On July 9, 2009 cyclists in the Tour de France will make their way into the city of Barcelona. Ready to greet them will be thousands of Barcelonians lining the streets waving yellow-colored sheets. The purpose of these sheets it to produce an aerial effect of a wave from the length of Barcelona to the finish line. The goal is to try to make the world’s biggest wave possible!
Cyclists will make their way into the city at approximately 5 pm, which is when the wave is scheduled to happen.
In addition to El Prat Barcelona, another airport in the area is the Girona-Costa Brava Airport. However, the airport is 100 km away from Barcelona’s city center so the best mode of transportation is the airport bus. From the airport, Ryanair Buses will link you from the airport to Barcelona. The bus stops at the Norte train station, which is next to the Arc de Triumph. The trip generally takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes and buses are scheduled in concordance with flight schedule. For more information about timings and fares, please visit the Barcelona Bus web site.
We bought the special 2-day tickets for the Barcelona Bus Touristic. One day was spent on the blue route and the other on the red. Park Guell was the sixth stop on the red route of our tour with Barcelona Bus Touristic. From the stop, we had to walk a couple of blocks up a mountain to reach the entrance of the park. Filled with beautiful flowers and architecture, the park was the ultimate tourist destination. Also situated in the park is the Gaudi museum, celebrating some of the architect’s work.
We decided that the best way to see Barcelona’s sights was to take the “hop-on hop-off” buses offered. We took the Barcelona Bus Touristic which runs 3 routes that take you all over the city. Montjuic was the 13th stop on the blue route. The bus dropped us off directly in front of the funicular station, which is a cable car that takes you to the top of the castle. For approximately 8 € a person, we took the cable car up to the castle in a matter of minutes. From there, we enjoyed beautiful views of the city and the sea. Near the castle, there is a musical water fountain that plays every night, filling the streets of Barcelona with color and music.
LodginginBarcelona’s office is located at the cross-section between the streets Aragó and Roger de Flor. The address is
Aragó 373, bajos, 1ª (08013)
Barcelona, Spain
The airport that is closest to our office is known as El Prat Barcelona. From the airport there are several options for arriving to our office.
1. You can catch a taxi at the airport that will bring you directly to our doorstep. It will cost approximately 30€.
2. You can take the Renfe train from the airport to the city where you can transfer to a metro at either Barcelona Sants or Catalunya stations. The metro stations closest to our office are at Girona and Verdaguer.
3. The last option is a bus known as Aerobus (A1) that takes you from the Airport to Plaza Catalunya. From Plaza Catalunya, you can transfer to the metro. You can catch this bus in front of Terminal A, B, or C. The bus runs Mon-Fri from 6 am to 1 am and runs every 9 minutes. On Sat, Sun, and holidays, it leaves the airport from 6:35 am to 1 am and runs every 12 minutes. The price for the Aerobus is 3.75€.
Close to our apartment in Barcelona is El Monumental, the bull-fighting arena. We went to see a fight and experience a part of the Spanish culture. It turns out that bull-fighting is not heavily promoted in Barcelona as it is indeed a very violent sport, but it is still held for tourists’ enjoyment. Tickets vary from 23€ to over 100€ depending on how close to the arena and whether you wish to be in the shade or in the sun. Entry into the stadium and nearby museum on non-fight days is 5€.
Just a few blocks from our apartment in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia. A beautiful church, it is one of the most famous tourist attractions in all of Barcelona. It is currently under construction, but tourists can still enter and enjoy parts of the church as well as a small museum dedicated to its architect, Gaudi. Enjoy!
From our apartment in Barcelona ( http://www.lodginginbarcelona.com ), we took the metro to Espanya station. From there we took the Renfe train (R5) to Manresa, where we took a cable car up to the Monastery at Montserrat. Instead of taking the Funicular up to the top of the mountain, we chose to hike 4.5 hours roundtrip on a trail that took us to the highest point on the mountain, from which we enjoyed spectacular views. By hiking up instead of taking the Funicular, we managed to experience the entire trip for under 16 €!
A small town at the border between Catalonia and France, Figueres was the birth place of the well-renowned artist Salvador Dali, and now holds the famous Dali museum. Just a day trip away from the city of Barcelona, this museum houses some of Dali’s most famous paintings, sculptures, collages, and many more. The museum also holds work by other artists collected over time by Dali himself. Dali is now buried in the basement of the museum.
How to reach the museum from Barcelona:
Figueres is simply a two hour train ride from Barcelona city. The Renfe (Spanish rail) departs every 30-60 minutes and costs 9 euros. The train can be taken either from the Barcelona Sants station or at Passeig de Gracia.
Also available to tourists is the Portlligat Museum-House in Cadaqués, where Dali lived and worked most of his life. Started as only a small fisherman’s hut, the house was transformed over the course of 40 years by Dali. Particularly notable is the nearby Portlligat bay that has served as a constant inspiration in much of Dali’s work.
How to reach the house from Barcelona:
KEEP IN MIND THAT THE ENTRY INTO THE HOUSE IS ON A RESERVATION BASIS ONLY! To reserve a visit call:
+34 972 251 015
Here is the schedule for the house:
3/15 - 6/14 & 9/16 – 1/6 = 10:30 to 18:00 (last visitor enters at 17:10)
6/15 – 9/15 = 9:30 to 21:00 (last visitor enters at 20:10)
