Barcelona Travel Guide:

A Whistlestop Tour of Barcelona
Barcelona: Tourist Guide for Metro
Barcelona Architecture: Like a jewel in the sun
Barcelona Beaches
FC Barcelona - A History & Insight Into Barcelona Football Club
Most Popular Places in Barcelona
So near, yet Sónar: Barcelona's City Festival
Taste Catalan culture in Barcelona
Watching football in the city of Barcelona
 

FC Barcelona - A History & Insight Into Barcelona Football Club  by James Burrows

It certainly is the city of Barcelona where you can have a wonderful sporting vacation. The howling capital of Catalonia is widely known for its 3S – Spanish Sporting Spirit. The city has really been the powerhouse of Spanish sports since it hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Football surely is the main passion of Barcelona. Sitting on the Mediterranean coast, on the Llobregat & Besòs river mouths, Barcelona seems to be the city created solely for football. The city was chosen to host several matches of the Football World Cup 1982. Barcelona is home to the FC Barcelona. It’s a fantastic destination for your football vacation. FC Barcelona – Futbol Club Barcelona, is a Barcelona based sports club, which is widely known for its Football team, although it also has teams for other sports, such as rugby, wheelchair basketball, ice hockey, athletics, baseball, cycling, field hockey, figure skating, and volleyball. The other well known teams of FC Barcelona include FC Barcelona B, FC Barcelona Women’s Football, FCB Rugby, FC Barcelona-Institut Guttman, AXA FC Barcelona (Basketball), FC Barcelona Handball, FC Barcelona Futsal and FC Barcelona Sorli Discau (Rink Hockey), which represent the club at Women's Football, Rugby Union, Wheelchair Basketball, Basketball, Handball, Futsal, and Rink Hockey Championships respectively.

Familiarly known as Barça, FC Barcelona was founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper under the aegis of a group of Swiss, English, and Catalan men. Since then the club has been a prominent sports institution of Catalonia. The motto of the club is “Més que un club,” which literally means ‘More than a club’.

Along with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, FC Barcelona was the founding members of La Liga in 1928. It was also the first La Liga champion. Uptil now, the club has won total of 18 La Liga, 24 Copa del Rey, 7 Supercopa de España, 32 Joan Gamper Trophy, 2 UEFA Champions League, 4 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and 2 European Super Cup trophies.

Camp Nou, officially known as Estadi del FC Barcelona, is the main stadium of FC Barcelona. Having the capacity of 98,772, Nou Camp is one of the largest stadiums in the Europe. FC Barcelona has volumes of fans all over the city of Barcelona, Spain, and Europe. The fans of FC Barcelona are known as culers or culés "oder boixis nois".

FC Barcelona’s current football squad (as on 1 September 2007) include Víctor Valdés (vice-captain), Gabriel Milito, Rafael Márquez, Carles Puyol (captain), Xavi Hernández (vice-captain), Eiður Guðjohnsen, Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho (vice-captain), Gianluca Zambrotta, Thierry Henry, Edmílson, Sylvinho, Giovani dos Santos, Santiago Ezquerro, Lionel Messi, Deco, Lilian Thuram, Éric Abidal, Oleguer Presas, Yaya Touré, Albert Jorquera, Marc Crosas, Bojan Krkic, and Oier Olazábal.

With estimated revenue of €290.1 million, FC Barcelona was the 2nd richest club in the world during the 2006-07 season. The club has sponsorship deals with the world’s leading companies including Nike, Coca-Cola, TV3, Audi, Telefonica, Estrella Damm, La Caixa, bwin, and MediaPro. Definitely, FC Barcelona is one of the top sports clubs in the world!

FC Barca Camp Nou Stadium and Museum Tour Tour Camp Nou through the installations, which takes visitors into the opposition changing rooms, down the tunnel and onto the pitch area to enjoy a panoramic view of all FC Barcelona facilities...more...

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About the Author
Author writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing listings for Hotels, Villas, Barcelona apartments, and Barcelona Match Tickets. 

