LE MAG by AMARANTE LVA

Planning your trip to Barcelona you must have faced the choice of the area where to stay. Barcelona is not a big city and has only 1,600 million people, but its neighborhoods are very different in terms of safety and features. So when picking up a luxury apartment in Barcelona depending on your trip preferences, you might chose one area over another one.


Number 3. Diagonal Mar
If you are planning a beach holiday, Barcelona is a great place for that. Located right in the city line, Barcelona enjoys several sandy beaches including Barceloneta, Bogatell, Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella. All easily reachable by public transport or by taxi, these family-friendly beaches with cafes and restaurants are beloved both by the tourists and Barcelona residents. If you are a lover of fresh design and condominiums with a pool, a gym, a tennis and other facilities, your area is Diagonal Mar, home to Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella beaches and a big shopping mall, located just within 10 minutes drive from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Spectacular Seaview Penthouse, Barcelona

Diagonal Mar Park, Barcelona

Diagonal Mar Park, Barcelona

Luxury Duplex Penthouse Mar, Barcelona

Number 2. Ciutat Vella: el Born
Those looking for the most authentic experience shall pay attention to the Old City, or Ciutat Vella in Catalan. Comprising of four neighborhoods, La Barceloneta, el Raval, el Gotic and Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera and home to the famous Las Ramblas, this area is located in the city centre. With plenty of new elegant cafes, designer & handcraft shops, cocktail bars and workshops, the place is being living a rebirth these days. Barcelona´s big secrets keeper, Ciutat Vella boasts typical gothic architecture, narrow streets and fortified walls going back to the Roman Empire history. El Born and el Gotico are considered to be the most cosmopolitan, chicest and boheme neighborhoods of the area.

El Born, Barcelona

Barrio Gotico, Barcelona

Gothic Quarter Deluxe Studio, Barcelona

Gothic Quarter Deluxe Studio building entrance, Barcelona

Number 1. Eixample
If you are coming for a lot of sightseeing, fine dining and walking around, your area is Eixample. Situated right in the city centre and comprising two main neighborhood, Eixample Esquerra and Eixample Dreta, this area hosts the many of the main sightseeing points of the city including La Pedrera and Casa Batllo by Antoni Gaudi, the main half-pedestrian street of Barcelona, Rambla de Catalunya, and the emblematic Passeig de Gracia. Within a short walk from Sagrada Familia and full of restaurants, cafes, bars and luxury shops, Eixample has converted into a must-live for any Barcelona tourist.

Casa Batllo on Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona

Golden Collection Apartment, Eixample

Golden Collection Apartment, Eixample

Rambla Luxury Residence, Barcelona

Luxury Spa Palace Apartment, Barcelona

Saint Valentine´s Day celebrated on 14th of February goes back to the Roman Empire. Saint Valentine of Rome is said to have been helping the persecuted Christians and have been arranging the weddings of the soldiers who were prohibited to marry at that time. Imprisoned, Saint Valentine healed the daughter of the prison´s keeper and sent her a goodbye letter signed Your Valentine that nowadays has become the symbol of the pure love alongside with the heart-shaped and winged notes, angels, Cupid and doves.
The capital of France is known to be the love mecca. Despite the fact Paris is full of love cliche, it is still the most romantic city in the world that has all the ingredients for the perfect Saint Valentine´s Day potion.

Eiffel Tower

Book a nice luxury apartment in Paris, better if it is city centre.

Arts Paris with Terrace

Arts Paris with Terrace

After a good breakfast, if you are a nature-lover go towards Jardin des Plantes, once a royal medicinal garden and menagerie. Comprising of alpine gardens, belvedere, Menagerie zoo, Museum National d´Histoire Naturelle and a cafe.

Jardin des Plantes

Jardin des Plantes

If you are more about the art and history, check out the Musée Carnavalet, a museum of the Parisian history exposing things from all the period of the French history starting from some old hop signs and finishing with jewelry.

