Port Rating:

We easily walked from the ship to the Christopher Columbus column (at the bottom of La Rambla)in approx 20 mins.

From there you can walk up La Rambla (watch out for pickpockets!)for about 1000 mtrs until you reach the Placa de Catalunya, where there is plenty of designer shopping for the ladies.

Just off La Rambla is the Gothic quarter which consists of numerous narrow streets, historical buildings & churches.

Other places of interests are Segrada Familia, the Nou Camp Stadium (home of Barcelona FC) and Montjuic Olympic Park which is adjacent to the port area.

There are also 3 or 4 lovely beaches close to the city centre.

Port Rating:

However, it is an enjoyable stroll through the newly-developed area of Talamanca which houses several 5 star hotels & luxury apartments close to an upmarket marina.

However, upon reaching the main town we found many of the shops & cafes closed (out of season) and it was a little quiet.

Nevertheless we enjoyed strolling around the narrow streets and admired the architecture of the Dalt Vila.

Port Rating:

However, after walking from the cruise terminal (about a 15 min flat journey) we found the town of Gibraltar very disappointing.

There were 2 other cruise ships in port at the same time and the place was very busy, but we found that Gibraltar Town lacking in charm & character and to us appeared a little scruffy, with lots of tacky souvenir shops.

However, it was redeemed a little by our visit to the Rock via the cable car on the edge of the town, which was very interesting & offered superb views of the Med & North Africa from the top.

There are also many tour companies offering mini-coach tours to the Rock.

All-in-all we were not too impressed & were back on the ship within 3 hours.