Hop on hop off in Barcelona?

Should do is always a relative question. Depends on what you want to do. The first time we were in Barcelona we did the bus and found it useful for getting a good view of the city. Rode it around once then got off on the second loop at the things we wanted to see. However, we tend to do the hop on/off buses when we are new to a city.

It was a fun way to get an overview of Barcelona. Much to see.

I love HOHO buses, too, and really enjoyed the one in Barcelona. It has three routes but you can transfer from one to another.

Thank you everyone. We woke up late today (stayed up too late...watched the "magic fountain" and then still needed dinner). So we didn't want to only get a half day in on the HOHO. I did look on this forum for advice and we just spent the afternoon and night doing the RS walking tour on Las Rambles (spelling??). Started in catyluna and made it to the beach in time to enjoy a couple hours at the beach.

Hi Kholl25... correct spelling "Les Rambles" as it's plural... although in the recent past, the City Hall is trying to push the singular form, "La Rambla", to refer to these boulevards. I have to say though that most locals don't go for it and we keep referring to it as "Les Rambles" as it has traditionally been for the past few hundred years.

Les Rambles de Barcelona: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/QQgzY

A BIT OF BACKGROUND (...for those interested only!)

The singular form of the term is "rambla" and it simply means boulevard in Catalan language -the local language- and it refers to a type of street characterized for being wide, normally with trees, pedestrianized (or semi-pedestrianized) and usually with terraces for socializing and/or people watching while having a drink/snack. Since the term is generic, the word "rambla" is always accompanied by another word (or words) describing the precise boulevard (much like the generic "avenue" and more specific "Washington Avenue" to refer to one avenue in particular). Thus, referring to "la rambla" can be confusing to a local in Barcelona as there are numerous boulevards in the city.

Barcelona has always been about seeing things as much as as seeing people too. Due to the climate, Mediterranean cultures have developed a very outdoors culture and strolling it's a very rooted custom among Barcelonians. For many the activity of "strolling" has evolved (so to speak) into different sub-activities: bargain hunting among the +30000 stores in the city, meeting with friends for tapas or dinner, doing sports in the city (plenty of line skaters, runners, cyclists, etc. everywhere!)... and this madness for strolling takes us to the reason why there are so many boulevards in the city. Les Rambles, which is in fact five short boulevards one next to the other stretching almost 2 miles, from Plaça Catalunya to the Columbus Statue in the Port Vell (old port), has been for many decades "the" place to stroll for many Barcelonians, especially on weekends, the place to see and be seen, to shop, to entertain, etc.

Most locals continue using the plural form 'Les Rambles' since, as mentioned above, it's a set of five different boulevards: Rambla de Canaletes -the site of the Font de Canaletes fountain-, Rambla dels Estudis -the site of the former Jesuit University, whose only remainder is the Church of Bethlehem-, Rambla de Sant Josep (or de les Flors) -the site of the former open-air flower market-, Rambla dels Caputxins - the site of a former Capuchin monastery, now dominated by the Liceu opera house and, closer to the Columbus Statue, the Rambla de Santa Mònica -named after the convent of St. Monica, now an arts centre. It has only been for the past decade or so that the City Hall has been pushing the name 'La Rambla' to designate these boulevards in an effort to 'simplify' the name from a 'marketing' point of view. Yet one should know that, while the plural form does refer unequivocally to the 5 boulevards, the single form might be confusing for many locals as the translation of "rambla" is just boulevard and there are plenty of other famous boulevards in the city such as Rambla Catalunya, Rambla del Poble Nou, Rambla del Raval, etc. Personally I advise to use the plural form when asking a local in order to avoid misunderstandings.

SIGHTS
The tree-lined central promenade of Les Rambles is crowded during the day and until late in the night. Its origins as a watercourse are reflected in the paving design, which appears to ripple like water. Along the promenade's length are kiosks that sell newspapers and souvenirs, other kiosks selling flowers, street traders, performers, and pavement cafes and bars. Several notable sights are also located on the promenade, including a mosaic by Joan Miró at the Plà de l'Os near La Boqueria Market, and the Font de Canaletes, a famous fountain and popular meeting point near Plaça Catalunya.

Mosaic at Plà de l'Os: The famous artist Joan Miró was approached in the early 70's to paint a huge mural at the airport to "greet the visitors of the city". Miró was so enthusiastic about the idea that he offered to create three more works to "greet the visitors by air, sea and land": a 30m (100ft) statue (unrealized) at the Cervantes Park in Diagonal Avenue for those arriving by land, the mosaic in Les Rambles for those arriving by sea (the cruisers' port is at the bottom of Les Rambles) and the CEAC ("Centre d'Estudis d'Art Contemporani" also known as Fundació Miró) in Montjuïc, as an open door to the future and cultural exchange.

Font de Canaletes: is an ornate fountain, crowned by a lamp post, in the upper part of Les Rambles, near Plaça de Catalunya. A late 19th-century design, it replaced a fountain dating back to the 16th century, next to the Estudis Generals, a no longer existing university introduced in 1714 by Philip V of Spain after having entered the city with his armies and banned and closed the University of Barcelona. Nowadays it is one of the city's most popular meeting points, and a fixture of football fans after Barça football matches since the 1930s. Tradition has that the one who drinks from the Font de Canaletes will come back to Barcelona as the inscription on the floor suggests. The fountain is named after the northern wall of the city dating from the 14th century called Canaletes because of the water pipes ('canaletes' in Catalan) that went through it supplying Barcelona's old city.

