I really disliked Barcelona. Is there something wrong with me?!

[sergeyvzn]

Catalan is not a dialect, it's a separate language. Historically it comes from the old Provençal language (langue d'oc). It differs from Spanish considerably

 

[CMak]

I am trying to get there - at the moment I have a SQ J redemption to Sao Paulo which travels through Barcelona.
Through this site I found out that you can try for a stopover by paying $US 100.
Only problem is that there doesn't seem to be J seats available on the day before to accommodate the stopover.
At this stage I have chosen J seats over a Barcelona stopover.
By the way I have been to Madrid and Valencia and really enjoyed both cities.

 

[casanovawa]

I also visited Madrid in 2010, a few weeks before the World Cup (would have gone crazy a few weeks later) and liked it and did a day trip out to Segovia...

I would be happy to go back to Madrid or Barcelona but still a few other cities in Spain that I would like to visit as well...

One year soon...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

WOW - we are all so different. Spent 10 days in BCN last June 2012 - then onto ARN for 6 days then CPH 6 days then home.

Had return flt back to BCN in June 2013 booked before we even returned to Oz – heading back there for 7 nights June 19 then LHR and CDG – just love the place – just adore it.

 

[medhead]

My sister in law is from Extremadura. When I first talked to her about Barcelona she refused to even acknowledge it as part of Spain.

Parc Guell was great to explore. No tourist up the back of that place. But I did see an apartment nearby with a sign hanging out the window that asked "If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?" Got a big laugh out of that as it was exactly the same question I remembered asking when living in cairns 30 odd years ago.

 

[fairbasa]

And here I was thinking my girlfriend and I were the only ones! You pretty much summed it up for me. Average (at best) food, geared purely for tourists, every museum is like 16 euro EACH and very average to boot. You constantly just feel like you're being gouged as a tourist. Because of the relaxed laws on petty crimes it is also a pick-pocket haven, they say there are up to 600 working every day on the metro!

Watch the show Scam City - Barcelona if you want to see what I mean!

 

[Sprucegoose]

you lot should write a negative lonely planet, it could take off!!

 

[drron]

Nothing wrong with the OP at all.We all are different so likely to have different tastes and opinions.On Barcelona I am in the middle.Neither hated or loved it but no need to go back.
Expectations are a problem with me too.Cities that are hyped by people and media tend to disappoint me.Capetown was that city this trip.

 

[A330]

Everyone will have a different experience when they visit a city so it's not surprising that this thread has both good and bad impressions of BCN. I myself loved BCN and had almost the opposite experience to the OP when I visited in July 2012, so much so that I'm going back in June 2013.

1. The amount of tourists. I have never, ever been surrounded by so many tourists in my entire life (including Times Square NYC, Ginza in Tokyo and Sydney Harbour). I could not get away from them no matter where I went - I was constantly being herded around like cattle (and I spent a whole afternoon attempting to explore the back streets . I felt like the entire city existed purely for tourism and the tourists greatly outnumbered the locals. And they weren't cluey tourists like in Tokyo they were the 'hold a giant map in front of my face while I walk through a crowd and scream for my American wife' tourists.

Funnily enough I had that exact experience in Paris. I felt like I didn't see any French people, just loud Americans looking for McDonalds.

3. The beach. Rubbish. And again, full of tourists.

I think it's hard for Australians to be impressed by other countries' beaches, we're rather spoiled for choice. I didn't like the beach at La Barceloneta, the beaches further north were less crowded. But a half hour train ride down to Sitges gets you much better beaches (sadly just as crowded).

4. The people. The few times when I managed to communicate with people who weren't tourists they seemed dejected and irritated. Was abused by wait staff in some of the most popular tourists areas because I did not speak sufficient Spanish (despite their menus being in English). The 25% unemployment rate may have been the cause but I was expecting Spaniards to be passionate, fiery, energetic people. Those I found were just existing, purely to serve the hordes of tourists flooding through the city and didn't seem to care about anything.

I found that the Spanish people I met were most accommodating and the friendliest I spoke with in Europe (especially compared to the Italians or French). My Spanish is terrible and I know no Catalan, but people seemed to go out of their way to help. I guess they're grateful for the money that tourists bring.

5. La Ramblas. Was ready to be pick-pocketed, was ready for an explosion of sound, colour and sights. What I got was a street filled with junky souvenirs, overweight Americans sipping oversized margaritas during the never-ending 'happy-hours' and bored tourists wandering aimlessly looking for something interesting.

I'll give you that one - Las Ramblas was nothing special, just a crowded street full of junky trinkets and pickpockets.

 

[Happy Dude]

I'm amazed that some of the replies here are precisely in line with my experience and thoughts about Barca. Bit of a let down for mine. Great food and an even better football team, but Madrid is way more everything IMHO (except the football team).

 

[KitKat]

I am going to Barcelona with an open mind and "stomach", I have Tickets, El Celler de Can Roca, Sant Pau, 41degrees lined up.......now where is my lipitor

 

[Edge]

I'm 100% with the OP on this one. I've traveled to many cities in Europe and Barcelona was one of my least-favourite, for similar reasons listed. My expectations were too high - had a few friends tell me it was their favourite city in the world before I went.