Barcelona - where should we stay and any favorites, w/kids

I am working on planning a trip that would include about 5 days in Barcelona at the very end. We'd be with our kids, ages 8 and 4.

Any recs on nice hotels and what areas we should look to stay in? I was there many years ago but Im sure much has changed.

Ideally I'd like to be able to walk lots of places if possible and do a nice mix of sight-seeing and letting the kids have some fun. I don't want to drag them from museum to museum, I want it to be more about the experience and our time together. It would be in just a couple of months so I'm feeling the pressure to get this figured out. TIA!

Re: Barcelona - where should we stay and any favorites, w/kids

We've stayed at Hotel Avenida Palace and Majestic Hotel.
I would definitely recommend the Majestic.
I loved the zoo, and the aquarium was fun too.

Re: Barcelona - where should we stay and any favorites, w/kids

See if you can rent bikes (child seat for little one?). They have lots of bike lanes and it’s super flat. One of the best days of my life.

Las ramblas is a major touristy area
Park guell
Sagrada familia
The beach!!!!!
Le boquiera
Magic fountains


Lots of cool architecture which to me is a lot more exciting than a museum. Lots of pretty parks for picnics.

Dinner is late. Some streets felt a little dark/scary at 10 am but at 10 pm the shops were all open and families were everywhere. Definitely a late night/sleep late kind of place.

We stayed a block or two off las ramblas and took the subway everywhere. Very easy. Also walked/biked.

Message edited 3/2/2018 7:39:55 AM.

Re: Barcelona - where should we stay and any favorites, w/kids

Definitely order advanced tickets for la Segrada familia before you leave the US. It is so impressive in person and photos do not do it justice. We only had a little time in Barcellona so we had a personal guided tour. But we ate at La rambles de la mar and had tapas. It was phenomenal. We stayed at a hostel right near la rambles and the port and ate an amazing meal next door to the hostel. It was such hearty home cooked yummy food. There are a lot of nice parks. I agree it is a late night city. We had dinner close to 8 or 9 pm. Things are not open at certain times. It is a very walkable city. We walked to places and it was fine, although two days after we left there was terrorism exactly where we walked just before which was very sad and scary. I think that it has beautiful architecture and lots of great history. There is also a nice maritime museum which looks really cool at night all lit up.

Re: Barcelona - where should we stay and any favorites, w/kids