Friday 19th September to Sunday 21st September

FAQ

• What is the Fiesta Merce?:  The main Barcelona festival of the year.  A web page will follow soon

• I heard that Barcelona has a lot of crime:  Yes it does, but it is more petty thieving rather than anything dangerous.  Be sensible, don't stuff everything in your bum bag, never let people touch you (unless you want that person to).  A useful web resource of all the tricks the thieves will try to part you with your money can be found here.

• How many runs?:  There will be two runs.  The main one will be on Saturday and will be out of town.  The Sunday run will be hare of the dog and will be set in the hills just behind Barcelona.

• Will I enjoy myself?: Well unless you are a bit strange, then yes, you will have a great time.

• Who can I talk to F2F about this?: You can chat to Velcro (F) at a Barnes run and she'll tell you all.  Or catch Velcro (m) when he turns up.

Friday 10am - Velcro's whistle stop tour of Barcelona.  Will meet you in the Hotel Foyer for 10am.  Bring walking shoes and a healthy thirst for sights, beer, and other cultural activities.

Walking - From the hotel, go down the hill to the main road Diagonal (where metro Maria Cristina is located),  Turn left and walk down Diagonal keeping on the left side of the road until you come to a large roundabout which has a pond in the middle, about 10-15 mins.  This is called Placa Francesc Macia. Take more or less the second exit from the left side into Travessera de Gracia.  Cross and go down the road on the right hand side, go past a couple of junctions, Casonova and Muntaner, the restaurant is on the right a few doors down, number 44-46.  You can't miss it, it has a large wooden frontage. 

By Bus - Walk down the hill a bit to the next couple of bus stops, don't take the bus stop outside the hotel.  Catch the number 6 or 34 bus.  The bus will go down Diagonal,  When you see the large roundabout press the bell to stop.  The bus will either stop you just before the roundabout or after.  Follow the walking instructions as above.

By Taxi - Probably difficult outside the hotel, you will need to walk down the hill to Diagonal, cross the road and grab a taxi by El Court Ingles, (large department store).  Give them the name of the restaurant and the address as above.

Elsewhere in Town - If you are already in Town the options are slightly too varied and unknown to go into here.  Best take a taxi there or get to the metro line L5 stop Hospital Clinic and walk up the hill to the roundabout on Diagonal and follow the walking instructions above.  By bus, check out the bus stop and see which bus goes near placa Francesc Macia and hop on.  Trouble is that unless you know the roundabout this might be tricky.

You should mostly arrive into the airport at terminal A.  You then have several options, the bus is best if one or two of you, otherwise the taxi.

Taxi - Around 20 EUR depending how many bags you put into the boot and there is also an airport surcharge.  Ask for Hotel Husa Bonanova Park, Capita Arenas, 51.  Don't let him get confused with the Hotel Husa Arenas which is posher and slightly down the hill from your hotel.

Train - Go out of the terminal and then cross the bridge (walkway) that is between terminal A & B.  The train leaves every half hour and costs around 3 EUR.  The train goes to Sants.  From Sants take the L3 green line (direction Zona Universitaria) and get off at Maria Cristina.  (see info below about the Metro & Bus) - follow walking directions below.

Airport Bus - Leaves every 15 mins outside Terminal A, go out of the terminal after customs turn right and the bus stop is before you reach the end of the terminal.  The cost is 3.45 EUR.  The first stop outside of the Airport is Placa Espanya.  Take the L3 green line as above.

Getting to the hotel walking from Metro Maria Cristina.  From the metro take the road exit marked Capita Arenas.  Go past the news kiosk and walk up the hill (Capita Arenas), keep on the left hand side.  1st block is a large church, at the 4th block up the hill you will see your hotel on the left.

Getting to the Airport from the hotel. - The reverse of the above, or maybe the hotel can call a taxi for you.  The airport bus stop in Placa Espanya is tricky to find and can be located in front and across to the right over a small road from the Catalunya Hotel located at the North side of Placa Espanya opposite the two towers.  You can pick up the airport bus at Placa Catalunya, directly outside El Court Ingles.

Getting from the hotel to town -

By Metro - Walk down the hill to the Metro Maria Cristina.  Take the L3 green line (direction Canyelles) to Sants Estacio, change onto L1 red line (direction Fondo) and get off at Placa Catalunya.

By Bus - There is a bus stop outside of the hotel, number 66 which will take you straight to Placa Catalunya via a million other stops.  Easy & seanic , if a bit time consuming way to get into town.

By Taxi - Unlikely to get a taxi outside the hotel.  Walk down the hill towards the Metro.  Cross the busy street Diagonal towards El Court Ingles, there is usually a bunch of taxies waiting beside the black building to the left of Ingles.

Taxi - Pretty cheap by UK standards.  Takes maximum of 4 people.  Won't appreciate changing large notes.  Can be hailed off the street if their green light is on.  Won't speak much English but does know all of the tourist sites you are likely to want to go to.  For the hotel, it'll probably be best to show him the address.

Metro - Very easy and cheap to use.  It is best to buy one of the multi use tickets.  A T10 ticket, EUR 5.85 will give you 10 journeys on  the metro or the bus.  You can ride anywhere on the metro and also change onto a bus or regional train (must transfer within 1 hr 15min of the start of your journey).  The centre of town, Placa Catalunya can be reached on L3, L1.  If you get the L2 to Passeig de Gracia and walk south one block you will also be at the Placa. The map in your welcome kit has a metro map but it is a bit naff.  The hotel should give you both a better metro map and city map.  Beware of pick pockets on the metro.  Typical trick is to follow close behind you getting onto the train or two working together on the escalator.  Don't leave valuables in your back pocket or a bulging bum bag.  The hotel room has a safe, use it.

Bus - Very easy to use, best to purchase the multi use T10.  The bus stop has details of all the buses that stop at there and the places it visits.  The back of the bus stop has a full map of Barcelona and shows all the bus routes.  The buses stop fairly early around 11ish

Night Bus - N12 runs from Placa Catalunya in front of el Court Ingles.  all the way up Diagonal.  Get off near the Court Ingles / Maria Cristina metro stop and stagger up the hill back to the hotel.  You have to pay for the bus as the bus/metro pass does not work.  This bus is dead handy if you can't see a taxi in the very early hours.

Booked Attendees