From our apartment balcony we could see a fun fair up on a hill. This is Tibidabo, the highest point in the hills in the immediate vicinity of the city. We thought it was worth a look. Despite being several miles outside the city the city transport system saw us easily to the top, by suburban railway, funicular and then bus
The views from up here are excellent. You can just about make out Montserrat in the middle of the photo below
This Radio mast has an observation platform you can go up, one for another day
And of course spectacular views over the city
The hill in the photo below is the Bunkers del Carmel that we visited earlier in the week
And a distant view of the Camp Nou
The hill top is strange mixture of Theme Park and very elaborate church, the Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor
From a distance it looks not unlike Cinderella’s castle at Disney Theme Parks
Its quite beautiful in its own right, just rather odd to see it effectively in the grounds of a cheesy theme park
I liked the contrast between the red and grey stonework
And some nice frescoes inside
The theme park has two areas, the upper level is really simple kiddy style rides. This plane ride is its signature feature and whilst it look impressive from a distance it was amazingly tame and pathetic
Quite photogenic though
This little video gives you an idea of the “thrill” factor
The lower section of the park has some proper rides but we weren’t even allowed in to take a look, tight gits!
Considering the fact that there are only half a dozen decent rides, the entrance fee was typical of Barcelona, namely a staggering £30 each
We declined that offer and satisfied ourselves with a wander about, a laugh at just how pathetic some of the rides were and enjoying the views.
I suspect its better to visit late afternoon and stay till evening when the park is lit up and the night-time views over the city would be great
We were satisfied with a couple of hours to look around as we had a much better evening entertainment planned. Just time for a last evening beer on the terrace
Off so see one of the city’s more unusual attractions
surfnslide 
Now that is something different. Once more, quiet striking architecture too.
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Its a really unusual church and you can see it from miles away. It does look like something built as part of the amusement park
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That’s a gorgeous church, but weird to see it next to an amusement park. You’re right, those rides look pretty lame!
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Isn’t it just, one of those things that make you shake your head. The entrance to the church is about 20 yards from the entrance to the park on the same concourse, very strange. Good spot to spend a couple of hours though. I’m not very good at queueing, I have no patience, so my theme park days are over
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That church is something else
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Its a bit of a strange sight with the contrasting stonework and location in a theme park!
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Some funfair. Like the church- your own personal Jesus approach..
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Its such a odd place to find that church, well worth a visit
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I’d assumed that the church was part of the theme park! The kids were really keen to go – isn’t there a water park there too? At the time, we felt a bit mean not taking them (but £150 for the five of us just seemed too much). Now, I’m glad we didn’t – we enjoyed the things we did do and it doesn’t look like we missed too much.
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Considering the rides they have the cost was ridiculous. You can pay as you go for the really crappy little rides so you could just do a couple of those. I’d say its worth a trip up there just to wander around for a couple of hours and see the view and I think there is some nice parkland around where that big comms tower is (which you can go up I think). My thinking was that theme parks are something you can do anywhere and there are much much better ones than this. There is far more interesting stuff in the city (including the beach). The fact that it was a holiday weekend and the place wasn’t that busy probably tells you its hugely over-priced for what it is
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We thought much the same as you.
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And I don’t actually like theme parks anyway (and I was in charge of the plans and the money!) 🙂
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I like them in principal, but then they almost always turn out to be stuffed to the gills and involve queueing for hours for each ride. This recent principal of allowing you to pay for the privilege of jumping the queue is even more annoying.
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Its the queuing I hate, just such a waste of time for such a disproportionately small amount of fun. If I never saw another one I wouldn’t be bothered. There is so much more to see in the world that’s way more rewarding. Luckily the family are of the same view as Mr Grumpy here. The Funsters quite enjoy them but not enough to be bothered about missing out
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Plenty of white knuckle adventure for them just getting a lift with you surely :-).
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Funny!
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Hee hee hee.
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