The nightlife in barcelona is amazing! Every night of the week there is are parties to choose from all over the city! As far as the clubbing scene you can join websites like revivelanoche.com and clubzone.es to get on “VIP lists” that allow you to enter the club for free (usually before 1:30 or 2:00 am) The party in bcn lasts all night and into the early morning. The people of barcelona are all very friendly and nice! There is very very little crime, other than pick-pocketting. If you are irresponsible about your belongings you probably will get robbed. Hot spots for these pick pocketters are on Las Ramblas and the metro. The beaches in Barcelona are not very beautiful, they’re kind of dirty but you can take 30 minute train rides to beautiful beaches outside of the city! enjoy!

I absolutely love this city, and I think that your year living there will be the time of your life. Nightlife: top-notch. Typical Spain/South Europe type of nightlife: very civilized approach to alcohol, people go out LATE (10, even 11PM) and everybody out and about in the evenings when the weather is nice, from little kids to grandmas and grandpas. The people are great, although keep in mind, being a big city, there’s the occasional oddball.

As for crime: pickpockets can be a problem, and the city has its “pockets” (but nothing as notorious as US cities), but violent crime is low, certainly lower than New York, Chicago, and London. There is a perceived spike in crime – real or not – that has shocked Spanish society. Do exercize regular precautions as you would back home. Spain overall is one of Western Europe’s (abd the world’s) safest countries, but you will hear a couple horror stories…don’t let this scare you, as a the world’s second most popular country for tourists is bound to have a few people leave with a bad experience (58 million tourists visited Spain in 2008 alone, second in the world behind France). Again, just exercize common sense. If you’re a chick, I always advise women – no matter where they are in the world – not to walk alone late at night in any big city, unless you will only be walking in well-lit peopled areas.

Beaches are very decent for a big city. To the north and to the south of the city, along Catalunya’s Mediterranean coast are some great beach towns. Also, the great beach towns of Valencia region and the Balaeric Islands are never too far away either.

Definitely go, and have fun!

Ask your University to give you e-mails of students in Spain now and students that just got back to give you a bunch of inside tips. I just heard from a student in Barcelona that all of her classmates have had their wallets, cameras and cell phones stolen since their arrival in January. The girls get approached by 3 persons, you are distracted by one and the other two clean you out. Look up USA travel warnings. This is NOT to scare you, but get educated and be prepared before you go. Make super clear & sharp black and white photo copy of passport. Give copies to your parents, close friend, hide one in luggage.
Call your credit card and ATM bank and inform them you are studying in Spain and dates so they do not shut down your card. Put account numbers and phone numbers that you can call collect in Europe to get a new card or find out why you were cut off. Give parents the same information as well as your pin codes, billing address, Soc Sec #, but put in a safe place to prevent Identity Theft. Most Universities do a terrible job of educating students before they go and most don’t take advantage of knowledge of past students. Despite petty theft, you will have the time of your life! Most University programs only study on a 4 day week so that you can travel over the 3-day weekend.

Hey I was in Barcelona for a week two summers ago and it was amazing. The nightlife is one of tops in Europe. There are many touristy pubs along the beaches especially in one harbor area. However, if you want some true Barcelona nightlife go out with some natives and they will take you to the best places in town. I spent most of my time at bars along the beach being from America and with my family, however, I broke away one night and went out with a girl I knew that was living in Barcelona and it was the most fun I’ve had in awhile. The beaches are awesome, I liked Barceloneta and a few others can’t remember name of, maybe Nova Icaria. Crime was talked up but felt safer than walking through major cities in America. Just of course keep an eye on your purse while walking down the magnificent Las Ramblas. Food is also excellent, wish I remembered names of restaurants I visited, but must have paella, sangria wine, and tapas while there (tapas I thought were overrated though b/c they were so small). Also, if you find yourself at a high end place try sea urchin appetizer, might not sound appeasing but it is a real treat. Hope this helps some.

Barcelona was freaking amazing….u gotta hit up Catwalk the club, and Mar Salada, and if ever you have the time try and ask around for the beach in Seatches (i dont know if i spelled it correctly) you have to take the subway to get there but it is totally worth it beautiful beach……It was an amazing trip…..for safety it was a lil scary when ppl would come up to you and ask you if you wanted cocaine. But just be carefull with the pick pockets depending on where ure staying…..

p.s. if ppl tell you on Las Ramblas ….very cheap 5 Euros to go and come back by bus to pacha thats including a drink and the entrance …Its not to good to be true it is actually true….so i would suggest u do that if you want to go to Pacha

enjoy ure trip