4 Tourist Traps You Should Avoid While Visiting Barcelona

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Like other popular tourist destinations, Barcelona is a great city full of interesting attractions that are worth visiting and experiencing.  However, also like other popular tourist destinations, it has its fair share of attractions that are nothing more than tourist traps, designed to sucker you in and spend your money on something that really isn’t worth it.

While it is easy enough to spot a classic tourist trap (they are the places that have lots of tourists and next to no local people hanging around).  So when you are looking for things to do in Barcelona, and to help you avoid making the same mistakes that visitors to Barcelona make year in year out, we have put together a list of the worst tourist traps in this fine city.

Restaurants with Too Many Photographs of Food on the Windows

It is generally a good idea to avoid restaurants that have those hideous pictures of food in their windows and have a menu that has been translated into about 30 different languages.  The reason being is that type of restaurant is aimed squarely at tourists and the quality of food is not likely to be very high, but the prices will be.  As a rule of thumb, opt for places that have menus in Spanish and Catalan and make use of that English/Spanish dictionary in your pocket.

Sangria

sangria

Whether or not Sangria is really classified as a tourist trap, we are not sure.  However, it’s certainly not a drink that is ordered by locals and that is probably a good thing.  The reality of Sangria, which is presented as some authentic and delicious Spanish drink, is actually cheap wine and cheap strong spirits mixed together for an unpleasant cocktail.

If you want a more authentic and truly popular drink, Cava Sangria is something you should try while in Barcelona.  As the name suggests it is made from Rose Cava or White Cava mixed, does not have as much fruit in it and tastes a lot better that the alternative.

Flamenco Dancing and Dinner

flamenco

As Barcelona is not Andalusia, you are not technically in flamenco country, so it is wise to avoid the vast majority of shows featured on posters and flyers throughout the city.  They are most likely to be inferior and in no way authentic.  It is also worth pointing out that even though they appear to offer flamenco and dinner, dinner is not included.  One of the only places you should go to see authentic flamenco dancing performed is Jazz Si in El Raval.

La Rambla

Although a trip to Barcelona for a lot of people would not be complete without a walk down La Rambla, particularly if it’s your first time in the city, it is not especially loved by the locals.  There are extortionate restaurants and souvenir shops selling rubbish for expensive prices and at night it turns into a red light district of sorts.  It is best then to walk along it once and never again, and do not give any of your money to sly on artists who work up and down the infamous strip offering tourists the chance to win a fortune, when they have no chance in hell.

This article was written by the team over at www.totaltravelguide.co.uk, who love writing about and sharing their travel experiences with other travel bloggers.

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