Is Sants a good place to stay in Barcelona?

Sants is a good base if you want easy trains and good-value rooms. Sants station is the city's main rail hub, with direct trains to the airport and high-speed trains across Spain and to France, and the green and blue metro lines reach Plaça de Catalunya and Camp Nou quickly. It suits business travellers, budget travellers and anyone arriving late or leaving early.

The area is local and practical. Carrer de Sants is lined with shops and bakeries, the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial has a huge dragon slide and odd lighthouse towers, and Plaça d'Espanya and the Arenas de Barcelona, a former bullring turned shopping centre, are a short walk away. The Magic Fountain and the museums of Montjuïc are just beyond.

The downside is that Sants has little charm or sightseeing of its own. The station area is busy and plain, the streets are mostly residential, and the Gothic Quarter is a metro ride away. Evenings are quiet, with neighbourhood bars rather than nightlife.

What makes Sants worth considering is how easy it makes a trip. You can step off the airport train, drop your bags, take the metro to Camp Nou or the old town and walk up to Montjuïc, all from a hotel that usually costs less than one in the centre.