Where to stay in Barcelona for someone with limited mobility

You have my sympathy. I did a number on one of my ankles mid-trip in 2015, and I had a difficult time avoiding re-injury, even wearing quality walking shoes with grippy soles.

I'm sure Enric will check in with all the details you need. I don't remember hills in the Barri Gotic; I'd have said it was flat, along with El Born and at least some of the Eixample. As you go farther out through Gracia, you are walking uphill, and for sure Parc Guell involves an uphill walk. Montjuic (museum district, no lodgings), unsurprisingly, involves a lot of climbing, although escalators provide a great deal of assistance, especially approaching from Pl. Espanya. I'm not sure about La Sagrada Familia because I took public transportation to get there. I would not want to stay in that area because it's so far from most of the big-name sights.

I hope Enric can address the pavement situation in the Barri Gotic. I simply do not remember. Cobblestones can be an extra challenge you do not need with a bad ankle. I stayed just off Pl. Catalunya in the direction of Barri Gotic and found it an extremely convenient area with flat pavement.

You can go to Google Maps, find the Barri Gotic, switch to Earth view, and drag the little yellow man to any street you are considering. That will get you down to eye-level and allow you to see the pavement. I've just taken a quick look at two streets, and I see flat paving stones rather than cobbles. Don't know that the flat stones are everywhere, though.

If you are choosing among multiple options, you might favor one that's closer to a Metro station. Be aware, though, that there's sometimes a lot of walking underground before you get to the platform.

Taxis are not that expensive in Barcelona, and are everywhere. In your situation, I'd plan on taking them more than you usually might. You'll definitely want them for long distances if you find the metro stairs too much, for the hilly parts of town, or for places more than 1-2 blocks from the nearest metro stop. Of course, there are buses in addition to the metro, which should work better with an injured ankle.

Hi there!

Thanks for your comments acraven ;)

Barcelona is mostly flat in its central districts, it becomes hilly -almost "mountainous"- the more you go north towards the Collserola Hills, where Tibidabo is located, as well as the district of Montjuïc, to the west. Same goes for Park Güell, which is on top of a hill.

I must say the picture above --probably taken from the window of a plane just before landing at the airport, which is located by the sea-- does not make justice about the size of the city. While Barcelona is quite compact if compared to other capital cities, it's certainly much bigger than it appears in this picture. Don't you be fooled into thinking that it's that easy walkable :))

The district of Ciutat Vella (Old Town), comprised by the neighbourhoods of El Raval, El Gòtic, La Barcelona, La Ribera, Sant Pere and Santa Caterina, is mostly flat, same goes for the district just next to this one, l'Eixample -where most of the Modernist buildings are located (ie Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, La Sagrada Família, etc). Just as a reference, when strolling the El Gòtic neighbourhood you're likely to visit (and if not, you should!) the Temple d'August -the remains of the Roman forum of the city, now tucked between a melange of medieval buildings- which was located on a hill called "Mont Taber" and when you do, before entering the building you'll see a plaque on the wall indicating that was the "highest" point when Barcelona was simply a small Roman settlement... which was merely some 60 feet above sea level. So there you go, that's how hilly El Gòtic is! More info here. Also, get acquainted with the districts and neighbourhoods.

Regarding paved streets in El Gòtic, unfortunately there are almost no cobbled streets left - and I say 'unfortunately' because they gave a flair of ancientness and were kind of romantic- and these days are all asphalt-based, like in most modern cities. In the whole of the city there might be a short dozen strips left. So bad news for hopeless romantics, good news for people with bad knees and other walking difficulties (also for women in high heels!)

As per where to set camp, that depends a lot on personal preferences and reasons might wildly vary so I'll simply give you my point of view "if I was a visitor" to the city.

In any case, aside from 11000+ inexpensive taxis with 24/7 availability, the city has an excellent network of public transports (metro-bus-tramway-train) and most stations are adapted for disabled people (I know it's not your case @ponman, but might be for other readers of this post). This is an unofficial map of the metro/train network compiled by a user which indicates the few stations that are not yet adapted. Lastly, a handy website for disabled visitors.

Enjoy

PS: For info, while the neighbourhood is often referred to as "barri Gòtic", note the correct name is "El Gòtic" as the word 'barri', means simply 'neighbourhood' in Catalan, the local language. You'll hear a lot of locals referring to it as "barri Gòtic", but again, many won't use the same form for other neighbourhoods (ie. noboby says "barri de Gràcia" or "barri del Poblenou", but just "Gràcia" or "Poblenou").

Clarification:

Today, while strolling in the Old City, I thought about the response I gave yesterday and I would like to clarify something: firstly to mention that when I referred to "pavement" I did so in the US sense ('road surface' in the UK). But again, maybe the OP was referring to the sidewalks?? :)) The "sidewalks" are mostly paved with even tiles so as to obtain an almost flat surface. Also to mention that in the narrow streets in the area, most of them semi-pedestrianised, there are no sidewalks but a single paved surface, normally of big flat stones and not small cobblestones like in the past. The later is what I was referring to above, this sort of surface has all but disappeared from the Barcelona streets.

Thank you so much to all of you for your advice! I appreciate the help. I will be heading out with good shoes, my ankle brace, a lighter back pack, and a sense of humor (its all an adventure.....right?). Looking forward to our first visit to Spain! Take Care...