Montjuic and the Tourist Bus

It's worth going to Montjuic just for the fabulous views of the city but there is also a lot to explore in this part of town.

Exploring Montjuic, Third day in Barcelona, Spain

Due to all the walking of the last two days and a poor choice of footwear - fashionable rather than comfortable -  my eldest daughter had developed blisters and so  I decided to get tickets for the open top tourist bus (bus touristic) for our last day. These are quite pricey but are a very good way of seeing a lot of Barcelona in a short space of time.

The buses follow a set route and you get on and off as often as you want during the day.

We caught our bus at Placa de Catalunya and set off for Placa d'Espanya. From here there is a wonderful stone staircase, the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina,  interspersed with fountains which leads all the way up to Monjuic. On either side are buildings built for the International Exhibition of 1929.

Palau Nacional, Montjuic, Barcelona

The beautiful Palau National, the National Palace,  is immediately above the steps and in front of this is the Font Magica which is an illuminated fountain. In the summer this is part of an amazing sound and light show which takes place Thursday to Sunday evenings, totally free. There are escalators all the way up the Avinguda if you run out of energy for the climb.

View of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina from the Palau Nacional

Before setting off for the top I wanted to visit the Pavello Mies van der Rohe. This is a replica of the building built for the 1929 exhibition and designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, then director of the Avant-Garde Bauhaus school. The building is beautifully simple with lots of straight lines, water and polished green onyx. Stunning.

Pavello Mies van der Rohe

At the top of the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina is the Palau Nacional, again built for the 1929 International Exhibition and now home to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. In here is a magnificent collection of 12th Century frescoes taken from the walls of Catalan churches in order to preserve them.

   

For the gardeners amongst you there is a lovely Botanic Garden round the corner from the Palau. A good place to stop and relax for a while.

From here we walked round to the Olympic Stadium. The stadium was originally built for the 1936 Alternative Olympics which were cancelled because of the Spanish Civil War. The neo-classical facade remains but the rest was completely overhauled for the 1992 Olympics.

Olympic Stadium, Barcelona

For many people the highlight in this area is the Fundacio Joan Miro. The building was designed by Josep Lluis Sert, a friend of Joan Miro and provides a very simple area full of natural light in which to admire the extremely good collection of Miro's paintings, sculptures and lithographs, many of which were donated by Miro himself.

When we got back to Placa de Catalunya where we started our tour on the bus touristic we decided to have a quick picnic lunch and then do one of the other tours. There are three tours included in the price of the ticket and you can do as much or as little as you want. Our second tour is in fact the main tour of Barcelona and took us around many of the sights we had seen on our first two days but also took us farther afield. It was very interesting to see Barcoleneta, the area which was built up to accommodate the athletes and some of the venues for the 1992 Olympics.

I noticed when I was booking our apartment that apartments in the Barceloneta area are much cheaper than those in the old quarter and Eixample but in fact this area is very well served by public transport to Barcelona centre and has plenty of bars and restaurants of its own. Added to this there are beaches in this area and so for summer holidays it is well worth considering. Indeed I understand Barcelona becomes quite smelly and very overcrowded in peak summertime and so Barceloneta could be a very good alternative.

Beach front in the Barceloneta area

Our next stopping point was Parc Guell, one of my favourite works of Gaudi as I love his mosaics and love gardens and so a mix of the two is fabulous. Parc Guell has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The park was opened to the public in 1922. The entrance is famous for the giant mosaic lizard which rises up the steps to enter the park. Inside the park there is a large circular seating area where all the seating is covered in Gaudi's mosaics. There is a large hall of columns and another large open area full of palms and columns and with a very Rudyard Kipling feel. At the entrance to the park is a 'gingerbread' house, where Gaudi lived from 1906 until 1926. This is now the Cas Museu Gaudi and has a collection of some of the furniture Gaudi designed.

Parc Güell

The highlight of the tour and indeed of a visit to Barcelona is Gaudi's cathedral, the Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Last stop for us was the Monestir de Pedralbes ( though for football fans it is possible to visit the Barcelona football club stadium, Europe's largest). The Monestir de Pedralbes was founded in 1326 for nuns of the Order of St Clare, the nuns moved to an adjoining building in 1983 but the old monastery has been preserved very well and it is easy to imagine the life led by the nuns here. As well as the monastery and its lovely cloister there is a very impressive private art collection.

Monestir de Pedralbes

see previous page: Barcelona old town / Barri Gotic

see previous page: Eixample

the beautiful Monestir de Montserrat is an easy excursion from Barcelona