Help me plan my visit to Barcelona!

[Tamas]

My dad is a huge FC Barcelona fan and this year I finally want to take him to a game of theirs on their home turf. The possible dates are september 20 and october 25

There is only one budget airline running a direct flight between budapest and barcelona, and the problem with them (beside that I havent flown with a low budget airline yet so I dont know how much of a hassle that is) is that altough we could arrive with them on saturday, we could only leave on tuesday (in both cases). That would raise accomodation costs but of course would also give plenty of time for touristy stuff

viamichelin.com says it would take around 18 hours and about 360 euros with a car, one way.

the Hungarian airline runs to Madrid daily, that is an option for October, it seems rail connection between madrid and barcelona cost about 100 euros per trip which is sorta okay except for that I dont know how hard it is to navigate between the airports and the train stations.
In general, I dont know how easy it is to use the spanish mass transit system.

And I dont have the faintest idea about where to sleep yet.

So any feedback would be very welcome. Spainards to my rescue!

[Monoriu]

My experience with budget airlines is that they are generally ok (especially for short trips like yours), except for one thing.  Timeliness.  Because they have so few spare aircraft and crew, and they rely on very tight schedules, any mishap will cause a chain reaction of delays.  So you probably need to build some buffer into your schedule. 

The other thing is, have you considered a connected flight to a place other than Spain, e.g. fly from Budapest to, say, Paris, and from Paris to Barcelona?  Connected flights generally involve less hassle than changing from airports to train stations, if that's your concern.  Avoid Rome if you can, though (it's a mess). 

[Alatriste]

Regarding travelling from Budapest to Barcelona, I can but support what Mono says: cheap airlines usually are good enough - barely IMHO - while everything goes OK, but the moment anything fails a nasty chain reaction follows. Not good if you have a tight schedule.

Some comments:

- Both Vueling and Wizz Air are supposed to flight Budapest-Barcelona.

- If you flight to Madrid, you haver another option, to flight MAD-BCN (Iberia operates an 'air bridge' with at least one flight every hour, and other airlines add many more; there are literally more than 100 daily flights between the two cities). The train will probably be cheaper, however, and being a high-speed link it could be faster too.

- I would suppose navigating our mass transit systems is quite easy (after all we receive many millions of tourists) but being Spaniard myself I would prefer other Languishites to offer their experiences.

About Barcelona, I think a native will know far more than me (I'm from Madrid) but Gaudí's buildings are a must, specially so the famous 'Sagrada Familia' cathedral, and a true Languishite shouldn't miss the opportunity to see the reconstructed galley of don Juan de Austria in the Maritime Museum, built following the original plans; my visit dates from 25-30 years ago but it remember it was an impressive sight.

[Jaron]

Fly on Air France.

[The Larch]

I flew Budapest - Barcelona last year on Clickair (Vueling nowadays), so you shouldn't have problems finding a direct route. Going via Madrid seems to be an extra hustle that can be easily avoided.

Just checked: With Vueling it's 200€ per person for the first weekend you said, and 170€ for the second.

[Valdemar]

Regarding travelling from Budapest to Barcelona, I can but support what Mono says: cheap airlines usually are good enough - barely IMHO - while everything goes OK, but the moment anything fails a nasty chain reaction follows. Not good if you have a tight schedule.

Some comments:

- Both Vueling and Wizz Air are supposed to flight Budapest-Barcelona.

- If you flight to Madrid, you haver another option, to flight MAD-BCN (Iberia operates an 'air bridge' with at least one flight every hour, and other airlines add many more; there are literally more than 100 daily flights between the two cities). The train will probably be cheaper, however, and being a high-speed link it could be faster too.

- I would suppose navigating our mass transit systems is quite easy (after all we receive many millions of tourists) but being Spaniard myself I would prefer other Languishites to offer their experiences.

About Barcelona, I think a native will know far more than me (I'm from Madrid) but Gaudí's buildings are a must, specially so the famous 'Sagrada Familia' cathedral, and a true Languishite shouldn't miss the opportunity to see the reconstructed galley of don Juan de Austria in the Maritime Museum, built following the original plans; my visit dates from 25-30 years ago but it remember it was an impressive sight.

As a tourist i don't recall Don Juan's galley, but Columbus St maria caravel was there.

The "Rambla?" is also nice for tourists there are some good museums if you are into paintings, a very good chance of some good bars and restaurants and for Gaudi I'd say go for a tour and see his other buildings, they are in many ways more "accessible" than the cathedral.. though its been 10+ years since i was last there.

V

[Alatriste]

As a tourist i don't recall Don Juan's galley, but Columbus St maria caravel was there.

The "Rambla?" is also nice for tourists there are some good museums if you are into paintings, a very good chance of some good bars and restaurants and for Gaudi I'd say go for a tour and see his other buildings, they are in many ways more "accessible" than the cathedral.. though its been 10+ years since i was last there.

V

I don't know if the 'Santa Maria' is still there - IIRC it cought fire some years ago, like 'Cutty Shark' - but the 'Real' has never left dockyard. And she's a real beauty!

[Ed Anger]

If you find a torrent for it Tamas, look up Rick Steves Barcelona show.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/spain/498barce.htm

[Tamas]

It will be the 25th of October, it is now sure. We are planning on staying for Monday as well so we can have most of Sunday and Monday for sightseeing, and my mother is coming as well, which is nice because I want them to get used to flying and have them actually go on holidays for their own good.
Anyways that means if anyone will be there during those days and want to have a beer, I can  leave the others behind and meet him.

I will later look for some accomodation and post the info here for comments.

[Cerr]

The Gothic quarter is a nice place to wander around.
If you like art, the Picasso museum is worth going to see but it's very touristy, best time to visit would probably be in the late afternoon.
All the Gaudi stuff is interesting, the park (Parc Guell) being my favourite of his things.
The museum of the History of Catalonia is also worth visiting.

[Monoriu]

Have some Spanish Tapas while you are there 

[Lucidor]

Make sure to study the rules for baggage limits. IIRC Ryan Air charges extra for checking luggage, so you'd probably be best off with hand luggage only (and remind your dad not to pack fluid in too large containers and scissors).

[Admiral Yi]

Watch Barcelona and L'Auberge Espanol, particularly Barcelona.

[Tamas]

I am thinking about "Hotel Eurostars Mitre" as a place to stay. Far from being the cheapest or the most expensive, it does not seem to be so far away from the city center either. Could one of you spanish guys be kind enough to google it for reviews? there is a ton but I can't translate.

Also the flight is a hard decision: Malév, the national airways go to madrid quite cheaply, if we go from saturday until tuesday. judging by google maps, the Barcelona airport is very near to their railway junction so I dont think it would be much more hassle once we arrive there.

But of course we would need to arrive there first, and Vueling goes straight there, altough only a little bit cheaper, and we would need to stay until wednesday.

[Tamas]

Okay here is an other problem:

It SEEMS that you can buy tickets on fcbarcelona.com. It is cheaper, obviously, but also its a "print your own ticket" kind of stuff which is clearly superior to the "fedex will bring it to your hotel one day prior to the game" stuff of the agency.
BUT! I cant get into any match past 30th of September. Questions:
-would it be normal that they are not selling tickets for that yet?
-anyone knows an e-mail address to ask the website?