After a good bit of saving Ive managed to get tickets to Barca vs Ath Madrid on saturday. Its my sons 10th birthday and we are going for 4 days. What Im after is any tips,advice or knowledge of the place? Has anyone been to a game or tour of the Nou Camp?
Never been myself but i have heard that Barcelona is the pick pocket capital! so watch you wallet! If you see a group of kids playing out side the ground get your son to play with them, that happend to someone not so long ago and his son now has trails with them, it was the Barcelona kids team. Have a great trip
Im trying to plan things to do for the 4days I am going to do the tour friday but wanted to know is there a best time to go?is it a guided tour? and roughly how long your in there?
I don't think it matters what time of day you go, the impression I got was it is always busy. I went at about 12.30, which is a good job because it was a Sunday when I went and it closes early on Sundays. It is not a guided tour, you have the option of getting a set of headphones which act as your guide but you have to hand over a deposit, like hotel keys or such like (not cash). I would say that the tour is a minimum of 90 minutes, but no more than 2 hours.
Went 2 days after they won the Champions League. The stadium is well worth a visit, museum is excellent if you're interested in that kind of thing - full of memorabilia from all the greats. The scale and history of the club is hugely impressive and being there makes you appreciate it. You get pretty good access to the stadium itself and you're free to pretty much walk around any of the areas you'd want to. Off the top of my head you see the changing rooms, press room, you walk out the tunnel and arrive at the dugout right on the edge of the pitch. You have access to any seat in the stand, you can sit in the press box right at the top. When I was there they were well tight about access to the Champions League trophy (something like 10-15 Euros for a photo with it) but this might have been because they'd just won it. All other trophies are in the museum and you can get as close as you like. There's the usual mega(rip off)store but if you want to buy anything you're better off going elsewhere.......they stick an extra 20 Euros on everything at the stadium. Messi is the man out there, every Barca shirt has his name on it. The shops are all fairly easy to haggle prices on any souvenirs. If you're interested in football shirts, most of them have both fake and real ones depending on your price bracket. Hope that's useful.
I went to a game a couple of years back, it is a great stadium but it is pretty odd. I think that the pitch is fairly well sunk into the ground, because I was in the second tier but only went up a short flight of stairs to get to my seat. You probably have to go down if you are in the bottom tier. Also, the "concourse" looked like a bomb had hit it. There was the odd stray hotdog vendor, and places to buy non-alcoholic beer, but it just seemed really strange. Maybe I was in a part that was being renovated, or something similar. Anyway, that isn't the reason you go, the football was great and I managed to see a 5-0 win with Messi standing on the touchline unmarked for most of the game, receiving a perfect pass from Xavi/Iniesta, and waltzing into the box. It was an interesting atmosphere, there was a few tourists around, but it wasn't disappointing. I suppose a lot will depend on where your seats are. Great experience anyway.
In Barcelona there are red and blue hop on hop off city wide tourist buses, one of them takes you to the nou camp. I suggest you use them to get a feel for the place. Other advice, DO NOT miss the Sagrada Familia, genuinely stunning! Have a great time.
Went to the Camp Nou for a match a few weeks ago - what a fantastic experience. It's a 10pm kick off so it will be dark by then. It is pretty wild outside (as you are only allowed in one hour before kick off) so either make sure you hold tightly on to your son or ensure he has a mobile phone in case you get split up. If you are on the top tier, get a drink on your way up because you won't want to come back down! Calgary Tiger is right - one of our lads had his wallet nicked. If the weather is fine (which it is at the moment) you will be on top of the world because only one part of the stadium is covered. If it is raining you will have a soaking. The stadium tour is worth going to - it is guided and normally busy with British tourists! Have a great trip
Thanks for all the info my seats are second row near the dugout, sounds like it will be more impressive than his last away game at London Road!
