This is a sponsored post with Marco Polo Guides.
I didn’t quite know what to expect with Barcelona, I didn’t plan too much as I knew there were certain things that you obviously have to see but the rest of the stay would be spent roaming around (sometimes aimlessly!) and heading to a Metallica concert so I thought I’d create a a first timers guide to spending less in Barcelona for those who are wondering how to get the most out of their trip!
Such a lifesaver. Before we travelled we got to know the area’s with the handy pull out map and handy hints and tips that would come in useful for our 4 night stay in Barcelona. It even recommends a lot of the Craft Beer places that we decided to check out whilst we were there such as Garage Beer! The beauty of the Marco Polo Guide is that it’s a handy size that you can easily throw in a bag and it won’t take up too much space either, so even when we sere on the go and needed a little bit of direction we always had our trusty guide book to refer back to.
We stayed at the Moods Catedral Hostel which was marketed as a 2 star accommodation we found via booking.com (and eventually ended up booking direct to get a better rate!) I was extremely shocked that this place only rates as a 2 star because I felt we got a heck of a lot for our money. The décor was truly that of Bloggers/Instagrammers dream, with clean white sheets, rattan furniture – the minimalistic look was on point here. And the added bonus of having a a balcony overlooking the square and Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter was something you can only dream of when staying in a city centre destination! I truly believe that it’s simply down to the fact it markets itself as a hostel that we blagged such a great deal. For 4 night we paid just over 700 euros, which sounds a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, it was pretty reasonable in comparison to other hotels we had looked and nothing compared to the standard, cleanliness and location of the Moods Catedral. My top tip is to be open minded to the lower classed hotels as you may be pleasantly surprised!
The drive from the airport to the centre of Barcelona is about half an hour to forty five minutes depending on the traffic so could end up being a little pricey if you took a cab (remember there’s no Uber in Barcelona!) so the cheapest way to get to Barcelona are the blue Airport Aerobus. You can pre-pay here or pick up your ticket from the driver or stands depending on where you get on and off. It cost us a mere 5.10 euros each for a single ticket!
A lot of the museums offer free tickets on the first Sunday of the month. It’s a great way to see the cities major sights on a budget so if you can get flights at a decent price you are going to save a huge amount there. Sadly we only realised this a day after but our Marco Polo Guide does explain this too!
Everyone recommended using the Sightseeing Buses to us before we went but when we arrived and found it was 40 euros each for a 2 day pass we nearly fainted. Now, we don’t mind forking out, if we really have to, but the Metro is a quick and cheap way of get from point A to point B. For a 48 hour pass on the Metro, it only cost us 12 euros each so we made a massive saving by doing that. Just be on your guard and keep belongings safe and you will be fine!
You’ll live and breathe tapas food by the end of your stay – you’ll be craving something a little wholesome. But, if like any other destination I’ve visited following the locals noses can often to lead to little back street restaurants that cost half the price. Avoid busy, tourist areas such as Las Ramblas and the Plaza Des Real if you don’t want to pay a fortune for your food. Take advantage of the lunch menu’s and for your evening meal take a picnic to the beach on a night instead. Or grab some street style food at the La Boqueria Food Market. You can eat cheaply just as long as you think about where you are eating!
We swear by our FairFX currency card. It offers some of the best rates out there and you can keep topping up. Instead of us changing all our money in one go, we kept topping our card up on the app, that way we didn’t change loads of money in to Euro’s which meant if we didn’t spend it we wouldn’t get stung on the buy back rate when we were back in the UK! We budgeted in our heads far more than we actually spent so that saved us a lot of money in the long run.
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