With the days warming up but Easter crowds yet to descend, March is the perfect time to explore Barcelona. Going before the April school holidays means that you’ll be sharing this notoriously over-visited city with fewer tourists and will have the key sights, restaurants and narrow streets of the old town almost to yourself. With temperatures generally in the low to mid-teens you won’t quite be wanting to hit the beach, but the long, bright days are ideal for sightseeing and shopping.
And with this package you’ll have plenty of money left for tapas and souvenirs. A week’s room only at the four-star Catalonia Park Putxet costs £410pp with easyJet, including flights from Luton departing on March 18. That also includes a small under-seat bag of 15kg, but for an extra £59 you can also check in a 15kg suitcase. It’s 40 minutes on the metro from the airport (changing at Gran Via-Plaça Espanya) to Lesseps station, which is ten minutes’ walk from the hotel (£8 return).
The hotel is in the quiet residential area of El Putxet i el Farro, with its family homes, hillside city views and lovely parks. Rooms are simple but comfortable, with modern decor and feature walls in muted tones of grey or olive. There’s a gym, bar that serves snacks and rooftop pool with sunloungers offering sweeping city views, even if it’s too cold for a dip.
Catalonia Park Putxet is in a quiet area of Barcelona
MIQUEL COLL
The hotel also has a restaurant, but you won’t need it as you’re perfectly positioned to wander some of Barcelona’s most charming districts, with neighbourhood restaurants and homely tapas bars. The bohemian Gracia area, 20 minutes’ stroll east of the hotel, is the best place to find traditional Catalan restaurants, one-off boutiques and lively cafés — try the much-loved Café del Sol, which has a terrace perfect for people-watching and live music (tapas from £3; @cafedelsol_gracia).
The wealthy Sarria-Sant Gervasi district, a 20-minute saunter in the opposite direction, is home to the mountainside Tibidabo theme park, which is open on weekends in March (£33; tibidabo.cat). Afterwards, call in at the no-frills El Tomas de Sarria, a tapas bar said to have the best patatas bravas in the city (tapas from £3; eltomasdesarria.com).
For the obligatory Gaudi fix there’s the extraordinary Unesco-listed Park Güell, a 20-minute walk northeast of the hotel (£15; parkguell.barcelona), or Bellesguard, a neo-gothic manor house designed by the Catalan architect that is 25 minutes on foot northwest of the hotel (£10; bellesguardgaudi.com). You can also visit Sagrada Familia, his cathedral masterpiece, in relative peace and quiet in March, though it’s still worth booking first (£22; sagradafamilia.org).
• 21 of the best things to do in Barcelona
Nowhere does festivals quite like Barcelona and your visit will coincide that honouring of the 17th-century saint Josep Oriol, in Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) from March 15 to 23. The ornate plazas of the district will host cultural activities for children, traditional dancing, storytelling, parades and gymnasts building human towers, a Catalan tradition dating from the 18th century.
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What you get for your £410pp
• Return Luton-Barcelona flights, departing on March 18
• Seven nights’ room only at Catalonia Park Putxet
• 15kg cabin bag allowance
Feeling flush? The £800 holiday
The Torre Melina Gran Meliá Hotel is a 20-minute drive from the centre
If you’re craving some R&R choose the Torre Melina Gran Meliá Hotel, which opened in January last year. It is a 20-minute drive from the city centre and feels like a resort retreat, with a huge swimming pool and DJs, tranquil gardens, a rooftop garden with 360-degree city views, an acclaimed Spanish restaurant and a Thai spa with an indoor pool, so you can swim in March. Rooms are bright and airy, with pale wood, taupe tones and a walk-in shower. FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium is 20 minutes’ walk away and the hotel offers a free shuttle to the central Plaça Catalunya.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from £801pp, including flights, departing on March 20 (thomascook.com)
• 27 of the best hotels in Barcelona
The £1,400 holiday
El Palace Barcelona is within walking distance of many of the city’s best attractions
2023 DIMGRAY STUDIO
There is no better location in the city than El Palace Barcelona, especially if you’re a first-time visitor hoping to tick off the main sights, many of which are within walking distance of the hotel. Opened in 1919, it was the city’s first five-star hotel and the artist Salvador Dali once lived here. Just off the Passeig de Gracia shopping street, it doesn’t skimp on opulence, with glittering chandeliers, marble pillars and a lavish great hall for all-day dining. There’s also a rooftop garden with a bar and pool, new seafood restaurant, Mayan-inspired spa and a cocktail bar offering live jazz. Rooms are equally lavish, with silk drapes, brocade wallpaper and antique wooden furniture.
Details Seven nights’ room only from £1,392pp, including flights, departing on March 18
• El Palace Barcelona review: a Ritz outpost with serious star power
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