Barcelona is a great city you defenitely should visit! It has a lot of culture, great architecture and plenty of nice places to visit. My favorites are: Parque Güell (nice view over the city from there) and the Sagrada Familia. Barceloneta is always worth a walk. If u like to spent time at the beach, better go to La Selva (Name of the Metrostatiion near the beach), it's not so crowded, more clean and less tourists. Nightlife in Barcelona is GREAT! You souldn't miss La Champañería (near Barceloneta Metro station). If u prefer clubus and bars without too much tourists and to not spent too much money, go to the street called Aribau, it's a 10 minutes walk away from metro station diagonal. Always good parties are in the Bikini Club. If u like house/electro music, go to the pasha club. A goog bar to meet new people from all over the world as well as people from barcelona, go the Oveja negra, near the Plaça Catalunya. The easiest way to know what's going on, is when u buy the magazine called "ocio". It costs 1 euro and comes out once a week. You find in there all parties, concerts theater etc. going on in Barcelona. Good food you'll find all over the place. There's a restaurant called "la Esquinica" which is very famous among Locals, near the Metro Station Virrei Amat (blue). I personally don't like the food there that much, too much garlic... But the staff is very nice, and it's also worth to pass by just for one (or two or three...) beers. Shopping: Barcelona is a shopping Paradise!!! If u don't like the always crowded center, go to the shopping mall called La Maquinista. It's huge and you'll find there plenty of shops, as well as restaurant, bars and a cinema. I prefer it to other malls cause its open air. You get there with the red metro, station sant andreu and then a 5 minutes walk, or bus no. 11. So, go to Barcelona and enjoy this beatiful, interesting city where you never get bored! Just take careof you money, you spent it faster than you would think ;-)

Femes should be visited to see the famous "balcon de fémes". A stunning view over playa blanca, with a nicely orientated restaurant.

Very good and cheap food, good entertainment and nice beaches

I stayed in Barcelona for a week in November 2006. My friend and I rented an apartment in Las Ramblas and had a blast. If you are looking to stay up late, meet great people and drink, then this is the neighborhood for you. It's almost impossible to sleep with all the street activity, so you're forced to join in, or lie in your bed pissed off. We chose the 'join in' route and stayed up until about 6am each day. Bars are everywhere, though they are tending to get a bit trendy instead of traditional. There is a great open air market that sells fresh vegetables/ fruits, tapas, kitchen gadgets, fresh seafood, flowers, bread and cheese. we shopping there when we could and did all of our own cooking in the apartment. If you stay in Las Ramblas don't eat at the restaurants that have sidewalk tables. While it was reasonably priced, the food wasn't good, or authentic. Those were great places for sangria and beer, though. I highly recommend going onto craigslist and finding your own rental. It's much less expensive, you have your own kitchen and bathroom and you have no hotel curfews. This goes for Paris and Rome, as well. The locals were extremely friendly and gracious. We were warned about pickpocketing children, just like in every large European city, but we carried small over the shoulder/ across the chest purses that we were easily in control of. Must visit Parc Guell on the hill! We chose to walk, which was quite a trek, but we also got to see some wonderful architecture along the way. When you get to Parc Guell you will immediately appreciate it's beauty and creativity; almost dr. Seuss-like with the bonus of a great view of the city and ocean. To get the most street cred, bring skirts, pants and shoes that are in fashion. I stay away from shorts and tennis shoes. That's a total give-away and you can't blend in as a local. Pack lightly; it's pretty warm and you can hand wash your clothes without issue. It's hard to cart around two pieces of luggage on cobble stone. It is a hilly city, so be prepared for walking. They have a great transportation system, but I felt like I would miss out on something if I didn't walk everywhere. If the Picasso museum is still on display see it! I typically don't recommend spending vacation time on something you can see in a book, but this exhibit was worth it. I have been to Madrid and the Canary Islands before and didn't think much of them, but Barcelona is completely different. I would go back in a heartbeat and I would feel safe going alone. Memorize the maps and know the names of the streets before you go; reading a map in public makes you a target to unwanted children and men. Being lost is okay if you don't have an appointment. It also brings you to sites you may have overlooked. My best advise is to absorb everything; sights, sounds, scents, tastes and appreciate the relaxed approach to life.

Swam in the chilly Mediterranean Sea here.  Some opted for a trip to Africa (Tangiers) for one day.  There was a high rocky and dangerous cliff near where we swam.  This was the final travel stop by scenic BIG window coach from Granada, to Seville, to Malaga, for a seven-day tour, while I was in high school.  The bus experience was quite exciting.  The TIA plane experience was another story altogether!  The mountains were beautiful and picturesque.  I traveled with my brother for the duration.  I was 14yrs-old.

One of the islands I went to while visiting the Canary Islands was Lanzarote. It was one of the most amazing places on earth that I have been to for natural beauty. It is where they filled "Enemy Mine" an older movie. They used the landscape here to be a different planet and it is in some ways, alien in it's beauty. There isone area where there is a bright emerald green pool of water set in the black volcanic sand, a few hundreed feet from it is the bright azure ocean and it is surrounded by red, craggy cliffs. Remarkable. An artist, I believe, named Cesaer Manrique used the island as his canvas if you will and helped in designing the attractions so that they would blend with the natural beauty of the island. So it's opera house is in a lava tube with amazing acoustics and the only place where there is a pool of tiny white blind crabs that exist no where else in the world. The Vocanic park on the island boasts a restaurant that cooks with the heat rising from the vocanic vents. You can cook an egg in the sand in a couple of minutes. You can ride a camel. You can go spluenking (sp) to your heart's desire. A truly special place but I can't find it on this program. It is, I am sure, however, one of the Canary Islands off of Africa.

Benalmadena/Arroyo de la Miel is a very international piece of Southern Spain. The town of Benalmadena consists of Benalmadena Costa (on the beach), Arroyo de la Miel (the little touristic town a little higher up) and Benalmadena Pueblo, the original village nestled in the Calamorro Mountain. Arroyo has some nice markets (Wednesday and Friday) and the following attractions: Sealife (Dolphins and Penguins), Tivoli World attraction park and the Teleferico (Cable Car) which goes up the mountain.

Sevilla is a very cozy city. The cathedral is in the center of the city. The bell tower has the best view of the city. Across the street from the cathedral is an ATM. You can access money from there but know that it is all in euros. Also Sevilla can surprise you. I'm from Texas. We were walking around the center of the city and found a Tex-Mex restaurant. It's owned by a Marine who opened it when he settled in Spain permanently.

make sure to give yourself at least a couple days to check out all the sights in the city, and at least 1-2 days for day trips... Toledo is a must-see (it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and Segovia is another one you shouldn't miss. Toledo is only a 1/2 hr train ride (AVE...Spain's high speed train) from the center of Madrid. Go to the Puerta de Atocha station and get your tix. they leave pretty much every hr-every two hrs (depending on the day the time of the day). You can also get tix to Segovia that leave from Puerta de Atocha... that train ride is about an hr long.

February is a great time to see all of the orange trees in blossom. They line the streets near the capital building