 2 bath apt. in Gracia so are staying in Eixample area this time. We used reservations@feelathomeapartments.com for a one bdrm/bath apartment in theiri Mozart building in Gracia last time we were there and found them very easy to work with.

Regarding Barcelona and the post about the area west of the Ramblas. I see a hotel there, Hotel Casa Camper (at Carrer Elisabets 11) that gets great reviews. I'm confused though because this seems to be in a neighborhood area that people discourage. Does anyone have experience with this hotel / location?

Jim, I don't know that hotel, but it's just off the Ramblas, very near both the Boqueria market and the Museum of Contemporary Art. I don't remember anything unusual about that immediate area. The scruff begins a little farther in and maybe a bit more to the south. We need one of our Barcelona experts here to try to pin down the area where some visitors might feel uncomfortable.

Hi Jim, you are right Hotel Casa Camper does have great reviews (almost too good), seems like a real gem. Location wise the hotel is in the "better" part of Raval, closer to the Eixample district. However as acraven pointed out, the problem areas begin when one strays closer to the sea, basically the area south east of la Boqueria.

However, a caveat, this experience is a bit dated, I was back in Barcelona this summer, and am quite upset with the deterioration of security in the Ciutat Vella as a whole (including this area). I cannot say how the north part of Raval may have changed with this recent rise of violent crime. Honestly, if it were up to me I would look for lodging farther from the Ciutat Vella, like in Gracia or the Eixample districts, just for peace of mind more than anything else.

We stayed right on Plaza Santa Ana in Madrid, and loved it.

In Barcelona, we stayed in Eixample area. Still very walkable to everything.

If you want to stay several days in one place, I highly recommend an apartment.