Once up in Tibidabo, you will have reached the highest point of Barcelona and of Sierra de Collserola. This popular Magic Mountain is a place of peace and fun, also offering one of the best viewpoints of the city.
The mythic Tibidabo Mountain is located at 515 meters of height and is surrounded by both Collserola Natural Park and the city of Barcelona.
“Tidibado” is a Latin word that means “I will give you” (in Spanish, “te daré“). It´s a reference to a biblical fragment pronounced by the Devil to Jesus, in which the Kingdom of Earth was mentioned, possibly representing the big city.
Far from Barcelona, Tibidabo offers an amusement park, lots of green areas and places to enjoy your stay or simply contemplate the horizon.
Located just 15 minutes away from some of the most centric neigbourhoods, this mountain has a magical natural surrounding and excellent viewpoints. Among its emblematic buildings are Sagrado Corazón Temple and Fabra Observatory. Next to them, there is the well-known Tibidabo Amusement Park and the omnipresent Collserola Tower.
Getting to Tibidabo
Going up the top of Tibidabo can take some minutes by car. However, it´s an option that doesn’t allow you to see some details of the place.
Another possibility to reach the top is after an incredible walk or bike route along the popular Carretera de las Aguas. It´s a journey that allows you to get the most of the magnificent landscape above the city of Barcelona.
Moreover, there exists a much more entertained way to get to the top. That´s by tram or cable car.
Traditional Blue Tram (Tramvia Blau) takes us to Tibidabo on a way up the hill from Doctor Andreu Square. It´s a journey above the old railways, along which we´ll be able to see impressive houses of Barcelona’s upper class.
In the same square, we can take the cable car and reach the top of the mountain. Both were built more than a century ago and still retain the charm of those old times.
Science on the way up the mountain
One of the first places we see while going up is the Science Museum CosmoCaixa (C/ Isaac Newton 26).
It´s a traditional building of Sant Gervasi Neighbourhood, where kids and adults have got to know the greatest scientific discoveries (minerals, fossils, Botany and even human beings).
A bit more up the mountain, there is Fabra Astronomical Observatory (Ctra. del Observatori Fabra, s/n).
It´s a building with more than 100 years of history, dedicated to the scientific study of Meteorology, Astronomy and Seismology.
Sagrado Corazón Temple
Once at the top, Tibidabo surprises everyone with a well-known church that can be seen day and night from Barcelona.
Sagrado Corazón Expiatory Temple is a huge monumental building with a magnificent bronze statute on its top. It’s Barcelona’s version of Sagrado Corazón in Paris, designed by Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia and located next to a chapel dated back to 1886.
This Neo-Gothic church has a Neo-Byzantine crypt with colorful mosaics and sculptures by artist Eusebio Arnau.
The ascent to the top of the temple allows us to enjoy spectacular views of the city, just under the sculpture of Sagrado Corazón.
This’s an emblematic church that was initially erected in that particular place in order to prevent a protestant temple to be built.
Tibidabo Amusement Park
The oldest amusement park in Spain, and one of the first ones in Europe, is situated in Barcelona. We’re talking about the popular Tibidabo Amusement Park (Plaza del Tibidabo, 3-4) inaugurated in 1899.
There’re still some of the original attractions, among which, one of the first flight simulators, the popular Tibidabo plane that turns around its own helix.
There is also the traditional Automaton Museum that still has models dated back to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Moreover, there is the well-known Talai, which lifts the bravest people up to a height of more than 50 meters.
Together with the old famous attractions of Tibidabo, the roller coaster and the thrilling Hurakan with its spectacular falls and turns are some other attractions of the park.
Collserola Tower
It’s an authentic 288-metre tall engineering work that offers amazing panoramic views of the city and its surroundings. We’re talking about Collserola Tower (Ctra. de Vallvidrera al Tibidabo, s/n).
It was built as a telecommunication tower for the 1992 Olympic Games, with an original design by Norman Foster.
Its glass elevator allows visitors to be lifted up to an observation platform located 560 meters above sea level.
It’s an incomparable place like the mountian itself. That’s due to the fact that apart from offering the best views of the city, Tibidabo Mountain has a lot of hidden secrets yet to be disclosed.
