Post by Cleo Lowell.

Barcelona is a fantastic city that offers something interesting every step of the way. You can read about the biggest tourist attractions in countless places on the Internet, in tourist guides, etc. However, here I will try to show you Barcelona from another angle. These are some of the best places to get a panorama of Barcelona. There are certainly more. It’s up to you to explore, and these places can serve as inspiration.

Park Güell

Certainly one of the biggest attractions in Barcelona. Do not bypass this fairytale place, drawn from the incredible imagination of Gaudí and perched on this hill.

The Park Güell is easily accessible. One part of the park can be visited without a ticket, but the biggest and most interesting part is the entrance fee. What is best is that you can buy all the tickets online. This saves a lot of time because the queues for the biggest tourist attractions are sometimes abnormal, and if you buy a ticket online it is enough to show it on your phone and enter the scheduled time.

The park is a blend of natural and architectural elements in a distinctive Gaudí style. The central location of the park is a large terrace that offers a unique panoramic view of Barcelona and the two fairytale houses that form part of the park. The terrace is surrounded by a snake-shaped bench and decorated with mosaics of broken ceramic tiles. The park also houses Gaudí’s house.

Above the park, in that «free» section, is a hill overlooking the city.

Everything is close, so if you are visiting Park Güell make sure you go to the top.

Montjuïc hill

Montjuïc is another hill that can be reached by cable car, among others. The cable car ride is a great experience, and Montjuïc is certainly something that should not be overlooked if you are in this city.

Bear in mind that Montjuic is huge and has many interesting parks, botanical gardens, and several museums, so it takes a good part of the day, if not the whole, to tour the whole hill. It also houses a seventeenth-century castle that preserves Barcelona’s truly turbulent history. There is also a lookout near it, which this time overlooks the sea, the port, and the airport.

At the top of Montjuic is the National Museum of Catalonia also called MNAC. It has been the home of Catalan art since 1929 when the World Exhibition was held in Barcelona. In front of the imposing building, many find a place to observe the entire city of Barcelona and the great attraction of the music fountain.

Even hours before the fountain begins its show, people gather on the stairs outside the museum.

From the top of the museum, you can see part of Barcelona and ‘Plaza España’ name in Spanish or ‘Plaça Espanya’ in Catalan. Also in this location you will find four ionic columns that symbolize the four bars of the Catalan flag, designed by the architect Puig i Cadafalch, which were built in 1919 in the place that today occupies the Magic Fountain. They were demolished in 1928 by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, being rebuilt in 2010 a few meters from its original location.

Bunkers del Carmel

For the most magical view of Barcelona, go to the Turo de la Rovira hill. That’s where the so-called Bunkers del Carmel.

It was the site of the city’s air defense during the Spanish Civil War. At the end of the war, the weapons were removed and space was simply abandoned. Due to the resulting poverty and difficult living conditions, these bunkers were spontaneously moved by people who had virtually no other place to live. They were called the «cannonball neighborhood.»

It was not until 1992, on the occasion of the Olympic Games, that these people were displaced to another part of the city. From then until a few years ago, this space was abandoned and left to decay. Even today you can see the remains of the floor of the rooms and their colorful tiles. The Bunkers del Carmel is now under the protection of the Barcelona Historical Museum and is a kind of open-air museum with amazing views of the city and Mediterranean sea. 

Tibidabo Amusement Park

A little farther from the city center is Tibidabo Amusement Park on the hill of the same name. Tibidabo is a huge amusement park, with many attractions. Admission to the park is free of charge, and you have the option to purchase a full-day ticket with which you can go to all the attractions as many times as you like.

Still, what was most interesting to was the panorama of the city that can be seen here. There is also a church whose tower you can climb. I think that is the highest point from which you can see Barcelona.

Catedral of Saint Eulàlia of Barcelona

I would add another place to this list. It is a building, namely the Cathedral of Sts. 13th Century Eulàlia.

Not only is it a particularly beautiful and rich interior, but its tower offers a view of the surrounding Catalan architecture. This cathedral also has one interesting story. Namely, the cathedral is dedicated to St. Eulàlia who suffered martyrdom when she was only 13 years old. In that name, geese are kept within the Cathedral, and there are always thirteen. The geese, on the other hand, were in some ways the guardians of the monastery. If there was a danger, the geese would alert and make noise, waking up and practically warning the monks that something was going on.

Feel free and feel Barcelona, its unique soul and let it enchant you with its sights, art, love, sounds, and life. You will not repent for a moment wherever you go in this beautiful city, put on your comfortable shoes and go sightseeing this pearl of the Mediterranean.