Park Güell – Barcelona – Kiwi Roamer, the less intrepid traveler

One of the must do’s in Barcelona is pretty much anything Gaudi (Antoni Gaudi), and you may be forgiven for forgetting that Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali spent any time in Barcelona at all – ok, thats no fair, they are all favoured children of Barcelona, but Gaudi is the favourite child amongst them all!!!

Essentially, Eusebi Güell commissioned Antoni Gaudi to create a residential park estate for the well-to-do in Barcelona, however it never really took off. What eventuated was a number of structures set over a large parkland that defy the imagination. Dr. Seuss and his myriad of characters would be well at home in these parklands.

You can wander around the expansive gardens for free, and the view from the calvary Tres Creus is quite spectacular, however to be able to view the “monuments” you need to pay €8.oo per person. This gets you access to the Porters Lodge and the Casa del Guarda, the “Monumental” flight of steps, inside the Hypostyle room, the Nature square and Portico of the Washerwoman. There is definitely things to be seen without paying to enter, however it is well worth it. There is a free App that you can download which provides audio tour (which coincidentally is exactly the same provided in the free hand out – but it does mean your eyes are able to wander rather than stare at a brochure – so I consider it worth it!).

Its a walk to get there, pretty much a 1km up hill walk from any public transport option.

I suggest taking the metro options that drop you off either at the Vallcarca or the Lesseps stations, both on Line 3, where you can take a short walk and then take the escalators for much of the uphill part (be warned, there is still a lot of uphill that you actually need to use your own legs for, but the escalators help!)