Barcelona Bars & Cocktail Lounges

With so many cheap flights around, Barcelona has become far more accessible. A huge city, the capital of Catalonia has a culture all of its own and has spawned some of the most inspired talent of the twentieth century. Gaudi, Salvador Dali and Miro should ring a few bells. The locals like a drink as much as anyone else, in fact it seems that every night there must have been some major victory at the Nou Camp. Most people head for Las Ramblas in the early evening but there are many hidden delights in the ancient Gothic Quarter (or Barri Gotic). You'll find the coolest bars are in the Port Vell and Port Olimpic areas, where, without any neighbors, there's no excuse to stop.

Danzatoria Tibidabo

• Av Tibidabo 61
• Barcelona,
• Telephone: 00 34 93 211 6261

Elegant club-bar in a beautiful house on a suburban hillside frequented by the Barca florinata - that’s posh people to you and me. Upmarket and sometimes a little posey the house is actually an old family palazzo, three floors of which have been turned into a club-bar by the offspring of the owners who also run the sexy more minimalist Club Danzatoria down by the port. Quite what the neighbours think we have no idea but the beauties in here will make your head spin almost as much as the strong sangria cocktails that the welcoming bar staff prepare. Stays open until after 3am and there’s no charge. Sexy Spanish decadence doesn’t get much better than this.

Bestial

• C/Ramon Trias Fargas 2-4 Old City
• Barcelona,
• Telephone: +34 93 224 0407

Fashion and media types are flocking to this chic new minimalist style bar, the surprise package of a Barcelona waterfront not known for its hip quotient until recently. Located opposite Frank Gehry's copper fish sculpture and a short walk from the Hotel Arts, it’s a vast, airy multi-level space with a beautiful waterfront terrace to chill out on, sipping fine cocktails and tasting delicious Italian-Catalan dishes. The grey-brown tones of the interior give it a slightly cool impersonal feel, but the crowd is warm and upbeat despite their groomed designer-clad appearance. Just where did they get the name though?

Boadas

• C/Tallers 1
• Barcelona,
• Telephone: (00 34 93) 318 9592
• Hours: Mo-Sa 12pm-2am Su Closed

Day or night, there’s always a warm Catalan welcome at Boadas. The founder learned his trade at Hemmingway’s Floridita Bar in Havana and passed on that happy, cocktail-in-the-morning feel to his family who now run the place. Try the daiquiris, check out the art of past patrons on the walls – Miro - and contemplate retirement.

Cafe de L'Opera

• La Rambla 74
• Barcelona,
• Telephone: (00 34 93) 317 7585
• Hours: Mon-Sun 8.30am-2am

Another classic, with that afterglow of golden, olden days adding to its charm. Here girls hold hands with boys, or boys with boys, and it's all very relaxed. The decor's rather English but the atmosphere's more like a siesta. No better place for people watching in the Ramblas.

Carpediem

• Gregoria Maranon 17
• Barcelona,
• Telephone: 93 334 3233

Hot club located under what looks like two desert tents on a spacious lawn just off Gregoria Maranon. A popular venue for private parties, it can fit several hundred revelers at a time, although most Fridays and Saturday it is packed with good-looking senoritas and senoras from you the public. Huge spot for post-bar raves, expect to be going until the early hours if you make it over here.

Dostrece

• Calle Carme 40
• Barcelona,
• Telephone: 00 34 93 301 7306

Sexy, stylish music and cocktail bar where you’re just as likely to hear jazz and blues, as flamenco or the funky folk of Manu Chao. It’s a large, multi-room space on a busy street corner that lets off a warm and inviting glow from the outside and is even warmer once you’re in. Drinkers sit at thick wooden tables lit by soft orange lamps sipping a great selection of martinis, margaritas and fruity Brazilian cocktails, all mixed by skilled and sexy bar staff who know their caipirinhas from their caiproskas. There’s good food too: a Mexican-tinged selection of spicy meats and tapas that soak up the liquor. Even saucier though is the crowd: gorgeous Barca girls and dashing Barca boys - most of whom look like Joaquin Cortez and dance just as well. The dance floor gets busy late on as the cocktails fuel the flirtation. Go spin your moves under a glittering mirror ball.

Les Tapes: A good meeting point for English speakers with English football on TV, English books and a useful notice board for foreigners looking for Spanish teachers, rooms or jobs in Barcelona.

Cafè Zurich (Plaza de Catalunya, 1). This bar is an institution in Barcelona. As you get to the top of the Ramblas at Plaza Catalunya just cross over to the left and it's there before FNAC. It has always been one of the city's top meeting places. Take a seat on the outside terrace and watch the life of the Ramblas over a few beers.

La Vinya del Senyor (Plaza Santa Maria, 5). A great bar for wine connoisseurs with outside tables looking right at the church of Santa Maria del Mar. They offer over 300 fine wines as well as cavas and sherries to accompany their excellent Iberian hams and cheeses.