Barcelona is one of my favorite cities! When I went I rented an apt right off Las Ramblas! Best idea ever… and hung out at a tourist bar called Travel Bar where they did pub crawls, bike tours, cooking classes… a great way of immediately jumping into the city. The bike tour was awesome and I highly recommend it! The city beach isnt the greatest beach ever but bearable to say the least. Las Ramblas is where its at.. the market, the shopping, the nightlife! Great nightlife!! If you get a chance while you are visiting go to Sitges for a day. It is a smaller resort city about a half an hour train ride from Barca. It is a grogeous place with a nice beach and lovely beach-side restaurants.