Musée Carnavalet

Take a boat trip to the Island of the Temple of Love on the lake Daumesnil in the Bois de Vincennes park.

Island of the Temple of Love, lake Daumesnil, Bois de Vincennes park

And for the night, keep a nice private dinner in Lapérouse founded in 1766 enjoying some wonderful French wine and delicious dishes.

Lapérouse restaurant

We want the holidays to be perfect. They just must be perfect. We are waiting for this period all the year and do not want to fail or even jeopardize them. So when planning a trip we want to plan everything to a dot. The time, the things to do, the accommodation, the transport, the food, the guides, the clothes, absolutely everything.
One thing that might look a bit unimportant, but is actually the keystone of the travel is the moment of the year to visit the place in question. It depends on various factors such as the situation of the place, climate, events to be held, the party you are travelling with, public holidays, flights frequency and what kind of holiday you are up to. It is quite clear that going to the mountains in winter and in summer are two absolutely different trips. As well as going to the mountains with your friends in the mid-thirties and with three children under three.
So what is the best time to visit Barcelona?
Let´s start with the climate. If you are coming for a beach holiday and your main desire is to tan and relax, then July and August are your months. Be prepared, Barcelona and its beaches will be quite packed, so if you are looking for some hot weather and seclusion, a luxury apartment with a private pool in Barcelona might be a better solution for you rather than a hotel. The swimming season varies from ano year to another and normally starts in mid-June though you will see some people sunbathing at the beginning of May; it finishes at the end of September.

Barceloneta Beach, Barcelona

Barceloneta Beach, Barcelona

Luxury Pool Penthouse, Barcelona

Though walking around looking at the sightseeing points of the city with the sun beating down, +29 C and quite high level of humidity is not the best solution. If you come primarily to enjoy the works of Gaudi, museums, beautiful parks, try the delicious local food and do some cultural tourism, then the best period would be mid-Apil through June and September, October. Barcelona doesn´t have a lot of rainy days throughout the year, and the infrequent rains normally tend to fall in September, October and November. Find out what to do in Barcelona on a rainy day here.

If you are a big foodie and come for shopping, you shall know that some places remain closed in August for the early leave, so if you want to try it all, avoid August.

Bar Mut, Barcelona

Cerveseria Catalana, Barcelona

If you live in a Northern country, the winter in Barcelona with its +8-9C will seem very mild to you, so coming for Christmas will bring you a lot of nice moments. Just bear in mind that the cold seems colder with high humidity.

Visit Barcelona and don´t go shopping is a crime. Having a vast any-wallet-friendly offer, Barcelona is full of shops with the goods of all kinds and styles coming from all over the world. You can find something special almost everywhere, but there are some main spots visiting which you will never fail.
For Barcelona designers and handmade clothes, visit el Born neighbourhood. It has plenty of small boutiques with very particular items from jewelry and bags to kitchenware pieces that, you can be sure, your best friend won´t have.

Colmado, el Born, Barcelona

Bon Vent, el Born, Barcelona

For world-known luxury brands like Chanel, Gucci, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton, visit Passeig de Gracia, one of the main streets of Barcelona. Be prepared to spend some time in the queue in order to enter some shops. Santa Eulalia, a multibrand shop located in Passeig de Gracia 93 with its chic cafe is a total must.

Chanel, Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona

Louis Vuitton, Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona

Santa Eulalia, Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona

And if you are not prepared to spend time in queues in search of a new purse, check the secret street with the luxury shops beloved by the Catalan people, Pau Casals and the adjacent streets. Located over Diagonal Avenue in the Upper area by the beautiful Turo Park in one of the most expensive and prestigious parts of Barcelona, the street features Etro, Rolex, a multibrand Jofre and BCBG Max Azria and more accessible Bimba & Lola (Diagonal) among others.

Bimba & Lola foulard

Do not forget to take care of your accommodation and check out our luxury apartments in Barcelona!

