Official guides can
be hired from the Barcelona
Guide Bureau, Via Laietana 54 (telephone number: (93) 268 2422
or 310 7778; fax number: (93) 268 2211, e-mail:
bgb@bgb.es). Guides charge from €160, depending on the
language required, for up to four hours Monday to Friday, increasing
to €185 at weekends.
Walking
tours
La Ruta Modernista is a book
containing a map and details of Modernista sights around the city,
linking 50 key Art Nouveau buildings and includes,
La Sagrada Família and sites not usually
open to the general public. The self-guided tour departs from Palau
Güell, Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3–5, and costs
just €3.60. The time required to complete the walk depends
on whether or not walkers chose to complete the whole walk or simply
a section of it, the entire walk would take a day. The book also
includes half-price entry to various sights en route, including
the Palau de la Música, La Pedrera
and the Sagrada Família. The Ruta
Modernista pass is available from the Centre del Modernisme,
inside Casa Amatller, Passeig de Gràcia 41, Monday to Saturday
1000 hrs–1900 hrs and Sundays 1000 hrs –1400 hrs.
Bus Tours
Two companies run identical tours of the city. Julià
Tours (telephone number: (93) 317 6454) departs from Ronda Universitat
5, while Pullmantur (telephone number: (93) 318
0241), sets off from Gran Viá de les Corts Catalanes 65.
A morning tour concentrates on the Gothic Quarter and
Montjuïc, while an afternoon tour includes
visits to key examples of Barcelona’s architectural heritage
and the Picasso Museum. Half-day tours cost around
€30.
The Barcelona Bus Turístic, operated by
TMB (telephone
number: (93) 298 7000), allows visitors to hop on and off designated
tourist buses, at the sites of their choice. The buses ply two routes
at 30-minute intervals or every ten minutes during the peak season.
The first buses for each route leave Plaça de Catalunya,
daily at 0900 hrs. Tickets cost €15 for one-day validity or
€19 for two days.
Boat Tours
There are boat trips around the harbour, offered by Golondrinas
(telephone number: (93) 442 3106). These depart regularly from the
Port Olímpic, Monday to Saturday 1100 hrs–1400
hrs and Sunday 1145 hrs–1700 hrs (November to March), Monday
to Saturday 1100 hrs–1800 hrs and Sunday 1145 hrs–1900
hrs (April to June), daily 1145 hrs –2045 hrs (July to September)
and Monday to Saturday 1145 hrs –1930 hrs (October). A round
trip of the harbour takes approximately 35 minutes and costs €3.15.
Energetic visitors can opt for a one-way ticket and then walk the
four kilometres (two miles) back to Barceloneta, from the breakwater.
Excursions for half day
Mount Tibidabo
On a clear day, Mount Tibidabo offers unsurpassed views of Barcelona
and the Mediterranean in one direction and Montserrat and the Pyrenees
in the other. Situated on the northwestern edge of Barcelona, the
slopes of the mountain are crisscrossed with appealing wooded walks,
while the summit is crowned with an old-style amusement park. Transport
to the mountain is by FCC metro to Avenida Tibidabo, then Tramvia
Blau tram to Peu de Funicular and funicular railway to the summit.
For a Whole Day
Montserrat
Located 60km (37 miles) to the northwest of Barcelona, the spectacular
peaks of Montserrat have been a major pilgrimage
destination for centuries. Today, hordes of tourists flock to ride
the cable car to this atmospheric monastery that lurks deep in the
mountainside. Numerous miracles have supposedly happened here, centred
on the icon of La Moreneta (Black Virgin), allegedly
hidden here by St Peter. In addition to the monastery and accompanying
museum (telephone number: (93) 877 7777), which features paintings
by masters such as El Greco, Caravaggio
and Picasso, the mountain hides numerous hermitages
and caves, which can be reached on foot via a network of mountain
paths. The basilica is open daily 0730 hrs–2030 hrs (June
to September) and 0800 hrs–1830 hrs (October to June), while
the museum is open daily 1000 hrs–1800 hrs (March to December)
and 1000 hrs– 1645 hrs (January to February). FCC trains to
Montserrat depart hourly from Espanya station in Barcelona, to the
cable-car terminus at Aeri de Montserrat.
Teatre-Museu
Dalí, Figueres
Located in the town of Figueres, 145km (90 miles) northeast of Barcelona
and reached by motorway or rail from Passeig de Gràcia,
this unusual museum (telephone number: (97) 267 7500; website: www.dali-estate.org)
is a surrealist showcase of the artist’s eccentric imagination.
Created by Dalí himself, out of the former
town theatre where he held his first exhibition, it also holds his
surprisingly austere tomb. The museum is open daily 0900 hrs–1945
hrs (July to September) and Tuesday to Saturday 1030 hrs–1745
hrs (October to June). Entrance is €9.
Beaches
Sitges is a lively Balearic-style resort,
located 40km (25 miles) south of Barcelona, very popular with the
Spanish, British and German gay community and accessible in 40 minutes
by train south from Barcelona-Sants.
Tossa de Mar,
located 40km (25 miles) north of Barcelona, boasts several fine
beaches and small bays, an attractive old town and a good museum.
Buses from Barcelona are frequent during the summer but private
transport might be required at other times.
The Sitges Tourist
Office, Carrer Sínia Morera 1 (telephone number: (93)
894 4251, fax number: (93) 894 4305).
Tossa
de Mar Tourist Office, Avenida del Pelegrí 25, Edificio
La Nau (telephone number: (97) 234 0108, fax number: (97) 234 0712),
can provide further information. |
