Discover the vast hill of Montjuic and its monuments

Montjuic is a vast hill rising just above Barcelona port. The huge area offers a number of cultural and sports monuments, botanical gardens and places to relax. If you would like to see absolutely everything that is here, you can reserve a whole day for it. 

What to see on Montjuïc hill?

There are really a lot of sights that you can see on Barcelona's Montjuic hill, for example: 

1. National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC)
2. Joan Miró Museum/Foundation
3. Magic Fountain
4. The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion
5. Olympic Park: stadium, museum and Torre de Calatrava tower
6. Spanish village (Poble Espanyol)
7. Castle (fortress) Montjuic
8. Botanical gardens
   Bonus: Montjuïc Cemetery

How to get to Montjuic?

There are several ways to get to the hill: 

• walk from Placa Espanya
• by cable car from the port
• by cable car from Para-lel metro
• by bus No. 150 or by tourist bus

The way to the top from Placa Espana is the most popular and offers the most attractions. You can reach it by metro from the center in a few minutes, and as soon as you get off, it will be clear to you which direction to go - a hill with a palace on top will appear right in front of you (Palau Nacional), which is nothing but National Catalan Museum of Art.

The hill is dominated by a palace with collections of national Catalan art

On the way up, you pass through the fair grounds (Fira de Barcelona), you will enjoy the singing fountain (Magic Fountain), you will admire countless water cascades and enjoy views of the city. You can't get lost anywhere on the way to the top.

Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion

Lovers of architecture must (supposedly) not miss on their way to the top pavilion of the architect Mies van der Rohe located just behind the fair halls on the right. But beware of exaggerated expectations - officially this building is actually referred to as a pavilion, but in reality it is nothing more than a few granite walls. Inside you will find one statue, a pond and some bent steel chairs.

Although the entrance fee is low, you can walk through the entire building in about 2 minutes and then you can visit the souvenir shop. It looked a bit like Potemkin's village to me personally :) And I like the Bauhaus, the Tugendhat villa in Brno and van de Rohe... 

The restored pavilion of the architect Mies van der Rohe

Singing Fountain (Font Màgica)

It stands right at the foot of Montjuic The Singing Fountain, which offers an extraordinary spectacle for all comers at night from Thursday to Sunday. The lit, gushing fountain plays in the dark with bright colors and accompanied by music, attracts tourists from a wide area. This majestic spectacle is definitely worth it. You can find more about the fountain in separate article.

Popular magic fountain in daylight

If you visit the place during the day, definitely come back here after sunset - you won't believe how everything changes under the cover of darkness accompanied by music and light. 

Olympic Park: stadium, museum and TV tower

It is also located on the slopes of Montjuïc hill former Olympic site (Anella Olímpica), which is a memento of the 1992 Olympic Games. 

The biggest reminder of this time is Olympic stadion (Olympic Stadium). Although its history dates back to 1929, it gained its greatest fame in the early 90s during international competitions under the five colored circles. 

Estadi Olímpic, big concerts are held here today and FC Barcelona play their matches here

The stadium can accommodate 55 spectators and to this day it is widely used, especially for sports or cultural events - just a few names of artists who performed here: Coldplay, Muse, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Metallica, Pink Floyd,...

The Olympic Stadium will also become one for the 2023/2024 season refuge FC Barcelona football team, because their repairs will take place during this period home Camp Nou. 

If there isn't a match or training session, you can watch the main concourse of the stadium for free. The view here is worth it! 

There is also something interesting in the park area Olympic and Sports Museum. This is primarily intended to serve as a reminder of the 1992 Olympic Games, but you will also find a lot of new interactive exhibits and simulators, thanks to which you can, for example, race against Carl Lewis...

Not far from the museum, it rises unmistakably into the sky Torre de Calatrava telecommunications tower, which was also built on the occasion of the Olympic Games for broadcasting a television signal. Given its form, there is probably no need to describe at length why in its time aroused a lot of passionate emotions...

In addition to the things described above, you will find other sports facilities, playgrounds or swimming pools in the Olympic complex. For tourists, the promenade on Pl. d'Europa, where there are plenty of rest areas, fountains or water channels. 

Castle on top of Montjuic hill

As already mentioned, one of the cable cars ends at Castello de Montjuic (website). This castle, or rather an ancient fortress from the 18th century, dominates the southeastern part of the Montjuic hill. The place itself has a very dark past, as it served mainly as political prison – at the beginning of the 19th century, anarchists were executed here, fascists during the civil war, and later republicans. 

The fortress itself, reminiscent of the Brno casemates, is surrounded massive walls. It is from those amazing view of the city, but above all to the sea, port and docks. Until 2009, a military museum operated on this site, but it was canceled after the entire building was handed over from the Ministry of Defense to the city. They are just a reminder of this period huge cannons heading towards the sea. 

If you want to see inside the fort, prepare €9 to enter, young people 16-29, adults over 65 then pay a reduced entrance fee of €6. Children under 8: free

More about Montjuic fortress in a separate article.

From the top of Montjuic you can see the port for cargo ships

Botanical Gardens on Montjuïc hill

The complex of vast gardens found on Montjuïc hill offers a diverse flora and plenty of space to relax. This is especially useful in the summer months. You can find more details in my ebook. 

The cable car will also take you to Montjuic

No matter which direction you approach Montjuic, you will certainly not miss them extensive botanical gardens with the flora of different places and continents. In summer, you will come across rich clumps of cypress trees and other beautiful flowers and tropical trees.

You can walk around the grounds, but you can also admire the gardens bird's eye view while riding the cable car. There are two cable cars to Montjuic.

Cable car to Montjuïc from the Paral·lel metro

You can reach the first cable car called Telefèric de Montjuïc from the direction of the Paral·lel metro. The ground cableway leaves from here, which will take you to the bottom station of the cable car. (The funicular is part of an integrated transport system, so you can use any ticket you have – a normal ticket, convenient T-casual, Hola BCN tourist card, ...). 

It's from the cable car beautiful view of the whole city and the journey to the top takes approximately 10 minutes. 

You have to pay for the cable car, but it will take you to the very top of the hill, where you can find it the fortress of Montjuïc. 

More information about the Telefèric de Montjuïc: description, map and prices

Cable car to Montjuïc from the port

The second option is the cable car from the port named Aeri del Port or also Telerifico del Puerto.

And even if you take the cable car from the port to Montjuic, know that then you still have a long way to go on foot – this cable car won't even take you halfway up the hill. The exit station at the Miramar Hotel is very much on the edge of the hill (and a little sideways). 

On the other hand, at this hotel you can admire the well-kept gardens, the fountain or relax on one of the many benches. 

The main advantage of the cable car is the views, as its cabin travels at a height of almost one hundred meters above the sea. Definitely not for those who are afraid of heights and have vertigo.

More information about the cable car Aeri del Port: description, map and prices

However, if you don't want to splurge on cable cars, you can also walk to the top of Montjuïc - just keep in mind that in this case, going up, going through or around the fort, enjoying the views, having a snack and going back down is a matter of maybe 3 or 4 hours. 

Climb Montjuic and you have Barcelona in the palm of your hand.