Travel Advice Please

gerrard8

gerrard8

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I am off to Barcelona shortly and looking at various information it is apparently a pickpocket paradise. As a precaution I have bought one of those slim wallet things that you hang round your neck to hold your money and cards etc but the quality doesn't look great, the wallet is fine but the string bit for around your neck looks flimsy.
I need something in a similar vein as it will be hot when we go and I would feel safer with it round my neck under a shirt as clothing will be minimal....any ideas welcome.

I have shorts with zip pockets but I will be using the camera for much of the time so want to not have to worry about other stuff thanks.
 
Watch for 'helpful' young girls helping you through the underground ticket barriers too.

They'll push too close and at the same time they're going through your bag. When they go down the escalators to the platform your purse/wallet gets flung onto the tracks

If you do get robbed then the English speaking police station is at the bottom of the Ramblas
 
No more dangerous than any city. Don't take daft risks with your stuff and you'll be fine.

Don't let anyone put a bracelet on you in the street though.
 
Paracord is cheap and darned near unbreakable if you want to replace the neck loop for your wallet.
 
Barcelona isn't really worse then any other big city. Enjoy it, as you would anywhere. Just be sensible

It's a fantastic city
 
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Actually the statistics do show that Barcelona is worse than almost any big city. Being careful and vigilant is the solution.

This is an interesting read.
 
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Interesting. I have to admit I never had problems there but have had it tried in other cities


I know it's idle speculation but I wonder if it's worsened by the number of tourists taking very obvious steps to avoid pickpockets there
 
Thanks for all the input everyone.

I have watched may youtube videos covering much of what's here. The worst of it seems to be the more obvious targets with their stuff in full view which are the Americans in particular it seems.
 
never had a problem with barca just the same in london.
zipped pockets are fine. just carry bare minimum, go through your wallet before you travel and take out all the crap and extra credit cards.
when we travel it is just cash and a card from a spare account to get extra money out, we have a halifax account with a debit card that we use for travel and that is it.
 
Keep your wallet in your pants.

Works for me, I'm the only one going there :)

Barcelona is fine if you are aware and stay aware.

057e by Ken, on Flickr
 
money belts, etc - big no.

You are generally advised to blend in as a local. They tend to wear mostly smart clothes, namely thin material suits and shirt.

Or do what I do and carry big F-YOU tripod and avoid rubbing in large crowds or any kind of public transport.
 
Well the holiday has been and gone and I must say that it was a fantastic experience, especially as it was my first time abroad though learning necessary Catalan and Italian phrases etc helped greatly.

After all the scare stories of pickpockets etc in Spain, it was actually Italy that made me feel more vulnerable but nothing whatsoever occurred, we were duly vigilant but need not have worried in truth and we ended up just enjoying it.....and now wishing we were still there :)

The outgoing flight from Gatwick was delayed by 7 hours, Monarch are giving us £500 which will as we have now got the travel bug be going towards our next overseas adventure in 2019 which will be San Francisco, Hawaii and La La Land as we want to do Fisherman's Wharf, The Capitol Records Building Alcatraz and the cycling tour of Hollywood.
 
Glad you had a great time.

Did you come back after the recent events in Manchester and if so, have they made any difference to travel security insofar as being allowed to take camera bags on as hand baggage and extra time at check-in?
 
No Ethel we came back the week before. I took my camera and two lenses which didn't have to come out of my case through security

Security may have been tight but it didn't show to be honest and it would be fair to say that all seemed relaxed though ready for any event likely to happen.
 
TBH, I don't mind tight security - beats the hell out of being blown out of the sky!!! Only slight worry is that we're getting the bus up to the airport in 10 days or so and we're wondering how much extra time to allow. Getting an hour earlier bus than absolutely necessary but would rather kick our heels at BRS for an extra hour than kick ourselves for not getting there early enough!
 
Interesting read but seems to be pointed at the good ol' USofA rather than the smaller airports we try to use here and at our usual destination.
 
I'm just glad our first flight was away from all the hassle going on at present at Heathrow etc. I feel really gutted for those folk as the seven hour delay we had was enough :-(
 
You know that you're entitled to compensation for your delay, yes?
It's not automatic though, you have to apply directly to the airline.
 
Yes Viv, it's all in hand thanks....a good starting point for our next jaunt :)
 
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