Strolling along La Rambla one can see such historic buildings as the Palace of the Virreina and the famous Liceu Theatre in which operas and ballets are staged. The La Boqueria market, one of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, housing a very diverse selection of goods. One of the side streets, only a few metres long, leads to the Royal Square (Plaça Reial), a plaza with palm trees and porticoed buildings containing many pubs and restaurants, and in which stamp and coin collectors gather on the weekends

HISTORY
The course of Les Rambles was originally a sewage-filled stream-bed, usually dry but an important drain for the heavy rainwater flowing from the Collserola hills during spring and autumn. It separated the walled city on its north-east bank from the settlements of El Raval ("the suburb") on its south-west. In the year 1377, construction started on an extension of the city walls to include Les Rambles and El Raval. In 1440, the stream was diverted to run outside the new walls, and Les Rambles gradually started turning into a long street. Over the next few centuries, Les Rambles became established as a centre of Barcelona city life, a long wide thoroughfare used for festivals, markets, and sports. Several large religious establishments were also built along the street during this period. These include the Jesuit Bethlehem monastery and college (1553), of which just the later church remains; the Carmelite St. Joseph's monastery, on the site of the current Boqueria market; and a Capuchin monastery at the lower end of the street. In 1703, the first of the trees lining Les Rambles were planted. Various conflicts over recent centuries took their toll on Les Rambles's religious buildings, most notably the St. James's Night riots in 1835 when revolutionaries burned the monasteries and churches and massacred the monks and nuns; and the Spanish Civil War in 1936-39, when Barcelona came under the control of anarchists who again targeted religious buildings and personnel, as well as being damaged by artillery and air attacks on the area from fascist-Franco forces attacking the city. Until 2010, the Rambla dels Estudis was the site of an open-air market for caged birds and other small pets. However animal protection laws made it difficult for the market to continue. After years of fighting the legislation, the market was forced to close down.

Les Rambles is a key landmark in the city since the 12th century, and for those interested in history, it has certainly fascinating stories. Since the late 1700s it was one important site for Barcelonians to socialize, and to see and be seen. The El Liceu Opera House, the Cafe de la Òpera bar frequented by aristocracy and upper classes as well as writers and artists, the art exhibitions at the Virreina Palace or at Santa Mònica Arts Centre, some of the most curious -and especialized- shops in the city (ie. Casa Beethoven, any music script you wish it's there!), the famous Boqueria market, which started as a weekly meat market in 1217 AD, etc and many more things can be found in Les Rambles. And Les Rambles was also about the people that used to frequent this boulevard: the shoeshine boys -much likes Chaplin's- and the clerks that at the turn of the 20th century for a few cents used to read and write letters on behalf of those that weren't literate, and characters like the endearing Ms. Monyos or Pedro Sanpablo, the "man of the pigeons". Les Rambles also hosted the first private modern bank in Spain, the Bank of Barcelona (1844) and has seen many unlikely incidents like a plane crash in 1934. But since the 1960s it gradually lost its importance along its charm and many of the businesses that gave it a very unique ambiance, like the florists (today's few stalls are just a small sample of what it once was) have just disappeared; these days is merely a medium length boulevard full of awful and expensive tourist traps selling bad tapas and sangria at outrageous prices, tacky souvenir shops and pickpockets. It's also true that it also has some worth visiting landmarks (La Boqueria market, Palau de la Virreina, El Liceu Opera House, etc) and it's so central that it's a 'door' to go either to the Old Port, El Raval or El Gòtic. The Human Statues are also in the last stretch of Les Rambles, near the Columbus Statue. One will notice however the crowds have always been there ;)

One must walk along Les Rambles to understand the spirit of Barcelona!

Enric! Thank you. Such interesting information. I very much enjoyed our stroll yesterday afternoon and evening. It appeared that the "rougher side" came out after 10...just held backpack and children closer! ALL of the "booths" (sheets on the ground) selling jewelry, shoes and handbags. So many! Stopped to look at one "Burberry" bag that the seller insisted came from New York...yet I could have it for the wonderful price of 18€!

Yeah, after 10ish (weekdays) and 2am/3am (Fri and Sat) -the latter it's closing time for most clubs/bars-, many of the "characters" left in Les Rambles are indeed "rougher" -and a bit unsavoury sometimes: from all sorts of dodgy people to drunken tourists and other hooligans.

As per the people you saw selling stuff on the floor -they're referred to as "manters", from the word 'manta' in Catalan meaning blanket, which of course refers to the sheet (or 'blanket') they place on the floor to put the counterfeit stuff they sell -don't you have any doubt about that, a Burberry bag for 18€?, you wish! They are mostly illegal African migrants and they often have scuffles with the Police, but the City Hall has decided not to be too tough on them in order not to increase the problem. They're here illegally thus they can't obtain a work permit, yet they have to survive thus they buy cheap stuff (shoes, bags and other complements) in the Chinese warehouses outside the city to resell on the street to passerbyes. Interestingly, the Chinese warehouses have frequent Police raids to confiscate counterfeits and illegally imported goods, yet this seems not to alter too much their business model as they continue to import them. I guess it's impossible to inspect all of the containers received in the docks of the commercial harbour... it's far too big.

In any case, if anyone believes he/she can't buy say bags from big brands at those prices, he/she deserves to be swindled, right? ;)))

PS: And yes, they tell you it comes from the Moon if necessary, hahaha!

Btw... not that I encourage buying counterfeit stuff from illegal sellers.... but these days, many of these "booth" as you call them are along the port side at Passeig de Joan de Borbó, in La Barceloneta: http://bit.ly/28LOqp4

This was two days ago: http://www.ccma.cat/tv3/alacarta/telenoticies-vespre/operacio-contra-manters-a-barcelona/video/5607655/

And I literally mean "these days" because they'll probably be there until the Police starts to pressure them to leave, then they'll move somewhere else. And this will happen as soon as they start attracting "too much" attention and the local shops start to complain about unfair competition to the City Hall. It's a sort of cat-and-mouse game.