There is some good advice on here particularly about pickpockets. A few years ago my wife and her sister visited travelling seperately they both had their purses lifted before they arrived at their hotel. When I went there were a number of people in our hotel who lost their wallets too. I agree about the Segrada Familia if I went back I would go there rather than the Nou Camp, unless it was to watch a match. I would also avoid buying anything on Las Ramblas unless you know the price first it is very expensive. One thing about Barcelona is you don´t need to speak Spanish even if you order in Spanish they realise you are English and reply in English. Barca just won 8-0 and scored some great goals Fabregas is now known as Cesc. Last night I went to watch the Tigers of Valencia (my description) beat Real Madrid 1-0 a familar score. Lavante were second best throughout they could have been about 4-0 down before the turning point when Real Madrid had a player sent off. In the second half despite having most of the play they never looked like scoring and Levante scored on the break and managed to hold on. There was not one complaint from fans about being outplayed and defending deep in fact they received a standing ovation at the end. Before the game I saw the Torres miss in a bar and all the Spaniards laughted at him and after his comments this week Renaldo got a lot of sarcastic comments about his looks. Enjoy your time in Barcelona.
Camp Nou has the weirdest atmosphere i've ever experienced at a football game, mainly because there is no real atmosphere! I was there last year in Feb for the Barca vs Getafe game, not the biggest like but still against a Madrid club. They only really have one song which gets played at the start and occasionally sung throughout the game, mainly everyone sits there in silence until one of two things happens, either the ref gives a decision they don't like at which point they all start kicking off, whistling waving white flags or white pieces of paper or they score when they celebrate like any other team. As for pickpocketers, they're worst on Las Ramblas at night and they won;t think twice about robbing someone with kids.
Ive heard about Las Ramblas been ok during the day but full of hookers and dealers on a night. Is there anywere decent on a night?
Went to Barcelona about three years ago and stayed on Las Ramblas, and didnt have any problems (but then I am a 6ft ex squaddie who doesnt suffer fools and has travelled a lot). My own tip for preventing pick pockets anywhere in the world is dont carry a wallet, and get a cheap pay as you go phone (you can put your main numbers in it and text those who need to know the number, prevents others texting you and your bill getting high and if it is stolen it doesnt matter. You can then carry your regular SIM card too for emergencies, just save contacts to SIM card). I never carry a wallet about with me, just a couple of bankcards if i think I will need them and cash divided between my pockets (eg if jeans I split my money between 4 pockets). A wallet generally is bulky and is easy to get hold of, also stands out in pockets allowing thieves to plan there attack and know there to target. Pick pockets work usually off two senarios, either in crowds (ie on and off trains/buses, at crossing ect), or using distractions ie stopping you for some reason (someone spilled something on you, asking for your help). In crowds be aware of who is around you, (stand with back to wall if you can to reduse access to rear pockets). Also dont stop to watch the card tricks in street, this are rigged games anyway but also are targets points (once watch a team of pickpockets hammer a load of American tourists doing this in Paris. If someone tries to stop you just ignore them and keep walking, they will soon give up rather then draw attention to themselves. That been said, enjoy yourself, Barcelona is generally a very safe city, the Nou Camp is a hell of a stadium. If your son has done spanish at school get him to try to order food ect, the locals love it and builds banter (i tried it in a resturant and ended up getting free drinks for me and the missus plus a free spanish lesson!)
Jesus citycityhull you sound like Andy Mcnab Thanks for all the tips. It sounds like Gypsyville Tavern when I used to pop in there! Thanks everyone been a great help
It's only really on Las Ramblas that there's a big problem with pick pockets, it's known as the pick pocket capital of Europe. They're very professional, I've been there when they've tried to pick pockets of five or six lads walking together, successfully on one occasion. For a bite to eat, try Celler de Tapas, Plaça Universitat 5, 08007, Barcelona, it's fairly central and not daft money, I've been there about twenty times and it's always been good.
Why do English people always call it "the Nou Camp", instead of Camp Nou? Certainly looks impressive anyway! please log in to view this image
