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

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instead from the information desk on the
ground floor of El Corte Inglés department
store, right outside the main tourist office.
With that, and the maps in this book, you’ll
easily find your way around. You can also
check the location of any building or address
on the city council’s extremely useful inter-
active street plan at W www.bcn.cat (click
on “Plànol BCN”, or “BCN map” in the
English-language version).
For an excellent fold-out street plan on
durable waterproof paper, look no further
than Barcelona: The Rough Guide Map
which also includes practical information and
dining, lodging and shopping listings. Map
and travel shops in your home country should
be able to supply a copy of this and, if you
need one, a road map of Catalunya or
northern Spain (by Michelin, Firestone or
Rand McNally). Alternatively, try mail order
from W or a map specialist
like W or Wwww
In Barcelona, you’ll find a
good selection of maps in most bookshops
and at street newspaper kiosks or petrol
stations.
Money
Spain’s currency is the euro (€), with notes
issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50,
100, 200 and 500 euros, and coins in
denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50
cents, and 1 and 2 euros.
By far the easiest way to get money is to
use your bank debit card to withdraw cash
from an ATM, found all over the city,
including the airport and major train stations.
You can usually withdraw up to €200 a day
and instructions are offered in English once
you insert your card. Make sure you have a
personal identification number (PIN) that’s
designed to work overseas, and take a note
of your bank’s emergency contact number in
case the machine swallows the card. Some
European debit cards can also be used
directly in shops to pay for purchases; you’ll
need to check first with your bank.
All major credit cards are accepted in
hotels, restaurants and shops, and for tours,
tickets and transport, though don’t count on
being able to use them in every small hotel
or backstreet café. You can also use your
credit card in an ATM to withdraw cash.
Spanish banks (bancos) and savings
banks (caixas ) have branches throughout
Barcelona, with concentrations down the
Ramblas and around Plaça de Catalunya.
Normal banking hours are Monday to Friday
from 8.30am to 2pm, although from October
until May most institutions also open
Thursday 4pm to 6.30pm (savings banks) or
Saturday 9am to 1pm (banks).
For out-of-hours banking you can use
bureaux de change or a foreign-exchange
office (canvi, cambio), found down the
Ramblas (often open until midnight), at
Barcelona Sants (daily 8am–8pm), El Corte
Inglés department store, Pl. de Catalunya
(Mon–Sat 10am–9.30pm), or the Turisme de
Catalunya tourist office, Pl. de Catalunya 17
(Mon–Sat 9am–9pm, Sun 9am–2pm).
Exchange offices don’t always charge
commission, though their rates aren’t usually
as good as the banks. Other exchange
options are the automatic currency exchange
machines (available at the airport, Barcelona
Sants and outside some banks) or one of
the larger hotels or travel agents, though
again rates can be variable.
Opening hours and public
holidays
Basic working hours are Monday to
Saturday 9.30 or 10am to 1.30pm and 4.30
to 8 or 9pm, though many offices and shops
don’t open on Saturday afternoons. However,
local cafés, bars and markets open earlier,
usually from around 7am, while shopping
centres, major stores and large supermarkets
tend to remain open all day from 10am to
9pm, with some even opening on Sunday. In
the lazy days of summer everything becomes
a bit more relaxed, with offices working until
around 3pm and many shops and restau-
rants closing for part or the whole of August.
Most of the showpiece museums and
galleries in Barcelona open all day, from
10am to 8pm, though some of the smaller
collections and attractions close over
lunchtime between 1 and 4pm. On Sundays
most open in the morning only and on
Mondays most are closed all day. On public
holidays, most museums and galleries have
Sunday opening hours, while pretty much
everything is closed on Christmas Day and
New Year’s Day.
BASICS
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Travel essentials