: Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:45 am
For those of you staying in Barcelona city centre before heading to the game, IMO the best way of getting to the stadium is taking the Funicular from Para.Lel to Montjuïc, takes about 10 minutes and costs about 3 euros for a single fare.
The Montjuïc is a rather big, open air facility which, when I went for an Espanyol game, was rather lacking in atmosphere because Espanyol struggle to fill it to capacity. Because its open I would recommend taking sun cream, a hat and sunglasses - you're pretty exposed to the elements!
Montjuïc Park itself is a lovely facility, if steep! There's a rather grand fortress at the top, plus at the bottom, on the Para.Lel side there's the Palau Nacional art gallery, the 'Magic Fountain' which runs half hourly in the summer evenings and is worth a watch; There's also, if you're into modern art, two good galleries - the Fundació Joan Miró, a great modernist example and the smaller Caixa Forum, a beautifully refurbished former textile factory.
You can walk from the bottom of the hill, where the aforementioned things are, but its quite steep and for fairly fit people will take about 40 minutes. The walk back down is far more enjoyable. i'd say walking downhill after the game, if you're so inclined, from the stadium, back down Para.Lel and then across to the Ramblas would take around an hour. The funicular is your best option.
For those that haven't been before, a great way of orienting yourself and seeing some sights is walking tours. There's a few that go on, but there's a great free one that happens every day from 10:30 (IIRC) meeting at the Placa Reial off the Rambla (thats an attractive square on the eastern side, about halfway up, you can't miss it).
The Born area, on the south-east of the Rambla, has some trendy bars and there's plenty of pubs in the city centre catering to the more anglophile taste.
Have fun!
