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Author: bcndave | Total views: 3 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1061 Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 8:31 PM

Top 10 coolest ways to get around Barcelona.

Barcelona is one of the most popular cities to visit in Europe and has a very high occupancy rate year-round. Its natural geographical landscape means that with Tibidabo Mountain at the back and the Mediterranean Sea at the bottom, Barcelona is on a slight gradient towards the sea. So what are the best ways to take advantage of this natural slope, and not make it all an uphill climb? Recent years have seen some great new innovative inventions sit side by side with the classic (and very classic) methods of transport in the city. Here are my first 5.

Walking. OK, so Iâ€™m starting with the obvious, but this really is the best way to see Barcelona â€“ especially the Old Town, Gothic quarter streets, the old fishermanâ€™s village of Barceloneta and the beach, the fantastic Palau de la Musica Catalana in the Borne district, leading you all the way over to the garden of Barcelona â€“ La Cuitadella â€“ this is a huge chunk of Barcelona and is a really great way to spend a day, and your feet wonâ€™t even notice it, believe me.

2 wheels. Bikes are big business in Barcelona â€“ locals have the great subsidised â€œbicingâ€ venture, similar to other cities where you can pick up a bike at one place and drop it off at another, thus saving having to bother with locks or storing the bike yourself. There are also many budget bike rental companies all over Barcelona and this summer has seen the re-modelling of many main streets, incorporating bike lanes, sacrificing parking spaces, as Barcelonaâ€™s mayor goes even greener.

4 wheels. Itâ€™s been known for years that Barcelona is a skaterâ€™s paradise. The slight downhill incline gives ease for skaters to effortlessly glide down towards the port, and the many flat parks and open spaces at places like the MACBA, 3 Chimneys Park and PlaÃ§a Universitat, plus the seeming indifference to the local cops makes Barcelona a fave for rollerbladers, skaters and all other urban methods.

Tramvia Blau. Iâ€™m including this for nostalgia â€“ itâ€™s the only and oldest working Tram in Barcelona, and it takes you from PlaÃ§a John F Kennedy up to the foot of Tibidabo, and is a real gem. Itâ€™s not a very long journey, but the wonderful houses on either side of the trajectory up Avenida del tibidabo give a great view, and a feel for Zafonâ€™s famous â€œShadow of the windâ€ novel.

The cable cars of Barcelona - two awesome ways to travel in Barcelona. What better way to arrive to the beach, than taking the Miramar cable car over the water of the old port, waving along the way to the cruisers on the ocean liners below, and taking in some breathtaking views along the way. The MontjÃ¼ic cable car starts just near the Olympic diving boards and recent renovations give an all new experience as the Perspex boxes give an almost 360Âº view of everything around you. The destination is MontjÃ¼ic castle where you can survey the working side of Barcelona port, and on a clear day, see the whole of Barcelona.

Funicular de MontjÃ¼ic. As mentioned above, the cable car of MontjÃ¼ic starts about half way up the mountain, so what better way to get the first half out of the way than taking the funicular train? For those of you unfamiliar with Funicular trains, itâ€™s like a bus on a cable, but is pulled not hanging. This leaves you on the opposite side of the street to the cable car, and is taken from inside Paralâ€¢lel metro station, so also fairly central.

The next 2 are not my stint at a bit of free publicity, but I have to include them as they are so cool!! First is GoCar Barcelona. This is an idea embracing the modern day world of GPS systems and whilst not strictly a car â€“ itâ€™s more like a motorbike sidecar, but for 2 people â€“ the little yellow open-top bombers can be seen driving around Barcelona in many locations. The GPS gives you a guided tour in various languages and instructions of where to go as well, so you see the sights â€œon your ownâ€ as youâ€™re driving but with your own Knight-Rider style KITT Car giving you the navigation â€“ cool!! Barcelona shares the privilege of GoCar with only a handful of world cities including Lisbon, Miami, San Diego and San Francisco.

The second brand new arrival and well worth the mention is BarcelonaGlides. This really is a futuristic way to see the city, and involves an almost pogo-stick type invention but for the new millennium! You are considerable higher than the other pedestrians on a platform with two wheels, an axle and two handlebars kind of like a scooter. But the handlebars control the movement of your wheels, kind of like a motorbike. Itâ€™s so difficult to explain without actually seeing one, or using one. Itâ€™s almost like the wheels are an extension of your legs, and a slight flick of the wrist makes you move. This really is a sight to see, and guided tours give you an amazing insight to the city centre and surroundings â€“ and you donâ€™t even need to take a step!

Many cities across the globe have open top tourist buses, perhaps copying from the infamous red London buses. I usually avoid these buses, as itâ€™s much more fun to work your own way around a city. However, the Barcelona Bus Turistic (the one run by the council, there are a few) is a great way to see the city over ground and get a real idea of the size and expanse on Barcelona. Visitors flying into Barcelona can see for themselves the great heights from Tibidabo down to the sea, and the tourist bus also shows all the major stops along the way in a hop on hop off fashion with discounts available for each and every tourist attraction. This is especially good for families who prefer not to lug pushchairs and strollers or small children in and out of the metro system. The Bus Turistic has enjoyed phenomenal success over recent years and itâ€™s easy to see why.