El Born

El Born is sandwiched between La Ribera to the north and Barceloneta to the south with Via Laietana as its border with the Gothic district to the west. Our hotel was on Via Laietana so we explored it most days and nights especially as, although it has a reputation for art galleries, pricey boutiques and shoe shops it is also home to several decent small traditional tapas bars and a couple of the cities burgeoning craft beer bars. It’s a maze of narrow roads and interconnecting alley ways opening up to the occasional squares, such as the one that houses the impressive Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar. For me, outside of a couple of quirky art galleries I didn’t really pick up on the expensive shops side, but certainly more the bars and restaurants. For those into craft beer DIECI8 Bar and the fairly recently opened Barna Brew Born are two craft beer bars well worth searching out. And there are several authentic tapas bars which are frequented by the locals and tourists alike.
I found it a perfectly safe area to explore both during the day and at night, but like various other areas of Barcelona where tourists congregate pickpockets and scammers work here. So just have your wits about you and your possessions tucked away and you will be fine.
The El Born district technically stretches east far enough to include the Parc de la Ciutadella which is a fantastic green space and a pleasant area to stroll when the sun is out for a contrast to the narrow streets of the rest of the El Born district.