If you have come to Bangkok for a long time and by now have got tired of the Thai food and want something easy but prepared exactly the way you want, there is nothing better than to buy the ingredients and cook them yourself or... have them cooked for you right in the market and right like you want. Any fish, meat, poultry or seafood that you buy in the Gourmet Market located in the shopping mall of Siam Paragon (991 Rama 1 Road, Pathumwanm, Bangkok 10330, Thailand) can be prepared at one of the stalls in front of you. You choose between the wild and farm fishes from all over the world including fresh salmon, tuna, mackerel, swordfish, butterfish, grass-fed, wagyu and black angus beef, first-category pork and lamb cuts, chicken and turkey, extra fresh wild seafood. You choose the exact piece you want and its size. You choose the way of cooking, a side dish, a sauce or fetch some salad, soup, appetizer, dessert and a drink from the supermarket and enjoy your dinner. What can be better?

Kitchen by Samsung, Gourmet Market, Siam Paragon

Fish department, Gourmet Market, Siam Paragon

Salad bar, Gourmet Market, Siam Paragon

Soup Stall, Gourmet Market, Siam Paragon For accommodation, check out our luxury apartments in Bangkok!

If you are planning to come to Barcelona shortly, you must have planned your trip to a dot and know perfectly well by now where to go, what to do, how to avoid pickpockets and get the best event admissions, you must have your flights booked as well as luxury apartment in Barcelona by now, you might even know what to try out of the Catalan cuisine. Or you might be thinking you know? No, we are not going to talk here neither about the famous paella, pa amb tomaquèt, cocas, truita de patata nor calçots that everyone who has ever been to any spot in Catalonia or have read any tourist guide about this beautiful region knows. We will try to show you the dishes you might have missed.

Winter selection

Escudella i carn d´olla. A traditional Catalan soup and stew with meatballs, seasonal vegetables, bones, sausages, meats, garlic, parsley, pasta or sometimes rice. The broth with the pasta or rice is called escudella, while the meats with the vegetables are named carn d´olla and are served after the soup. When served togeter, the dish gets the name of escudella barrejada.

Escudella barrejada

Faves Ofegades. Aka faves sacsades is a traditional pot made of broad beans, sausages, bacon, mint and herbs stewed for a long time. Sometimes garlic, sobrassada, pork ribs, chorizo and onion are used, peas can replace broad beans.

Faves ofegades

Botifarra amb mongetes. Boiled white beans sautéed with a traditional sausage.

Botifarra amb mongetes

Suquet de peix. A traditional fish soup originally made by the fishers with fishes that were the hardest to sell. Nowadays it is cooked with the best fishes and seafood on the market including monkfish and bream.

Suquet de peix

Having decided to go to Greece, many travellers ask themselves where exactly to go. There are plenty of choices to all the tastes. You have Mykonos and Crete, Hydra and Santorini, Zakynthos and Corfu, Ithaka and Koufonissia, Kelafonia and Skopelos... However, many will narrow down their lists to Santorini and Mykonos. So which one to chose, Mykonos touching the sea or Santorini perched above it? Keep in mind the biggest three differences that will make your choice much easier!

1. Sandy beaches of Mykonos





vs volcanic beaches and stunning scenery of Santorini




2.Mykonos party paradise (though there are family-friendly corners as well)



vs family-oriented Santorini with quiet sunsets




3. Less-culturally-rich Mykonos (but still). Mind it is close to the mythology mecca, Delos.



Santorini with its caldera, Akrotiri, Imerovigli...






The best time to visit both islands for the weather is between May and October. Those who do not want to meet crowds on the streets, better avoid travelling in the highest season and take a trip in May, beginning of June, September or October. Santorini would be especially good for its cultural pearls, as you will not be bored not being able to swim yet or anymore.

Both islands have international airports and ferries, so it is easy to get there.

For a successful trip, do not forget to chose the right accommodation and check our luxury villas on Mykonos or luxury villas on Santorini.