Watching football in the city of Barcelona  by Paul Symonds

 Going to Barcelona is always a great thing and there is so much to enjoy and see, including the various Gaudi monuments and museums, the long sandy beaches of Barcelona and nearby Sitges, a number of good shops and hundreds of decent restaurants. One of the highlights of every trip to Barcelona though has to be a trip to see one of the two Barcelona teams, FC Barcelona or RCD Espanyol.

The rivalry between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol is strong although the two teams people always think about in terms of rivalry are Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona are certainly a powerhouse in Spanish and European football, with players including Eto'o, Thiery Henry and Ronaldinho all part of the Barcelona squad.

What makes a visit to the home of FC Barcelona even more amazing than just seeing a game is the chance to see the Nou Camp Stadium; a stadium which is arguably one of the most amazing architecturally in the world and which when full for a game such as the Barcelona v Real Madrid games, has a quite incredible atmosphere. You can visit the stadium regardless of if there is a game on and do the Nou Camp organised tour and see behind the scenes at the stadium. This tour is well worth doing in my view.

To see an FC Barcelona game you can get Barcelona football ticketsby going through an organised UK or Spanish company such as Spanishfootballtickets.com and purchasing tickets ahead of the game. You can also get lucky sometimes and find season ticket holders outside the stadium selling their spare seat or seats on match-day, for a reasonably price.

One piece of advice is to wear something warm because the Nou Camp Stadium has an open roof and despite the warm day temperatures, it can still get cold in the late evening and thus it can be worth taking a jacket just in case.

RCD Espanyol play just across the city in the Olympic Stadium in the Montjuic area, on the hill top and even though attendances are usually smaller then those you will find at the Nou Camp, the fans are extremely passionate and the atmosphere is very much like a real English Premiership style game with plenty of singing and crowd participation. You can purchase tickets for RCD Espanyol in much the same way as you do for FC Barcelona and tickets are usually available ahead of the game. Learn more about buying Barcelona football tickets.

FC Barca Camp Nou Stadium and Museum Tour Tour Camp Nou through the installations, which takes visitors into the opposition changing rooms, down the tunnel and onto the pitch area to enjoy a panoramic view of all FC Barcelona facilities...more...

So near, yet Sónar: Barcelona's City Festival  by Andrew Regan

Every June, for three nights and three days, the bars, clubs, pubs and streets of Barcelona become even more busy than normal, as people from all over Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world descend upon the city to experience Sónar, an Advanced Music and Multimedia Art festival. The official website describes the festival as "the essential meeting point for an alert public, cutting-edge artists and the most influential professionals from the sectors of music and modern arts."

Sonar has been running for the last 15 years, and now attracts 80,000 people to the city annually. Unlike many other music festivals that have popped up over the last decade, Sónar is completely city based, meaning no mud, no portaloos and no camping. For those that prefer their festivals to be situated in a civilised, urban environment, rather than out in the not-so-great outdoors, Sónar is the festival for you.

Though Sonar embraces many forms of music, the emphasis is definitely on electronic styles; artists that have appeared in the last few years include: Aphex Twin, Cut Chemist, DJ Yoda, Kraftwerk and The Chemical Brothers.

The festival has two distinct components; "Sonar by Day" takes place in the centre of contemporary culture and the Museum of contemporary art, which is very close to the La Rambla. Here, visitors will find live music performances, DJs, multimedia art, record and clothes fairs, technology demonstrations, cinemas and other activities, split into a number of official areas known as SonarVillage, SonarCinema and Sonarama amongst others.

At around about 10pm each day, as the heat of the day starts to give way to slightly cooler night air, "Sonar by Night" begins. This takes place outside of the city centre and special coaches are laid on to transport festival goers to the main arena, which is split into four areas.

As Britain's biggest festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading become increasingly more difficult to get tickets for, more people are looking further a-field to get their festival fix. Foreign festivals make ideal short breaks, offering music fans the chance to see their favourite artists, and also enjoy a cultural adventure, not to mention warmer, dryer weather!

