- Barcelona
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- drinking
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Spain
Take the lift to the roof-top terrace for smashing views over the harbour. Open from 11.00 till 01.30 at the weekends and till midnight during the week you can book a meal or just enjoy a drink and the view. There’s live music and cocktails too. It’s a great place to cool off and chill out.
Passeig Colóm, 12, 08002 Barcelona
+34 93 268 90 90
www.hduquesadecardona.com/
Google map: bit.ly/pwC1kz
Café Flanders is on the corner of a pleasant square at the farther end of Gràcia, a square retaining much more local flavour than the other, more central ones. An ideal spot for relaxation and a quiet drink to regroup after shopping in Gràcia or visiting the nearby Park Güell. A fine selection of beers and wines. You can find them on Facebook.
As a curiosity, there’s a bronze statue of Rovira i Trias, one of Cerdà’s competitors in the tender for designing Barcelona’s Eixample; his plans, based on concentric developments around the old town, lie discarded at his feet.
Plaça Rovira i Trias, 1 Barcelona, 08024
+34 93 284 3070
Google map: bit.ly/pbXL76
A slice of heaven about 40 minute drive north of Barcelona. Words really cannot describe how amazing this place is. If you're looking for some peace and quiet for a few days then I would really recommend spending some time at Can Bonastre. Set within 200 acres of vineyards at the foot of the Montserrat mountains, there are a couple of very good restaurants, spa, swimming pool and they produce all their own wine on site. Well worth bringing back a few bottles!
A cool, funky bar which will accept you like a friend, whether you are an aristocrat or an alcoholic (or maybe both!). One of the cheaper bars in Barcelona, it may look a little rough and intimidating from the outside, but inside is a small oasis of calm, where people sit around discussing the days events, catching up with the papers, or simply whiling away a few hours, not doing much at all.
The surrounding area around Placa George Orwell is a little on the 'ghetto' side but on the numerous occasions I have been there I have never felt threatened, or uneasy.
Serves good, cheap food as well.
Carrer d'Arai (Placa George Orwell)
For uninterrupted views over Barcelona, take the tram up to Tibidabo and order an ice cold beer or a Mojito at Bar Mirablau (Bar BlueView in Catalan).
A very cool district of Barcelona, El Raval, stretches away just to the west of the Ramblas.
Not quite Barcelona's seamy underbelly, but in a decidedly chi-chi town, the next best thing.
In keeping with its working-class roots, there are still plenty of scruffy neighbourhood bars amidst the proliferating clothes shops, hip bars and restaurants.
From Placa Catalunya (north) to La Rambla (east); Ronda Sant Antoni (west) to Ronda Sant Pau (south)
What a find! Large bar/restaurant, beautifully decorated with real imagination and character. There is a very New York feel to this bar. Cool, relaxed and totally beautiful. Cocktails to die for with a varied menu to suit all tastes and very nicely priced. Staff are friendly, this is a great place for a party. Got talking with one customer who will be holding her wedding here. Not to be missed.
www.marmaladebarcelona.com/
Calle Riera Alta, 4-6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
+34934 423 966
Google map: bit.ly/mZOAs6
This is a bar that I would dearly love to have just down the road at home!
Small, cosy and intimate, playing great music from Joy Division, The Smiths, Bowie, The Sex Pistols, etc.. An indie mecca for music.
Friendly bar staff, cheap prices and never that concerned about closing! I left there at gone 2am and there was no sign of people leaving, in fact others were still coming in!
Do yourself a favour and discover this little gem!
Great environment. Excellent cava selection. Even though there might be a queue the line moves quickly - we were out the door and it took us less than 20 minutes to sit down (can't book). I preferred it to the sister restaurant - the flagship Commerce 24 (too sterile for me).
tapaC24
diputacio, 269
08007 barcelona
If you are a carnivore, and like eating lamb, then go to Asador de Aranda. If you aren't a carnivore, and don't like eating lamb, then don't. It's as simple as that. Asador de Aranda serves only lamb. but wow - it's the best lamb you could ever imagine. They stick great big wodges of the meat in a wood stove, and it comes out crisp on the outside and melting in the middle. You don't need anything with it, because anything else would simply fill a hole in your tummy which could otherwise be filled with lamb, so don't waste that space. It's a local favourite, so you won't find tourists here, just local families celebrating birthdays, or just enjoying lamb! The staff are wonderful, and delighted in watching us tuck into the juicy meat. In fact two waiters were so thrilled by our reaction that they brought us complimentary dessert and liqueurs - we really made some friends that night! Ignore the Ramblas, go to Asador de Aranda!
Avinguda Tibidabo, 31, Barcelona 08080 Spain www.asadoraranda.com/
A friendly, bohemian cafe-bar in the Gothic quarter, just off Carrer de Ferran. Expect to be sitting alongside writers and artists - writing and drawing, no less - during your stay. Food is reasonably priced (eg soup and a main - the 'combi of the day' - for 6 euros). Plus the staff all seem to know English, but avoid speaking it if possible - usually a good sign.
5 Calle de Arai
The hotel Omm is one of the coolest in the city with a price tag to match. In the lobby is the restaurant Moo (equally expensive) and also brasserie Moovida.
Although having different names, the restaurant and brasserie tables are almost next to each other so there's not too much difference in atmosphere, the food and wines (try the rose) are delicious and it's a fraction of the price.
Perfect place for taking friends to impress them!
Lobby of Hotel Omm. Rosselló, 265, Barcelona, Barcelona 08008.
A tiny dark wood bar where the ageing white-suited cocktail barmen expertly mix all the classics. It has no menu so this isn’t the place to go for a passionfruit vodkatini, but if you want to experience all the understated glamour of a bygone era, there’s no better place. Go for its simple signature gimlet cocktail or a martini. Heaven.
Calle Rec 24 (metro Jaume 1
Tiny cocktail bar (no tables, no chairs - just a bar). Though in the middle of Born still a very nice place.
Rec 24 (just off Santa Maria del Mar church) in the Born
The 'hetro friendly' Axel Hotel in Barcelona has a great roof top bar. Relax by the spa in the day and start the evening with drinks on the roof before hitting the bars below.
Boadas cocktail bar is the oldest in Barcelona and does not have a list of cocktails. Just ask for anything or describe your mood and the bartenders will mix you the perfect drink.
If you can't afford to stay at the luxury Arts Hotel on the marina, you should definitely pop in for a couple of drinks and use the terrace.
Drinks aren't expensive. In fact, they were cheaper than our three-star hotel!
Pile 43: the best mojito I've ever had, in a cool bar that doubles as a furniture shop, or is it the other way round?
For an alternative bar, filled with grungy Spaniards and cool European types, with a DJ playing cool indie tunes, try Cafe Flamingos, in the heart of El Raval, just five minutes' walk from Las Ramblas.
15 Carrer Pintor Fortuna
The 9th Floor café in El Corte Ingles department store in Placa Catalunya. Snacks. Coffee. Beer. Reasonable prices and even better views.
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