Montjuic, Barcelona

Montjuic, the hill overlooking the city centre from the southwest, is home to some fine art galleries, leisure attractions, soothing parks and the main group of 1992 Olympic sites. Approach the area from Plaça d'Espanya and on the north side you'll see Plaça de Braus Les Arenes, a former bullring where the Beatles played in 1966. Behind it lies Parc Joan Miró, where stands Miro's highly phallic sculpture Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird). Nearby, the Palau Nacional houses the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which has an impressive collection of Romanesque art. Stretching up a series of terraces below the Palau Nacional are fountains, including the biggest, La Font Màgica, which comes alive with a free lights and music show on summer evenings. In the northwest of Montjuic is the 'Spanish Village', Poble Espanyol. At first glance it's a tacky tourist trap, but it also proves to be an intriguing scrapbook of Spanish architecture, with very convincing copies of buildings from all of Spain's regions. The Anella Olímpica (Olympic Ring) is the group of sports installations where the main events of the 1992 games were held. Down the hill, visit masterpieces of another kind in the Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona's gallery for the greatest Catalan artist of the 20th century. This is the largest single collection of the his work.

On the occasion of the 1929 International Exposition Montjuic was claimed by the city. The mountain was developed and trade fair halls and sports installations were constructed besides beautiful gardens and parcs. For the olympic games in 1992 stadiums and halls were new or re-built.
You will find also lots of museums as well as restaurants on Montjuic. It's the most important recreational area of Barcelona today.

The area of Montjuic is very beautiful. I am sure that in the summertime it is quite lovely and the parks are great places to stroll. There are a number of gardens and viewpoints to stop at even if you have a private car. It is quite worth the effort.

If you're like me, one of your favorite things to do in any big city is spend some quality time in its city parks. I just can't get enough of these places, and from the looks of it neither can the locals. There's something wonderful about finding a tranquil respite just steps away from all the hustle and bustle.

And when it comes to cities, Barcelona's got plenty of that maddening rush to get away from on occasion. It's also got some of the finest city parks in Europe in my opinion. Ciutadella, Parc Guell, and best of all Montjuic are a few of the biggies. It's an expansive park, and I haven't really explored it thoroughly myself. But on each of my two visits, including on this last trip in Jan '04, I was able to spend a couple of hours there and highly recommend it to any visitor.

As the name implies, Montjuic park sits atop a small mountain on the edge of the city. Barcelona is rimmed by mountains, some rather distant, but this one rises up just along the edge of the old part of town and the waterfront. This unique positioning provides views of the city that are unparralled. Want a memorable photograph or two? It's the place to go.

My tip on getting there: take the metro. While there are bus routes as well, they require transfers and are far from the quickest option. When you look up at the promontory from the city below, you might think "no way you can get there by metro", but you can indeed. The train (in this case called a 'funicular') goes right to the top, tunnelling through the hillside quite impressively. I believe the stop you pick it up at is Avenida Paral-lel. Walking out of the station at the top puts you squarely in place for jaw-dropping views. To make it even better, due to its geographical position, the sun sets on the other side of the mountain and bathes Barcelona in golden backlight, only adding to the visual bliss.

There are gardens, a historic castle, the 1992 Olympic grounds and much more. Consult the maps at the top for a complete list of all the things to do and see in the park.

As you enter Montjuïc from Plaça d'Espanya, you will walk through 2 very impressive towers. These twin Venetian-style towers formed the main entrance to the Universal Exposition of 1929. Unforutantely you can't go up and see the view from within. You can however take in there simplistic, yet elegant design as you walk towards the Palau Nacional.

Montjuic is a mountain 200 m high. It had only military significance for a long tim.

The most popular sight of MOntjuic is POBLE ESPANYOL, an exhibition of Spanish art and architecture in the form of an artificial village designed to show off the beauty of different styles of Spain regions.

At the westside of the city is a hill called Mont Juïc. From this hill you have wonderfull views of the city. Besides that there is more to see there like a fort, the olympic stadium and the national palace. More about this attractions in the next tips.
To get to the top of Mont Juïc, there are several options:
One is the funicular followed by the teleferic, a cablecar.
Montjuïc Funicular
Access: Metro Paral.lel (L2 and L3)
Links Av. Paral·lel with the Montjuïc cable car
1,65 € one way; 2,40 € round trip
teleferic
From the upper Montjuïc funicular railway station.
3,00 € one way; 4,21 € round trip

Or just walk to the fort (Castell de Montjuïc) on the top. Certainly in spring it is worth to walk and enjoy the green surroundings.

"La Sardana" is a typical Catalan dance, and it has its own monument at La Sardana Circus in Montjuïc. It is one of the stops of the cable-car that takes you to Castell de Montjuïc, and from there you can enjoy an awesome of Barcelona.

La Sardana es un baile típico catalán, y tiene su propio monumento en la Plaza de la Sardana, en Montjuïc. Es una de las paradas del teleférico que lleva al Castell de Montjuïc, y desde allí se aprecia una impactante vista de Barcelona.