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| English: Shot taken from Montjuïc (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Port Vell, in Barcelona. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| barcelona españa barceloneta beach kids children playing niños jugando playa (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Copyright © 2010-2013 Olga Simon
To name only ten of Barcelona's attractions for families with young children would be to sell the city short, because it has much more than that. However, most families do not vacation in Barcelona, or even visit the city, long enough to visit much more than ten, so here are the top ten as we see them:
1. Las Golondrinas or Swallow Boats
Las Golondrinas are small double-decker boats that offer two tours: one round the harbour and the other round the coast and the harbour. One takes about 35 minutes, and the other 90 minutes and involves open sea cruising, but is only 12.50€ for adults and 5.00€ for children.
These tours are great for children and adults alike and you can get both directly in front of the Columbus statue, on the port side of the Plaça Portal de la Pau.
2. Tibidabo Amusement Park
This Barcelona attraction is wonderful for small children - it might be a bit young for the teenagers in your family, but who knows? Perhaps a return to their childhood would do them good. It offers over 30 traditional attractions, both traditional and modern, and you get there by means of train, tram and funicular railway! That's fun enough for most kids, but wait till they get into the park! The simulation airplane ride is very popular as is the traditional high Ferris wheel. If you have a young family they will love it.
3. Barcelona Zoo
Most kids love zoos, and here at Barcelona Zoo we have a large number of animals kept in the most humane conditions and offering you the opportunity to allow your children to come across many animals, birds and reptiles that they have only ever seen in books. Imagine their faces when they see the real things looking at them. On top of that you get pony rides, a mini train and electric cars. Add a restaurant and picnic area and that's one day's entertainment for the youngsters looked after!
4. Barcelona Aquarium
Barcelona Aquarium offers a fabulous array of fish from the smallest to the large sharks, and your kids will just love it. Apart from the normal glorious display of fish in their own habitats, you can introduce your children to marine world through Explora! - a fabulous interactive centre on the top floor. This offers over 50 ways for your kids to interact with the fish and other marine creatures through sight, sound and touch, and they can explore these animals in their own underwater domains. This is very popular with children (and parents!), and also caters for the tots.
5. Port Vell Imax Cinema
The Imax Cinema at Port Vell is something to experience if you've been to a wrap-around screen cinema before. With movies in three different formats on 600 square metre screens, including 3-D movies with special polarized glasses and the massive hemispherical screens that seem to wrap around you, Imax is something to be experienced for children and adults. Your standard movie theatre at home will never seem the same again!
6. The Wax Museum
The Barcelona Wax Museum, in the Passatge de la Banca, is a great way to spend a rainy day - even any day in fact! It is full of marvelous representations and the kids will love the horror exhibitions, the trip between the decks of an old sailing ship and the stone-age men. A great place to take them when you are stuck for something to keep them occupied.
7. Cosmocaixa Science Museum
This is a magnet for children, and if you are looking for a way to stop them complaining then bring them here. The geological wall and the planetarium will astound them, and the Amazonian rainforest is very educational, particularly about the difficulties the world would face without it! A visit here both educates them and entertains them.
8. Parc de Ciutadella
The Parc de Ciutadella is the largest public park in Barcelona, and offers you a great play area for the toddlers when they have to let off a little steam. This is in the El Borne area, and offers a boating lake that the kids normally love, and some wonderful Spanish architecture. It used to be a prison during the Napoleonic Wars.
9. Barcelona Happy Park
The Happy Park in Barcelona is for young children, and again is somewhere you can let them expend their excess energy. The Happy Park in Barcelona is for young children, and again is somewhere you can let them expend their excess energy. It's a huge covered labyrinth-type setup full of bouncy, touchy, feely, jumpy, rubbery contraptions for the little darlings to romp around on. Monitors are on hand and there is a special enclosed area for tiny tots. A must for every parent with boisterous kids - they will sleep well tonight after an afternoon here!
10. Port Aventura
This is last, but the best has been saved for last. Port Aventura is actually about an hour in the train from Barcelona, but this is one of the best amusement parks in the south of Europe, you will ever visit. It's well worth a day trip to Port Aventura - your kids will love you for it.
Port Aventura offers several themed parks based on China, Mexico, the Far West, Polynesia and the Mediterranean, with the Carib Aquatic Park next door. Every one fabulous and every one loved by every child that visits it. It's a must for you and your young family.
So there you are: our selection of the best 10 attractions in Barcelona for families with young children. Details of how to get to each, and opening times and prices, are provided on our website.
About the Author:
Written by Olga Simon. Barcelona has a lot more to offer than just these 10 attractions, and whether you are visiting our fine city alone or with a large family, our
Barcelona guide will offer you the best information on where to stay and what to do, eat and drink during your stay. Visit us at
http://www.way2barcelona.com/
Read More Articles by Olga Simon
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