The are now hundreds of big music festivals throughout the world, including Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, Exit Festival in Serbia, Mera Luna in Germany, Southbound Festival in Australia and EuroSonic Festival in Holland, to mention just a few, so maybe you should head further a field this summer and explore the wide world of festivals outside of the UK.

About the Author
Andrew Regan

Barcelona Beaches  by Orson Johnson

Barcelona has become a very popular tourist destination in recent years, and it is easy to see why. The gorgeousness of the beaches is unsurpassable, and Barcelona. With over 4km of beaches, Barcelona has something for everyone. The most famous beach, and still a great place to visit, is Barceloneta. Known as Little Barcelona, the enormous stretch of golden sands can take your breath away. The joy of Barceloneta is its extensive series of eat-in restaurants, whether you fancy pizza or a more traditional Catalan Dish. The Beach merges into San Sebastian, favoured by the locals and those that consider themselves in the ‘know’. 

The Nova Icaria, well known to tourists as it is only a short walk from the Olympic Marina, this beach will be crowded no matter what type of year, though it offers not only great beaches, but a series of beach bars, restaurants on the promenade, and a handful of other bars and restaurants not far away; though it may be a case of deciding whether to abandon your place on the surf for food, or stay put and starve. 

Bogatell is right next to Nova Icaria, but is mainly loved for the stone walkway, which attracted roller bladders and cyclists from near and far. You might take your life in your hands walking there, but the raised level means that traffic noise is blocked, and you just have the peace and quiet of the sands. Should you want to, the nudist beach is just along the strip from Bogatell (which it is separated from by a windsurfing and kayaking school and hire shop). This beach is carefully hidden from other holiday makers with a long stretch of bamboo; and there is an excellent park nearby where you can eat or just crash out away from the sun. 

The southern end of the Barcelona strips are longer, with more shallow waters, making it the best option for people with children. The northern points are smaller and pretties, with deeper waters, proving an attraction with the extreme sports crowd. Barcelona’s beaches have been given the European Foundation of Environmental Education’s “The Blue Flag”, which means that the beaches have fulfilled some of the requirements, such as cleaning up the water and surf, improving security and first aid treatments, as well as easy access for everyone. This blue flag means that you should be reassured when trying out the fabulous sands, or swimming in the water. Before, the Spanish beaches were notorious for their dirty sands, but this flag should mean that you can visit them securely. 

While the Catalonian capital boasts great beaches, they are often overcrowded and not very exciting (as well as a mecca for petty thieves). If you want something a bit different, then try catching the Spanish Metro for an out-of-town beach that suits you best. Temperature is the main consideration here (though the south is better for children, having shallow waters). 15 mins ride from Barcelona town, the beach of Casteldefells has great bars and eateries, as well as a super beach. It is still very accessible from Barcelona, so if you were hoping to miss the crowd, you will need to go a little bit further out. However, Casteldefells is an amiable and friendly beach if you are not feeling adventurous. 

Sitges, which a couple of years ago was unknown, is a very nice beach, though more and more tourists are turning up to eat ice-cream in its parlours, rent sun loungers, or just shop. The town is a popular gay resort, so no surprises that here are nudist beaches and great bars. All in all, Sitges is a great place to hang out and compare ices. To the North is the great beach of Ocata; with a massive stretch of unspoiled beach. The best news about this beach is that the general tourist population don’t know about it; there’ll always be places to soak up the sun, and the local area has organized fun activities for kids. 

Wherever you go in the Barcelona beach area, there are also plenty of things to do within the city itself. There are a number of festivals throughout the year, and the late summer has two big festivals, the Festes de la Merce, at the end of September, features music, performance artists and celebrations, the majority of it completely free. The second big festival, the Festes de Gracia, which is slightly earlier in the season, takes over most of the Gracia quarter, and is again a festival of music, street performance and partying long into the night. Visiting Barcelona at the end of April means catching the fantastic Sant Jordi festival, which is like Barcelona’s individual valentine’s day. With people wandering the streets hading out roses, it is a popular and widely celebrated festival.

About the Author
Orson Johnson writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing listings for bed and breakfasts, villas, hotels and apartments in Barcelona