Dubrovnik's Splendid Stradun

Advantages: Fascinating Walkway through Medieval Dubrovnik
Disadvantages: Can be Hard Work in July and August

...and dreamt of all the places I would visit when I was grown up. Dubrovnik was always my favourite city and still is to this day. For most visitors coming to Dubrovnik, the Old Town and the Stradun, the main thoroughfare, will be the first destination on their hit list. If travelling by bus, the walk form the bus station takes around 30 minutes to the walls of the Old Town and the Stradun. It is a steep hike and can be quite tiring in the July heat but the walk is pleasant enough with views of the ocean on the right as you approach the Old Town. The sweeping Stradun, also known as Placa, is Dubrovnik's main thoroughfare, cutting a pedestrian walkway straight through the Old City. Formed when the narrow channel that seperated the Slavic settlement of Dubrovnik on the mainland from the Roman settlement on the island of Raus was filled in...

Praski 08.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Placa Thoroughfare (Stradun), Dubrovnik

The Place To Be For Pigeons, Statues And Musicians

Advantages: A great place to start the day as almost everything is in the one place.
Disadvantages: Have to be constantly Wary of Pick Pockets

...During our first day in Barcelona we were lost for where we should be going that night, so whilst touring the city on one of the open top buses we came across Plaça De Catalunya. A few people had mentioned to me that La Rambla was the place where everything seemed to happen in Barcelona and as the Plaça De Catalunya was at the top of La Rambla this seemed like it would be the place to come back to and from that moment on, every time we got a taxi into the centre we headed straight here. This huge square is probably the pivotal area of the city, with a lot of the through city routes meeting here, along with that you also have the main shopping area in the city but I?ll come to that shortly. The square itself is very reminiscent of Trafalgar Square in London, overrun with Pigeons and a few Statues dotted around the square itself...

Andy.mack 12.10.2003 · Read review
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Review of Plaça Catalunya (Barcelona)

BS Uno - The Odyssey Begins

Advantages: Accessibility; Fountains
Disadvantages: Pigeons; Pickpockets

...Picasso had a Blue Period, the US elections had a grey period; the time has come for my Barcelona period! My next few opinions on the new-look Ciao will be drawn from my recent experiences on a school trip in this wonderful city. After much deliberation, I have decided against writing a general Barcelona op, as I feel that I could never depict the city in its full glory in a single article without breaking records - and sending you all to sleep... Therefore I'll insert general tips and information liberally throughout the series. Read on and enjoy! Plaça Catalunya is the first port of call for many visitors to Barcelona, as the shuttle trains from "El Prat" international airport (no sniggering please!) stop at the Catalunya metro station serving the square; the shuttle buses also make it a drop-off point. The square is best...

jefferson 12.04.2001 (09.05.2001) · Read review
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Review of Plaça Catalunya (Barcelona)

Watch the world go by

Advantages: laid back, off the tourist track
Disadvantages: there really aren't any....

...Think of Barcelona and what comes to mind?probably Gaudi buildings, the Ramblas, the Olympic Port, the Parque Guell?I?d hazard a guess that Placa de la Virreina wouldn?t be high on your list of priorities. Understandably so, there?s really nothing of note to be found here, no towering cathedral, no great works of art. It is precisely this lack of attractions that makes Placa de la Virreina worth a visit, watch the world go by for a change instead of heading for the sights. Located in the district of Gracia, Placa de la Virreina, is not on the regular tourist beat. That?s not to say you won?t find tourists here, you will, but alongside them you?ll see plenty of Barcelona residents. Gracia was originally a separate village from Barcelona and only became part of the city in the late 1800s, yet it still retains its distinctive...

pattiemason 10.12.2002 · Read review
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Review of Plaça de la Virreina (Barcelona)

The place to start your day trips

Advantages: The position of the Spanish Square
Disadvantages: Can think of none

...The Placa de Catalunya is at the top of Le Ramblas, old Barcelona’s main road. It is right in the centre of the city and like the old with the new. When I was there this is ‘the’ place to start of your day of sight seeing. It is the joining point for many attraction filled roads. It has the tourist office there which can come in useful I can tell you as there are so many places you can go from this starting point. Every morning when I left the hotel my friends and I always walked up Le Ramblas to get out our maps and sit down in one of the many outdoor cafés in the sun to decide where we were going. You are sat surrounded in beautiful Gaudi inspired architecture and monuments you feel very in depth with the Spanish culture. There is an unusual monument whish is a large piece of stone with some stone steps placed...

