Barcelona for kids

Who said that kids won’t have fun at Barcelona ???? There are things to entertain them, well not so much but a lot. Barcelona for children is also for family and adult, somewhere where they will open very wide their eyes when they will see the big mammoth at the city park or the ceramic dragon at the park guell. Following some ideas including the easier way to get to the place if you don’t want to walk (some are too far away by foot) or take the taxi.

The ciutadella park. Like said above, there is the mammoth but also a little pool, a big fountain, children areas and a lot of green spaces to play or for a good nap. It is also from here that you can access to the zoo

of Barcelonoa. To go there, walking from catalunya square to passeig de pujades, you will have about 20 minutes for a nice wallk or take the bus 42 from catalunya to passeig pujades stop.

The park guell. The Gaudi park where kids can play hide and seek in the column room, imagine that they surfing in the wave room, touch the ceramic dragon, run on the big snake square… There are many entrance to the park, the main one is located at olot street:

take the bus 24 at catalunya square to travessera de dalt (sors-clavell) stop, when you will get down, turn left and turn right at the 2nd street, you should be at larrard street, just walk up until the end. Take note that the street has an inclination of almost 70 degrees so be prepared !!!
take the bus 24 at catalunya square to parc güell stop, you will enter by the east side.
take the free bus guell at the "alfons X" metro station only if you buy the entrance.
or take the metro L3 at catalunya square to vallcarca station, after just walk down the street and then follow the indication, you will enter by the west side.

The poble espanyol. Located at “avinguda de francesc ferrer i guàrdia 13”, I will define the place as a theme site reproducing the main buildings of each region of Spain. The result is a spanish village in small scale of course where there are a lot of activities for kids but also for adults. To go there from catalunya square, forget about walking, take the metro L1 catalunya station to espanya station, then the bus 13 or 50 to poble espanyol stop.

The montjuic castle. The only castle of the city where your kids can wake his/her Indiana Jones spirit, located at “carretera de montjuïc 66”, they will be able to run on the walls which kept watch the enemies coming by sea, climb up and down the towers and do a nap on the garden. To go there, you can either take from catalunya square:

the bus 55 to parc montjuic stop, then the cable railway to castell stop.
the metro L3 catalunya to parallel station and after take the funicular, once you arrive at montjuic park station, take the cable railway to castell stop.

The cosmocaixa museum. Located at “isaac newton 26“, the science museum has a lot of things to experiment and to discover including a reproduction of a tropical fauna and a tank of 1000 square meters reproducing the flooded forest of the amazon brazilian jungle with its inhabitants. There is no metro which can bring you there and walking is not an option so take the bus 60 at glories square and get off at ronda dalt (cister-teodor roviralta) stop. To get to glories square, take the metro L1 from catalunya square.

The aquarium. Located at “moll d'espanya del port vell” behind the maremagnum mall, there is where you can bring your kids to see penguins, the clown fish… including crossing the transparent tunnel of the oceanarium, a big tank filled with fishes as ocean sunfish, rays, sand tiger shark, sandbar shark…

The imax. Located just next to the aquarium, it is a good place to enjoy a movie or a documentary in 3D on a big screen (600 square meters wide and 21 meters high) or in its omnimax, a semispherical screen in dome shape with a superficies of 900 square meters and a diameter of 30 meters.

For both places, you can reach them after crossing the “rambla del mar” bridge, at the end of la rambla street. If you don’t want to walk, take the bus 19 or 40 near the urquinaona metro station (there are 2 ways in/out so make sure it is the via laietana one) and get off at “passeig itaca (davant imax) stop (one stop before the last one). The metro station is located near the urquinaona square, walking from catalunya square, it will take you about 5-7 minutes.

The zoo. The site reproduces the natural habitat of the 325 species that live there, your kids will enjoy listening the greater flamenco singing, watching the dolphin show... To go there, you can go through the entrance located at the end of the ciutadella park or the one located at “c/ wellington 1”. To go to the park, you already know so I´m going to explain the other entrance. Take the metro L4 urquinaona station to ciutadella - villa olimpica station. The metro station is located at urquinaona square, it will take you about 5-7 minutes by foot from catalunya square.

The tibidabo theme park. Located on top of the Tibidabo mountain, this amusement park is for anyone who is under 18 years old. It will entertain you and your children with its many rides and attractions including street shows. To go there, the easiest way is to take the bus called “tibibus” at catalunya square which operates only when the park is open.

Share a hot chocolate with churros is a good way to enjoy a family break, your children will like it. In Catalonia, locals prefer to order a hot chocolate with melindros, a nice traditional place to go is at Granja Dulcinea (carrer petritxol 2).

If you want to melt your kids with the local children, there are many playground areas in the city where parents bring their kids as at the vicenç martorell square, at “passeig sant joan 114”… you won’t have problem to find one.

Don't forget to check my other topic Top 10 children in Barcelona for more ideas.