Car Rental Barcelona - Exploring Barcelona

Beyond Barcelona’s confines are spectacular mountains, interesting suburbs and a lovely coastline, all worth exploring.

Parc Güell is another legacy from Antonio Gaudi, situated behind the city with a fine elevated view of Barcelona. It features a bizarre mixture of colourful ceramic benches, giant decorative lizards, mosaics and pavilions of contorted stone all combine into a brilliant swirl of the imagination. The Sala Hipóstila is a forest of 84 stone columns, originally intended as a market, while the preserved spired house on site is the Casa Museu Gaudí, where Gaudí lived for most of his last 20 years.

Gràcia has traditionally been home to strong artistic and political communities, students and intelligentsia, with its down to earth atmosphere. Its Plaça del Sol is a pleasant place by day and lively at night.

Tibidabo is reached by a glass lift which rises 115m to this peak among a wooded range that forms the backdrop to Barcelona. The views are spectacular and there is an amusement park which draws the locals. Another attraction is the Temple del Sagrat Cor – a huge basilica which is either breath-taking or aesthetically awful, depending on your taste.

The Monestir de Montserrat is dramatically placed among the weird rocky crags and ruined hermitage caves, in this range 50kms north west of the city, and it certainly draws the crowd. Dating from the 11th century, it attracts pilgrims to its La Moreneta (the Black Virgin).