SamanthaM 02.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Plaça Catalunya (Barcelona)

The gate to the Olympic Ring

Advantages: Good starting point for visits
Disadvantages: Not especially important place

...The Spain's Square (Plaça d'Espanya in catalan) was built in 1929, the year of the Universal Exhibition held in Barcelona. It is a quiet big round square with a large fountain, ornamented with sculptures in marble and bronze, designed by a collaborator of the famous Antoni Gaudí. From the squre you can see two twin towers that overlook the entrance to the Barcelona Trade Fair. Here starts Maria Cristina Avenue, the best way to go up the mountain of Montjuïc, where you can visit the several museums, gardens and at the top of the mountain "the Olimpic City". The first step is The Magic Fountain, this was the fruit of the inspiration of the engineer Carles Buïgas, who conceived a new type of fountain where the artistic element consists in the changing shapes of the water,. The project was completed with cascades and smaller...

gilipu 15.12.2003 · Read review
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Review of Plaça d'Espanya (Barcelona)

Hotel Gran Ducat

Advantages: excellent central location
Disadvantages: views from rooms

...A fine basic city centre hotel, clean and functional. Helpful reception, restaurant and cleaning staff. Check in was not possible when we arrived at the hotel at noon, nor were we able to get a late check out when leaving. Excellently located across from one of the many side entrances to El Corte Ingles, five minutes trundle from the Airport Bus Stop in Placa Catalunya. Our room had a single bed added to make it a tripple, which was rather cramped, but with so much to see we did not spend much time there. The view from our room was into a courtyard and the back of buildings, however some rooms seemed to look onto other rooms across an air tunnel. Free internet access. A great hotel to flop back to after a long day sightseeing!...

Jean-Anne 20.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Gran Ducat, Barcelona

Central and Ideally Placed, Hotel Roma Reial

Advantages: Perfect location, excellent Hotel if you just want somewhere to sleep
Disadvantages: A little hard to find, nothing really major though, Breakfast could have been more substantial

...Having decided over Christmas that I fancied a trip to Barcelona again I got onto the Ryanair website and started booking up. Having been to Barcelona a few years ago and staying well outside the main centre I decided that this time I wanted something quite central but also at a budget price. After all there was no way I could have afforded one of the posh 5 star hotels. So with those thoughts in mind I trawled all sorts of internet sites and ended up back on the hotel section of the Ryanair site. I had a couple of choices around the Station and dotted over the city but decided that Roma Reial fitted the bill better than any of the others. It's located just off Las Ramblas, the main street in Barcelona where a lot of the cities drinking establishments are located. The Roma Reial is located in the Placa Reial about 200 meters from...

Andy.mack 24.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Roma Reial Hotel, Barcelona

Taber Hotel - 3 Star perfection

Advantages: location, services
Disadvantages: no real bar, one perticular member of staff!

...A booking through Air miles for my 21st birthday present from my sister consisted of 3 nights stay in the Taber hotel Barcelona. I was thrilled, Spain was a country I had always wanted to visit and my research through lonely planet and the internet showed the hotel to be very central and a lovely looking hotel. This was proven correct upon my arrival at the hotel, only a 3 star hotel however it offered everything I was expecting and to a high standard and for only £65 each (booked through Air miles is always a bit cheaper) for 3 nights I had nothing to complain about. Arrival - Our airport bus dropped us off at the main square 'placa de catalyuna' which has Las Ramblas off one side (the main busy street) and La Rambla de catalyuna off the other (the street the hotel is off) a short walk up La Rambla de Catalyuna and we came across...

ecr88 01.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of HCC Taber, Barcelona

Salou is an excelent place to stay, for people of all ages.

Advantages: Clean, friendly, lots on offer for all ages
Disadvantages: Had to leave from it.

...and there are two in the nearby region including one in Reus near the airport. Trip to Barca is a must! Forget the reps trip, its massively overpriced -50 euros! We got the Bus Plana excursions -19-24 euros. Remember you can hop on and off at all the main sights. Brilliant... don't miss the dancing fountains in the evening. Also well worth a good look are the Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, the Olympic Stadium, Park Guell and best of all if you're a footy fan, the Nou Camp. Look out for the holographic photograph on the pitch at Nou Camp. Tourist information is underground at Placa Catalunya and they are very helpful. Shopping in Barca is fantastic also, particularly around Las Ramblas. All in all Salou is well worth a visit there is plenty to see and do so you'd never be bored....

adinath1968 15.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Salou in General