Travelling to any city you need to have enough finances to ensure you have a good time and can see and do all the things you want, as who knows when you will return? Money for taxi's or the metro, entrance fees to museums and art galleries, shopping and souvenirs. Eating out and trying local dishes is just part of experiencing a different culture but can cut into a large part of your budget if you aren't too careful.

Be prepared to change your eating habits whilst in Barcelona. Once breakfast is over the locals don't eat again until around 2 when there's an extended lunch, and for dinner in the evening people often go out as late as after 9 and can still be sat until midnight. Barcelona locals love dining out so reserve your table if you can.

Here are just a few tips on how to save your pennies in Barcelona, and still enjoy the local cuisine.

To really get a feel for the city you should start the day off with the locals over a café con leche, a milky coffee with a pastry at a typical Barcelona bar. This is how most Catalans take their first meal of the day and is a quick affair. If you prefer something savoury then look out for a bikini - a toasted ham and cheese, or a torrada - an open toasted sandwich with your preferred choice of topping. An all-Spanish favourite is churros con chocolate, a lightly deep-fried stick of plain pastry immersed in thick, gooey hot chocolate.

If you have spent the morning sight-seeing, then popular at lunchtime in the family-run Barcelona restaurants is the menú del dia with a set-price and 3 courses, plus you get a free drink included. You'll see the offers chalked up on the boards outside the restaurants. The most economical way to eat in Spain, there are a number of establishments that offer this with prices ranging from around €6 at really cheap eateries to €25 at higher class restaurants. Generally starting with soup, salad or paella, the main course is often chicken, a small steak, or fish, served with fries or potatoes and vegetables of the day with a side dish and dessert, perhaps creme caramel or sponge cream cake.

There's a simpler version offered at a few restaurants, plato combinado, which consists of only 1 course but its filling and cheap if you're on a tight budget. You'll even find some restaurants offering a menú del noche, the evening menu, with three or four courses for around €13.50 - €17.50.

For the clubbers amongst you finding late-night food is easy in the city, there are plenty of tapas bars and takeaway falafel and kebab stands open till late, particularly in the Ciutat Vella.

There is no need to spend all your money on eating out every day in expensive restaurants, eat well at lunchtime and then prepare your own dinner in the evenings. Stay at a luxury apartment with cooking facilities and spend your hard-earned cash on souvenirs and shopping trips. Take a trip to one of the local markets where the produce is fresh and cheap, such as La Boqueria, a large public market in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, one of the city's leading tourist attractions - you'll find the entrance through La Rambla.

The market is a must see for every visitor as it is the heart of the city and entwined with the locals history. The stall-holders are family who pass their trade down through the years and the place is full of memories and atmosphere. Here you'll find all kinds of produce from fresh fish and seafood, salty fish, butchery and offal, to eggs, fruits and vegetables, herbs, breads and pastries, and fresh local farmers' produce.

Barcelona has lots of luxury hotels and apartments for rent in all areas of the city, stay in the central districts of Eixample, Barri Gòtic, El Born and the Sagrada Familia and be within walking distance to the most popular attractions and sights. Barcelona arouses and stimulates the senses. Enjoy the city and explore it in style and comfort.