Hola

This edition of Barcelona Travel Newsletter covers the new cycling initiative - Bicing Barcelona. find out how to hire a bicycle in Barcelona. We have also included resources to help you find you way around the city. But first what do you do if you want to buy a book in English in Barcelona?

Newsletter Index:

1.0 I’ve forgotten my holiday book! Where can I find books in English in Barcelona?
2.0 How To Find Your Way Around Barcelona.
3.0 Cheap, Convenient Cycle Hire in Barcelona – Bicing Barcelona!

1.0 Where Can I Find Books in English in Barcelona?

You've packed your belongings, flown out to Barcelona, arrived at you hotel and are feeling the pulse of excitement course through your body, you’re finally on holiday! You picture yourself on one of Barcelona’s golden sandy beaches, you lay down on your towel, smooth on your factor 15, and reach into your beach bag to pull out your book…but wait…. suddenly you realise you forgot to pack your book for the holiday! Yikes!! What are you going to do now? Where are you going to find books in English in a Spanish city you wonder? Don't worry! Barcelona-tourist-guide.com have the solution (don’t we always! )

Creu Dels Molers, is a small side street off Avinguda del Paral-lel in Poble Sec and here, at no. 12, you will find the second-hand English bookshop called "Elephant" .

This bookshop has thousands of second hand and almost new Books in English for sale at very reasonable prices. For a good quality second-hand book you would be expected to pay anything between 1 to 3 Euros. They have quite a range of books including novels, classics, and non-fiction books.

Elephant also operates a part exchange for books that you bring to the store, or alternatively they will buy your old books off you for 0.60 euros per book, depending on the quality and whether the book is saleable in the store or not.

Out of the 10 books that I took along to sell only 2 were not purchased by Elephant. I thought this was fair enough because who is going to want to read the "London property guide" and “Cumbrian walks” in Barcelona?

The Elephant book store is open seven days a week from 10:00 to 20.00 . Friendly staff are keen to help you should you need assistance and what’s more they all speak English!

Elephant (English Second-hand Bookshop)
Creu Dels Molers, 12
08004, Barcelona.

Tel: (0034) 93 270 3410

Metro: Poble Sec, Green Line - only 5 minutes walk from the metro stop.

2.0 How To Find Your Way Around Barcelona

One question I often receive from tourist is “How do I get from point "A" to ploint "B". When I receive this type of question I always refer the site visitor to the following Internet resources to help them plot their route. Maybe you will find these sites useful too.

TMB Transport Website

If you visit the following webpage you will find TMB transport have created a resource that will help you plot your route using the public transport system. You simply enter your start point and your final destination and submit the information and the website will provide you with details of the public transport that you need to make your journey.

Click here for the TMB transport website

Directions From Barcelona Airport to Your Hotel

If you are looking for directions to your hotel I recommend you visit our hotel reviews pages which have special sections that give detailed instructions on how to transfer from Barcelona airport to over 110 different hotels via taxi, bus and train / metro.

Click here for our Barcelona hotel review index

Finding Specific Locations in Barcelona.

Perhaps you want to find a specific location in Barcelona and want a map showing you precisely where the location is in Barcelona? One of the best resources to do this is the Barcelona town council interactive map. Simply punch in the name of the street you want to find, click the Search button and you will be presented with a map showing the exact location.

You can zoom in and zoom out of the map to obtain the detail you require. There are additional options to the menu to the right of the map to enable you to find out where the nearest metro stop is to your location.

Barcelona Interactive Street Map

Now after reading this you really shouldn’t need to send me any more questions on directions!

3.0 Cheap Convenient Cycle Hire in Barcelona – Bicing Barcelona!

In March of 2007 the Barcelona town council launched a new cycle initiative called Bicing Barcelona. It is an ambitious project that enables you to pick up a bicycle from any of 100 strategically placed bike stations, cycle to your destination, and then drop the bike off at any of the other cycle stations. The Bicing Barcelona initiative offers you a low cost and environmentally friendly way of getting around the city centre.

The Bicing project is being launched in 3 phases. Stages 1 and 2 are now complete with 750 bikes at 50 stations already available. When the final stage is complete by 1st July 2007 there will be a total of 1500 bikes at 100 cycle stations.

At this stage the program is only open to residents of Barcelona however tourists will be able to take advantages of the Bicing Barcelona program after 1st July 2007.

To hire a bike you will need to register at the Bicing Barcelona office at Pl. Carles Pi I Sunyer, 8-10 (office open 8.30 to 17.30). You will need a credit card and ID to register. If you are a Barcelona resident you can register now online: http://www.bicing.com.

Residents will pay an annual registration fee of 6 Euros to use the service. When the final stage is launched on 1st July tourists will be also able to register to use the bikes for a 1 week period for only a 1 Euro registration charge.

After registration you can pick up your bike from one of the cycle stations and off you go. If you return the cycle to one of the cycle stations within 30 minutes there is no additional charge to pay. If however you return your bike after 30 minutes there is a small additional charge which varies depending on how long after the 30 minutes you return the bike. e.g. 31 – 60 minutes cycle ride will incur an additional charge of just 30 cents ( 0.30 euro) .

The big plus about the Bicing Barcelona program is that as long as you return the cycle within the 30 minute period you do not pay any additional fees and you are free to pick up another bike whenever you want within the period covered by the registration period.

As an example you can cycle to you first destination, drop off your bike at the nearest cycle station, do a little sight seeing, and then pick up another bike and cycle to your next destination. As long as you return the bike within 30 minutes you do not pay a penny (or cent here in Spain) in additional fees.

If the Al Gore film documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” scared the living daylights out of you, joining up to the Bicing Barcelona initiative may be one way to help you sleep easier at night!

Cycling around Barcelona is a great way to see the city and with the new Bicing Barcelona initiative hiring a bicycle has become both affordable and convenient.