10 things you must see in Park Güell
Park Güell is the most colourful place of Barcelona and you must see it! You can’t lose this opportunity because the entrance of the park is free! It is a good place for all ages: children, family, friends, couples and seniors too, because they can reach the park through escalators. When you arrive at the park, you will lose yourself in the nature. First of all, walk along the magical paths with trees and flowers and you’ll feel like in the bewitched wood of Snow white.
It’s the most visited park of the world and it was built between 1900 and 1914 by the famous architect Antonio Gaudí, directed by Eusebi Güell. Although the original project was a construction of a residential park of sixty single-family residences, in the land covered by trees called “El Carmel”. From the business point of view, the project was really bad: in fact, in 1922 they decided to drop it out; but then Gaudí created, with his inimitable style, 3 km of streets and paths, a square and a pavilion.
Now check this list of 10 things you must see in Park Güell.
1. The Calvary is a fantastic small mountain with 3 crosses built by Gaudí and you could climb to admire the amazing landscape of Barcelona from a different point of view. According to the project, this space was a chapel but Gaudí didn’t managed to built.
2. “El viaducto dels enamorats”: this is a perfect path for the soulmates that want to live a magical moment under this exciting construction. If you are a lucky person you can also relax listening to the seductive music of some good musicians who play violin and acoustic guitar.
3.Passeig de las palmeras: Carrying on this wonderful green walk, you can find a fascinating passage of stones full of colorful and rare flowers and amazing trees.
4. The terrace: here you can enter the pearl of Park Güell, it means the monumental space of architectonic elements of Gaudí. You have to do a queue to pay a ticket but it’s very cheap (8€), surely it’s worth the price! You will see an astonishing landscape of Barcelona from a wide terrace created with explosive colours of stones like a mosaic that represent a serpent. In addition, you can sit down there to take a break and enjoy the time with your friends or your partner, you can take photos, meet people, or you can appreciate the weird play of balconies and colours of Modern art.
5. The two pavillons: They are located at the entrance of the Park Guell, the one on the left is used to see videos about Gaudi’s Life. The Pavillion on the right is a shop where you can buy souvenir of this popular park , but remember that both close at 6 p.m.
6. The salamander: the famous salamander or dragon in the center of the staircase is covered with small pieces of colorful ceramic. It’s one of the most important symbol of Spain.
7. Hypostyle room: it is made up of 86 columns inspired by the Doric order. The roof will leave you surprised because is made of small domes built using the traditional technique of clay bricks decorated with original tile-shard mosaics made by Josep Jujol, one of Gaudí’s assistants.
8. The Laundry room portico: these arcades along with others provide covered footpaths and support the roads above. These were all designed to connect the houses within the residential community that was ultimately never built.
9. Austria Gardens: this part has a completely different look to the rest of the park, it’s full of weird balconies, columns, enormous stones and Austrian trees given as a donation in 1977.
10. Gaudí museum is the house with the pinnacle, it’s decorated with furniture and objects, drawn by the artist. Antonio Gaudí spent last 20 years of his life in this house.
HOW MUCH? The entrance is free for almost all the park. Monumental Gaudi ‘s zone: 8€, if you pay there. Click here to buy it online: http://www.parkguell.cat/en/buy-tickets/. HOW TO GET? The itinerary it’s signed by the metro Lesseps, but from the Vallcarca station the way is more short. Something to know: due to the park’s enormous size you need almost 2 hours to visit it, moreover wear comfortable shoes due to 20 min of walk to reach it. Don’t lose this magical and remarkable world! It will be a reward for you- guaranteed!
HOURS: Low season (winter-autumn) from January 1rst to March 25th(*): from 08.30 to 18.30 (*)from March 1st to March 25th, extended hours to 19.00h (last entry time at 18.00h) from October 29 to December 31: from 08.30 to 18.30 Mid season (spring) from March 26 to April 30: from 08.00 to 20.30
High season (spring-summer) from May 1rst to August 27: from 08.00 to 21.30 Mid season (summer-autumm) from August 28 to October 28: from 08.00 to 20.30
Enjoy your trip and see you on the next one!