Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The views from the heights of Tibidabo (550m), the peak that signals the northwestern
boundary of the city, are legendary. On a clear day you can see across to the Pyrenees
and out to sea even as far as Mallorca. However, while many make the tram and fu-
nicular ride up to Tibidabo's wonderfully old-fashioned amusement park, few realize
thatbeyondstretchestheParcdeCollserola,anareaofpeaks,woodedrivervalleysand
hikingpaths-oneofBarcelona'sbest-keptsecrets.YoucanwalkintotheparkfromTi-
bidabo,butit'sactuallybettertostartfromthepark'sinformationcentre,acrosstothe
east,abovethehilltopvillageofVallvidrera,whichcanbereachedbyanotherfunicular
ride. Meanwhile, families won't want to miss CosmoCaixa, the city's excellent science
museum, which can easily be seen on the way to or from Tibidabo.
CosmoCaixa
C/Isaac Newton 26 • Tues-Sun 10am-8pm • €4, children's activities €4, planetarium €4 • 932 126 050,
obrasocial.lacaixa.es
• FGC Avinguda del Tibidabo (trains from Pl. de Catalunya) and 10min walk, or
Tramvia
Blau
or Bus Turístic stop close by
A dramatic refurbishment in 2005 transformed the city's science museum into a must-see at-
traction,certainlyifyou'vegotchildrenintow-it'saneasyplacetospendacoupleofhours.
Partly housed in a converted
modernista
hospice,
CosmoCaixa
retains the original building
but has added a light-filled public concourse and a huge underground extension with four
subterranean levels, where hands-on experiments and displays investigate life, the universe
and everything, “from the quark to Shakespeare”. Many of the exhibits, and their densely
worded explanations, require a very large thinking cap - younger children are soon going to
be zooming around the open spaces. But there's no denying the overall pull of the two big
draws, namely the 100 tonnes of “sliced” rock in the
Mur Geològic
(Geological Wall) and,
best ofall, the
BoscInundat
-nothing less than 1000square metres ofreal Amazonian rain-
forest, complete with caimans, anacondas and giant catfish.
