Day Trip to Tibidabo from Barcelona

A mountain top amusement park with emblematic vintage and modern rides offering the best viewpoint over Barcelona and the Mediterranean.

El Tibidabo is the highest peak in the Sierra de Collserola mountain range behind Barcelona. It is famous mostly for the Tibidabo Parc de atraciones amusement park inaugurated in 1901 but also boasts a Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor with tourist roof access to the viewpoint, the historic Fabra Observatory and the world famous Collserola telecoms tower with a 360 degree panoramic viewing floor.

Originally conceived by Dr. Salvador Andreu in 1899 as playground for the wealthy and bourgeoisie citizens of Barcelona, Tibidabo was built as an extension to his housing (small mansions!) project in Avenida Tibidabo and was linked to Barcelona by a tram and funicular railway. Tibidabo Attractions park comprises rides that are some of the oldest in the world, that are still functioning, and is Spain’s longest running amusement park and Europe’s third oldest.

 

At about the same time in 1902 construction began on the Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor. Construction was completed in 1961 and is today a minor basilica of the catholic church. Construction was delayed due to competition for the summit from Fabra Observatory. Tibidabo resides in Parc Natural de Collserola which is a large natural, forested and hilly natural space behind Barcelona city often described as the lungs of the city.

Why Visit Tibidabo?

• Viewpoints: From inside the Amusement park, Torre Collserola, Tibidabo church and from the funiculars.
• Child friendly: Rides for children of all ages and adult attractions such as the Observatory and church.
• Hiking in surrounding parc Collserola: A number of popular routes for all levels, many of which pass via Tibidabo.
• Opening hours depending on season: Summer night time opening till late in the evening.
• Multiple transport options: Two funiculars and bus services to Tibidabo make it reachable within 40 minutes from central Barcelona.

Tibidabo Amusement park (Parc de atraciones)

Consists of over 25 rides that are divided into Emblematic and Modern.

Emblematic rides: The original vintage rides from the first opening in the early 1900’s. They include the Red Aeroplane ride, The Ferris Wheel, The carousel, The pendulum watchtower ride and The Museum of Automata (mechanical puppet display).

Modern Rides: Bumper cars, suspended Monorail, Roller-coaster, Pirate ship, Pendulum rides, teacup rides, small railway rides, rocking horse carousels, The gold mine log flu water ride, Free fall rides, a 4D cinema, Small children’s water roller-coaster and many more.

Tickets for Parc de Atraciones are for the panoramic viewpoint (This used to be free access!), the emblematic rides only or everything and can also include the Cuca de Llum funicular. Catering inside the Parc is fairground food like hotdogs and pizza slices.

 

Tibidabo Church (Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor)

This is the church on the top of the mountain behind Barcelona with the large gold Jesus statue on the top looking down over the city.

 A modern church built from 1902 to 1961 and unique in having a lower section with an altar and crypt. Outside the lower church are stairs that lead up to an upper terrace where there is a second church sitting on top which follows more traditional design with tall vaulted ceilings, rose windows and towers. The church is dedicated to Barcelona’s fisherman despite being a long way from the sea. Inside you will find mosaics on the walls, floors and ceilings with fishing and sailing themes. The lower church is particularly ornately decorated.

The church is free to visit with the upper terrace being a free viewpoint equivalent to the paid entry viewpoint of Parc de Atraciones. Spending €5 will gain access to a lift to the roof terraces of the upper church for even better viewpoints overlooking Barcelona, Parc Collserola and Parc de Atraciones. As you walk round the terrace here you will go ups some steps and come across the main spire which has a spiral staircase inside leading up to the viewing platform at the feet of the Jesus statue. I highly recommend this for the stunning views.

Fabra observatory

Is the fourth oldest functioning observatory in the world and was established in 1904 for the study of asteroids and comets. The observatory is constructed in a wonderful Catalan modernist building by Josep Doménech Estapá That has a 360-degree rotating dome that opens to expose the main telescope. The building has spectacular hall and secondary telescope in a 1900s study and library. Withing the circular part of the building between the main dome is a pilar that supports the rotating dome. The dome does not rotate around the building but spins on this column. In the room at the base of the column is a museum space full of antique scientific measuring equipment like seismometers, clocks, hand held telescopes and barometers.

The observatory is a working weather and observation station of the Royal sciences and arts society of Barcelona and is staffed by scientists and as such access is very limited. However, on most Sunday´s at 11am the on-duty scientist will give a 60-minute guided tour for the amazing price of €3 (in cash) which includes access to all areas including the main telescope, lecture hall, antique study and secondary telescope. The tour also includes access to the roof terrace with amazing views of the modernist building and dome. On this tour you will usually be permitted to look through the main telescope and if you ask nicely the scientist may crank the dome around.

Fabra observatory also hosts diner with the stars events which is a three-course meal in the patio garden and stargazing from the main telescope. This is a unique romantic dinner date in a unique location.

Torre collserola viewpoint

Torre collserola is the iconic needle like telecoms tower by English architect Norman Foster and was built as a concentration point for TV signals from all the Olimpic venues in Barcelona for satellite uplink. At the same time Torre Collserola solved the issue of intermittent TV signal coverage in Barcelona and surrounding towns due to hills in the city.

Until the pandemic, Torre Collserola offered limited guided tours to the 7^th floor viewing enclosure on the tower. Hopefully these tours will be reintroduced because the views from this structure are unique as well as the form of this telecoms tower. The glass elevator ride up the central leg of the tower is breath taking.

Getting To Tibidabo

Via TC2 bus + Tibidabo funicular: (Cuca de llum) This is the recently modernised funicular built in 1906. This Tiidabo is connected to the FGC Avenida Tibiddabo railway station by a short bus trip called TC2. This section used to be covered by the historic Tram Blau but it has been decommissioned since 2018 pending modernisation. The TC2 bus and Cuca de Llum funicular are operated by parc de attractions and individual return tickets can be purchased for €14 or as part of a combined Parc d’Atraccions entry ticket for €35, child and family tickets available.

Via Funicular de Valvidrera + TMB bus 111: is a funicular operated by the FGC railway company and runs from Peu de funicular up to Valvidrera village that is a 20-minute walk from Tibidabo or using the 111 bus. Because this funicular is part of the Zone 1 Barcelona transport fare system, a Hola BCN card, T-casual or t-habitual travel card can be used. Using a T-casual (cost €12.15 for 10 trips) would cost €2.43 as two trips out of the t-casual card and so is substantially cheaper than the cuca de Llum.

My personal pick for A Tibidabo day trip is to walk up to the observatory from Aenida Tibidabo and attend the guided tour. From the observatory I then walk up to the Tibidabo church and visit the roof terrace. I skip the Parc de Atraciones because it is pricy and targeted at children and teenagers. From the top of Tibidabo I return to Barcelona by walking to Valvidrera village via a path behind Torre collserola.

To plan your perfect day trip check out my Tibidabo page where you can find funiculars guides, restaurant guide, individual blogs for each attraction, brochures, maps, train maps, extensive photo galleries, top tips, and weather info.