Contributor Duncan Rhodes shares five of his favourite Barcelona nightclubs…

Barcelona’s nightlife contributes much to its allure as one of Europe’s top destinations… this is the city where girls and boys come to combine hedonism and beach life, with just a small side helping of culture, and there are certainly no shortage of venues promising nocturnal adventures to young thrillseekers. Despite my advancing years I’ve spent much of the last four years ‘researching’ the city’s nightspots, either as a freelance journalist or for my own website (see my author profile below) or – more frequently – as just an ordinary alcoholic. It’s high time the info that I’ve amassed during these ill-spent hours hit the blogosphere, so without further ado allow me to present to you my current Top 5 Nightclubs in Barcelona. Read the rest of this article…

Tarannà, c/ Viladomat, 23

“She is lovely. She is flirtatious. She is passionate. Others call her Barna. Or, mistakenly, Barça, which only refers to the football club. Or, shortened, BCN. But I don’t call her by her nicknames. After several years of being together I began taking her beaches for granted, I got bored with her modernist buildings and I was not quite sure where things were heading. To beat the seven-year itch I moved to another part of town. There I discovered new eating-places. Barcelona knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

My perfect date in the city is on a sunny day in June. When I wake up in the morning some raindrops fall. Then the sun starts to shine like it is already summer and I have a late breakfast at Tarannà (c/ Viladomat, 23). Tarannà is the Catalan word for mood. And this place with a brick wall on one end, Parisian metro tiles on the other and vintage furniture certainly brings me in a good mood. I usually choose sweet muffins to accompany my glass of breakfast orange juice, but their savoury sandwiches are also really appetising. Read the rest of this article…

Plaça del Sol

“Me and Barcelona have a passionate relationship. It was love at first sight. Barcelona seduced me on its birthday, on the Mercè in September when everyone was invited to celebrate. We met on a dark street in Raval, where I was wined with sangría and dined with the cheapest and most heavenly tapas I had ever eaten. We looked at pictures of bullfighters on the wall and I was star struck. We went down to the port, bought a bottle of cava, laid down to watch the fireworks. “I never want to leave your side” I said quietly, so I didn’t. 5 years later we are still in love, a love equally as passionate as the first day we met.

…a swim in the ocean…

Barcelona is a master of all that is seduction. We meet in embraces on hot summer nights in dark narrow gothic streets, we steal kisses under the moonlight on the stairs of Santa Maria del Mar, and we get drunk on cheap wine in a restaurant in the Raval that has been there for a hundred years or more. We dance until the first rays of sun in the morning at the Port Olimpic, and end it all with a swim in the ocean when the city is just waking up. It’s the best date you’ve ever had, but it never ends. Read the rest of this article…

Café Marti, c/ Consell de Cent, 369

“Of all the most beautiful, perfect days I’ve ever had in my life, I think it’s safe to say that a fair number of them have happened in the incredible city of Barcelona. On its best days, Barcelona is like a dream and you keep thinking “I can’t believe this is actually happening to me.”

So what are the ingredients for having such a perfect day? Well, I don’t know what they are for you, but here’s my idea of a perfect day in my favorite city.

The perfect Barcelona day is beautifully warm, and somewhere between April and September, as long as it’s hot enough to gently warm your skin up as soon as you step into the sun.  After having a relaxed lie-in, I’d stroll down to the corner and visit my favorite café, the gorgeous Café Marti, (c/ Consell de Cent, 369) to indulge in a café con leche and perhaps one of their delicious whole-wheat croissants over a newspaper. Mmm…a gentle start to the day. Read the rest of this article…

C.R.E.A.M. Bikes & Things (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)

“Now then, I’m five years deep in Catalonia, so I have my regular hang-outs and haunts, but that’s not to say there aren’t some glaring omissions in my fun day, as I am uncovering hidden gems on a monthly basis.

My day is fairly season-neutral. There are tons of special events around Barcelona throughout the year, but the route I’ll set out can be enjoyed on any old day. You’re going to need a bike though, which can be rented in various locations around the city. The most fashion-conscious will head straight to Cream and hook themselves up with a fixed-gear number, not cheap at 50€ a day, but let’s imagine your trip is being sponsored by a rich uncle bribing you to keep shtum after coming onto you at Christmas.

Breakfast. Starting in the Raval, I can definitely vouch for a pastoral and healthy first meal of the day at Olivia (c/ Pintor Fortuny). Tiny, comfortable, local press to peruse, hot mums make up the clientele. Or if that’s full, check out Forn de Betlem across the way, still good produce and press, not as healthy, hot mums make up the staff. Read the rest of this article…