We will finish the 21 day BOE in Paris on 14 Oct and leaving on a cruise home from Barcelona on 1 Nov. That gives us 17 days to get there. The problem is we will have finished 5 days in Amsterdam and a 21 day cruise to Norway and Iceland just before the RS tour. We will probably be ready to just throttle-back and take it easy and Barcelona looks like the place to do it. We are thinking 10-12 days of leisurely exploring will cover most of the highlights. We plan to use public transportation when needed, but mostly just walk. Any thoughts or recommendations. This is our first of what we hope to be many trips to Europe.
Posted by
Barcelona + Sweden
4180 posts
For Barcelona 3 nights minimum, but 5 nights is optimal. If you're looking for a place to just kick back and relax though, I probably would look elsewhere, Barcelona is quite hectic and full of tourists, not my idea of a place to take it easy 😂
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6713 posts
With that much time, I'd pick one or two places besides Barcelona. Paris would be worth a week at least. If you're willing to rent a car, you could take a train to Bordeaux or Souillac, then spend a few days in the Dordogne, or explore the Languedoc region south of there. (But driving into Spain to drop the car would mean a big surcharge.) A week would be enough for Barcelona, or more if you wanted to visit places like Figueres or Sitges from there.
This is a very long trip, overall, everyone on the forum is jealous! ;-) You will indeed want a "vacation from your vacation," or maybe two of them. A few unscheduled days in a smaller place between Paris and Barcelona might be in order, or just hang out in one of those big cities without a sightseeing agenda for some of the time. Stroll, cafes, laundry, a concert, rinse and repeat.
Posted by
Carmel, CA, USA
2456 posts
For a place to kick back for a while, you might consider the ancient medieval part of Girona, around an hour from Barcelona by train. Beautiful, historic and picturesque ancient town, modest number very of interesting sites, famous for its many fine restaurants, with several nearby day trips possible by train or bus, such as Figueres (Dali Museum), Besalu (tiny ancient village with a many centuries old weekly market, etc.) and others. Three or four or more nights in Girona would be blissful, I think.
Posted by
Oregon
372 posts
Your tour ends in Paris? I’d add 2 in Paris, then 4 in Lyon, head to south of France/coast for 6-7 days, and on to Barcelona 3-5 days prior to cruise home.
Posted by
FL USA
1560 posts
Barcelona, wise decision.
Recommend staying in an apartment within the Garcia zone for the quieter neighborhood non-tourist vibe.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=en&ie=UTF8&om=0&msa=0&ll=41.380930000000006%2C2.169799999999986&spn=0.090162%2C0.145912&z=12&source=embed&mid=1jd3gBDiZr6shkLqSon23AEHYuIA
Public transport is superb and well connected to trains allowing ease of day trips to surrounding areas.
October is a favorite month for our visits and is easily walkable.
We keep returning to Barcelona, 5 x, to keep exploring the large and deep menu of opportunities.
Keep an eye on newspapers to learn of interesting local events.
https://www.catalannews.com/?%20
https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/category/catalunya/barcelona/
Also track available concerts to attend at the Palau (23-24 season yet to be announced), wonderful experience.
https://www.palaumusica.cat/en
Take a rest in Barcelona while allowing an awesome ample menu of opportunities to be available for your chose of selection.
Envious of your travel!
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10627 posts
Barcelona is not a particularly restful city. I was just there a couple of months ago and will be there again soon. If you are sightseeing, five days is a good start. If you want to rest, you could combine Barcelona with taking the ferry from Barcelona out to the Balearic Islands off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea, where you can island hop. They're beautiful and restful, except for Ibiza on the weekends; it's a European party place, just as Barcelona is on the weekends.
You could check to see if the overnight ferry is running.
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
3071 posts
My two cents:
Barcelona, like many other cities, has very different "ambients" depending on which area you decide to stay --actually, the street one chooses does also influence a lot when it comes to "rest" and "to avoid noise".
It's my understanding one does not spend time and money to travel to a city -any city- to "do nothing and rest". To start with, if noise is a problem, one does not go to a bustling city. Something else, of course, is that one might prefer to stay in "quieter" zones of that city, but one will surely move about and do/see things of that city which will be in areas that will be more or less "crowded". That's given.
With that in mind, I wouldn't dismiss Barcelona -or any other city- if I wanted "to relax", but I would focus on "where should I stay in the city" instead. In that regard, neighbourhoods (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Mapa_Barris_Barcelona.jpg) like El Putget i el Farró, Sant Gervasi-Galvany, El Poblenou... are nice areas for a hotel/apartment which are much quieter than the bustling old centre or l'Eixample and still are very well communicated with it.
