The Catalan Capital of Barcelona is a very accessible city, and fairly easy to navigate, which leaves you with only 1 question – how to move around. Here are my top 10 cool ways to visit the city.
Barcelona is one of the most popular cities to visit in Europe and has a very high occupancy rate year-round. Its natural geographical landscape means that with Tibidabo Mountain at the back and the Mediterranean Sea at the bottom, Barcelona is on a slight gradient towards the sea. So what are the best ways to take advantage of this natural slope, and not make it all an uphill climb? Recent years have seen some great new innovative inventions sit side by side with the classic (and very classic) methods of transport in the city. Here are my first 5.
Walking. OK, so I’m starting with the obvious, but this really is the best way to see Barcelona – especially the Old Town, Gothic quarter streets, the old fisherman’s village of Barceloneta and the beach, the fantastic Palau de la Musica Catalana in the Borne district, leading you all the way over to the garden of Barcelona – La Cuitadella – this is a huge chunk of Barcelona and is a really great way to spend a day, and your feet won’t even notice it, believe me.
2 wheels. Bikes are big business in Barcelona – locals have the great subsidised “bicing” venture, similar to other cities where you can pick up a bike at one place and drop it off at another, thus saving having to bother with locks or storing the bike yourself. There are also many budget bike rental companies all over Barcelona and this summer has seen the re-modelling of many main streets, incorporating bike lanes, sacrificing parking spaces, as Barcelona’s mayor goes even greener.
4 wheels. It’s been known for years that Barcelona is a skater’s paradise. The slight downhill incline gives ease for skaters to effortlessly glide down towards the port, and the many flat parks and open spaces at places like the MACBA, 3 Chimneys Park and Plaça Universitat, plus the seeming indifference to the local cops makes Barcelona a fave for rollerbladers, skaters and all other urban methods.
Tramvia Blau. I’m including this for nostalgia – it’s the only and oldest working Tram in Barcelona, and it takes you from Plaça John F Kennedy up to the foot of Tibidabo, and is a real gem. It’s not a very long journey, but the wonderful houses on either side of the trajectory up Avenida del tibidabo give a great view, and a feel for Zafon’s famous “Shadow of the wind” novel.
The cable cars of Barcelona - two awesome ways to travel in Barcelona. What better way to arrive to the beach, than taking the Miramar cable car over the water of the old port, waving along the way to the cruisers on the ocean liners below, and taking in some breathtaking views along the way. The Montjüic cable car starts just near the Olympic diving boards and recent renovations give an all new experience as the Perspex boxes give an almost 360º view of everything around you. The destination is Montjüic castle where you can survey the working side of Barcelona port, and on a clear day, see the whole of Barcelona.
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