Stay in La Ribera or Barri Gotic?

With its dark narrow alleys I find Barri Gotic quite claustrophobic, and they can be intimidating late at night.
La Ribera offers easy access to Barceloneta beaches as well as the wonderful Parc de la Ciutadella, and although the area is heavy with tourists (like Barri Gotic), the trendy bars and restaurants are also very popular with locals.

They're next to each other. I don't think it matters. More important is being close to a metro station. Barcelona is spread out and many important sights are nowhere near either. There are plenty of great places to eat everywhere.

• One is next to the other, both are from similar historic periods thus you'll find the same type of construction (including the same type of narrow old alleys!)
• Both are overrun by you tourists :)
• Distances are short in that area, so you can walk from one side to the other easily, also, many streets and alleys are either pedestrianised or semi-pedestrianised thus it really doesn't make much difference where you end up staying.
• I find more important the street in itself when choosing where to stay since this might be better than that: less noisy, less 'claustrophobic' (for some, lol!), closer to the public transportation, with more or fewer shops, or more or fewer restaurants, etc. So once you've narrowed your accommodation feel free to come back for opinions and advice -if you want.

Enjoy!

Yeah, I'm not sure there's much difference in terms of the physical surroundings. It was my impression that there were somewhat more tourists wandering around the Barri Gotic streets, especially near the Picasso Museum [Enric has set me straight--the museum is in La Ribera; but I was right that the streets around it can be quite busy], but the Barri Gotic is a bit closer to most of the key tourist spots, which you might appreciate if you tend to walk rather than hop on the Metro.

.... Picasso Museum is in La Ribera, not El Gòtic :)))))

Anyhow, the lapsus is understandable as there are few signs indicating when one neighbourhood ends and another begins, and unless you're familiar with the divisions, it's quite normal that it all looks the same. For curious: http://bit.ly/BCNhoods. For acraven, as you know the city a bit already: left of Via Laietana is El Gòtic, right is La Ribera (at the lower part of the street, the middle is Santa Caterina and the top is Sant Pere).

edit... yes, you are acraven, the streets around can be very busy, especially in Jul/Aug !

I find more important the street in itself when choosing where to stay since this might be better than that: less noisy, less 'claustrophobic' (for some, lol!), closer to the public transportation, with more or fewer shops, or more or fewer restaurants, etc.

I bow down to this advice from Enric, as it really depends on what is in very close proximity to where you are considering. Even some (long) streets are better at one end (in terms of noise, cleanliness, lighting) than the other end.

Always look for metro close by !!

Thank you everyone! I will narrow it down to particular streets and come back for advice. ;)