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looking for somewhere to go in Spain or Portugal...

6 replies

noraa · 22/07/2012 15:27

can anyone help me with this please??
somewhere:
-near airports,
-near the beach,
-clean,
-have some historical and nice places to visit,
-maybe self catering and near to some shops and restaurants.
and of course not very expensive.
advices will be greatly appreciated.
thank you very much in advance.

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ClaireBunting · 22/07/2012 15:28

Barcelona - perfect destination

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noraa · 22/07/2012 15:29

thank you ClaireBunting :)

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ClaireBunting · 22/07/2012 17:57

I will embellish :)

The airport is about 15 miles from the city. There are lots of BA flights as well as Easyjet, Ryan Air etc.

It is right on the beach - something like 10 miles of beaches in the city. They are beautifully clean (raked overnight), and have toilets, showers, lifeguards, and plenty of bars and restaurants. They also have sunbed hire, and volleyball nets/football goals. The beachfront hotels are approximately a 5 minute walk from the beach.

There are lots of historic places to visit. The old town, centred on Las Ramblas is amazing. You can visit the Cathedral, Gaudi and Picasso. There is also Catalan culture. There are also the type of attractions that appeal to locals such as the Aquarium and Zoo. A great day out is a visit to the Illa Fantasia waterpark.

The shops and restaurants are amazing. I didn't find the food to be great, but it was plentiful and always served by very lively waiters. My regret was not shopping enough. The prices were very good, and the selection very interesting.

We stayed in a 4* hotel by the beach at less than ?100 per room per night. Eating out was much cheaper than the UK. I have no idea about self-catering.

If you were to go to Barcelona, I would recommend getting a hotel near the beach, and then travelling into the city when you wanted. The public transport is excellent. We used both the bus and underground, and never really waited more that 5 minutes.

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noraa · 23/07/2012 09:46

vooow thanks so much for your nice post ClaireBunting :)
i liked the idea of Barcelona.
can i ask which hotel did you stay in? did you do package holiday? are there any good websites to find a good hotel in that area?

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ClaireBunting · 23/07/2012 10:04

Gosh, I can't remember the name. It was opposite Novo Mar Bella beach, right on the sea front. It looks quite far from the old town, but in fact only about 20 minutes by bus or underground. There are no doubt hotels closer to downtown, but we went for getting a lot for our money, and didn't feel that we lost out in any way.

We got it through //booking.com

We booked BA flights, and did our own transfers.

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noraa · 23/07/2012 17:58

thanks so much Claire :) i really appreciate that.
best wishes.

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