Touring Barcelona on a Budget
Stretching Euros in Spain’s Most Beautiful Mediterranean City
European cities, even such wildly popular ones as Barcelona, don’t have to break the travel budget. A few tips and a little planning can cut the cost of sightseeing and dining, as well as enrich the experience and get beyond the standard tourist routes. Follow these tops to enjoy Barcelona on the cheap.
Free Museum Days
Plan a visit to include the first Sunday of the month and save the most expensive museums (which includes the Picasso Museum) for that day, when they are typically free. The Catalonian National Art Museum, in the National Palace is free on the first Thursday of each month. This museum, whose entry fee is normally around $12, is a must for those who love medieval churches, since it contains the original wall paintings from the most important of the Romanesque churches in Catalonia. Explore the gardens and hedge maze at Parc del Laberint d’Horta free on Wednesdays and Sundays. These and other free admission days are subject to change, so just to be certain, ask at the tourist office.
Bus Passes
To cover the long stretches between concentrations of sights, the bus system is helpful, and the best deal for those who plan to use it a lot is to buy a pass, sold for periods of two through five days. That said, Barcelona is such a beautiful city that apart from the outlying places like Parc Guell, walking is an adventure in itself, and will turn up discoveries at every turn in the street.
Tips on Tipping
American travelers used to mentally adding the cost of US tipping standards as they browse a restaurant menu, will be pleased to learn that tipping is not the same in Spain. A fine dining restaurant with outstanding service, a 10% tip wouild be correct, but 5% is more customary in less posh surroundings. For a lunch or light meal in a modest place, rounding up the check by 50 cents is polite. The same 5% rule is true for taxi drivers, too.
Market Meals
Or forget about tipping at all, and head for Boqueria, Barcelona’s extraordinary central market, not only for free entertainment and local color, but for food. Nosh inexpensively at the stalls or provision with bread, cheese, fruit and sausage for a picnic lunch or dinner to enjoy in a park – perhaps the free Parc de la Ciutadella.
Wandering Free
Many of the most enjoyable pastimes in Barcelona are free – wandering the Gothic Quarter, admiring the Gaudi architecture on Passeig de Gracia, joining the evening stroll along La Rambla, sunning on the beach. The cathedral (not Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, which is not the cathedral) is free in the morning and the beautiful Santa Maria del Mar is always free, as are most other churches.
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