The Rough Guide to Barcelona 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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you to buy a cheap flight to the UK and
travel on to Barcelona from there with a
budget airline (see “Flights and tours from
the UK, Ireland and Europe”).
Tour companies tend to include a couple of
days in Barcelona as part of a whirlwind
escorted itinerary around Spain, costing from
US$1500 to US$2000 for a standard two-
week tour, or up to US$4000 for something
more luxurious. However, for a more in-depth
Barcelona experience, consider a city break –
a typical three-night stay in a central Barcelona
three-star hotel starts at around US$1000,
rising to around US$2000 and these are the
city breaks prices “from US” etc for a week,
including flights, breakfast and transfers.
Specialist tour operators and agencies
Food & Wine Trails T1-800/367-5348, W www
Their “Catalan Food and
Wine” tour spends two nights in Barcelona and four
on the Costa Brava, visiting markets and tapas bars,
taking cooking classes, touring and eating. From
US$2155, land only.
Olé Spain T1-888/869-7156, W www.olespain
.com. Eight-day cultural walking tours in Catalunya,
beginning and ending in Barcelona, with time to
explore the city. US$3795.
Petrabax T1-800/634-1188, W www.petrabax
.com. City breaks, escorted Catalunya tours or self-
drive Spanish holidays, plus independent travel
services – such as accommodation bookings and
car rental.
Saranjan Tours T1-800/858-9594, W www
. Upscale, fully guided, customized
tours concentrating on unusual combinations, like
Barcelona and its nearby wine country or a two-centre
Barcelona and Bilbao holiday.
Flights from Australia
and New Zealand
There are no direct flights to Spain from
Australia or New Zealand. However, a
number of airlines do fly to Barcelona with a
stopover elsewhere in Europe or Asia (flights
via Asia are generally the cheaper option).
Another possibility is to fly to Madrid, from
where you can pick up a connecting flight or
train. It’s best to discuss your route and
preferences with a flight and travel agent like
Flight Centre (W
) or STA Travel (W
.au , especially if your visit to
Barcelona is part of a wider Spanish trip – in
which case, you might be better off buying a
Round-The-World (RTW) ticket. If you’d
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