Barcelona is probably one of the most popular bucket list cities in Europe. Having read so much about it, my sister and I were psyched to finally visit this hyped destination. We did all the standard things; Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Museu Picasso etc. We had also read about the Tibidabo mountain, which is the highest mountain top surrounding the city. In my opinion, it also comes with the best view in Barcelona. The Tibidabo area consists of an amusement park, some green space and (oddly enough) a church. All in all, it sounded like a pretty cool place that was worth checking out. Little did we know that it would become our favourite place in Barcelona. The below explains how to get to Tibidabo from Barcelona and what things to do at Tibidabo, including the amusement park and Tibidabo church.
Travel To Tibidabo from barcelona city centre
Tibidabo is quite a trek from the city centre and we couldn’t work out how to get there. A nice lady in the travel information office gave us directions using only our Hola BCN! travel card, meaning you don’t have to buy extra tickets for your trip to the Tibidabo mountain. You start by taking the metro to Peu del Funicular where you transfer to the scenic funicular service. Take the funicular up to Vallvidrera Superior and once outside the station grab minibus 111. The area around the Vallvidrera Superior station looked more like a village and was quite different to Barcelona city centre. We didn’t have time to explore, but would have loved to check out some of the quiet streets around here. The minibus takes you all the way up to Tibidabo and the views during the bus ride are spectacular.
Tibidabo amusement park
See the views up there? This place is gorgeous. The Tibidabo amusement park section has a core offer of attractions as well as some pretty unique rides (see that basket ride above?). Because we were on a budget and one of us suffers from vertigo, we only tried the traditional carousel. This beautiful ride passed right by the edge of the park and during the ride you get an incredible view of Barcelona. I would have loved to try a few more rides, like the ferris wheel and rollercoaster (although we couldn’t find the entrance to this one), but the horse carousel was a good starting point.
We walked around the area for a bit and found a hidden playground, which would be great for kids. And us mature, adult women. The amusement park consists of multiple levels and it can be mildly confusing to work out the layout. If you are interested in visiting the Tibidabo amusement park, I suggest you check out their website for a map and current Tibidabo ticket prices here.
sagrat del cor jesus (Tibidabo’s Church)
I must admit that a church and an amusement park aren’t an obvious match. For me, it sort of worked though. Perched on top of the mountain, the Tibidabo church offers an incredible view of Barcelona as well as the Tibidabo amusement park below.
The inside of the Tibidabo church was very ornate and absolutely gorgeous. Whilst the church was beautiful the best part was that you, for 3 euro, could take a lift up to a viewing floor and get even better views of Barcelona. If that wasn’t good enough, you could then opt to take the stairs all the way up to the base of the Jesus statue. My sister stayed on the ground whereas I’m usually not bothered by heights. This was kinda scary though. The staircase was narrow and only a couple of visitors could fit at the top at any given time. The church is about 560 metres above sea level so it also gets windy. I tried to play it cool whilst a hysterical American woman behind me definitely didn’t enjoy the experience. She has my full understanding.
We ended the visit with an ice cream (this is me after all) and then continued the day back in town at La Boqueria. I must admit that Barcelona is far from my favourite city but we really enjoyed Tibidabo and its amazing view of Barcelona. It offers something different to the city centre and is also a lot less crowded. The combination of the Tibidabo amusement park and Tibidabo church also means that there are things to do for everyone, even children.
Have you ever been or would you like to go and see the best view of Barcelona? If so, please leave a comment below!
Also don’t forget to check out my other city guides to Riga and Manchester.
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