Barcelona Walking Tour: Landmarks and Legends of El Born and Ciutadella Park

(123 reviews)

Barcelona audio tour: Barcelona Walking Tour: Landmarks and Legends of El Born and Ciutadella Park

This is a 2.4mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Barcelona

Spain

$11.99

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About the Tour

Barcelona’s Ciutadella Park has more to it than meets the eye. Its epic history of wars, destruction, politics, art, and expos have shaped it, and in doing so, changed the face of Barcelona forever. On this walking tour, we’ll do more than simply stroll through the celebrated park, we’ll venture into the medieval streets of El Born, once a seaside suburb and thriving industrial area where many became wealthy.

The further you walk, the more you’ll get a sense of how local people lived in one busy, entrepreneurial area where aristocrats and the working class coexisted. You’ll stroll down Passeig del Born and find out how the area transformed from a jousting strip into a market and, much later, into one of the city’s main thoroughfares. Along the way to Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf I’ll reveal how, thanks to a (so-called) accidental excavation, you’re now able to see what the streets would have been like in the 1700s. I’ll also tell you how the city’s modern street names still hold clues about what occurred on them centuries ago.

On this 75-minute stroll, you’ll:

Pass by various cultural centres including El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria, Picasso Museum, Moco Museum Barcelona, and Palau de la Música Catalana
Find out how Barcelonians crowdsourced the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar
Spot the hidden Gaudi sculpture on Cascada Monumental fountain
See Barcelona’s shortest street, Carrer de l’Anisadeta, it takes two seconds to walk it.
Gaze upon a statue of La Carassa’s female form, a ‘signpost’ that showed people where to find brothels in the 1600s
Hear about the links between Capella d’en Marcús (Chapel of Marcus) and the first postal service in Europe
Discover the origins of Sant Pere, one of Barcelona’s medieval neighbourhoods
Peak inside Santa Caterina Market, where you’ll find tasty treats and ancient ruins

This tour covers a wonderful area of Barcelona with an incredible history and many awesome sights that’s often overlooked in favour of the Gothic Quarter. On this tour, I’ll show you why you need to visit both to truly get a taste of my favourite city in the world. By the end, I hope you’ll agree that El Born is the coolest area in town!

Tour Producer

Spain Walking Tours

6 tours

The best way to see any Spanish city is on foot. It’s not just the destinations that dazzle, it’s what you see on the way. These beautiful cities have character, and a walking tour is the only way to uncover the unsung attractions between landmarks: vibrant streets, monuments, street art, ruins, shops, and the locals.

Spain’s fascinating history truly comes alive starting around 2,000 years ago when the Romans settled here. Since then, a lot has happened, and your host John will dive deep into this history so you don’t have to. His tours focus on the momentous events that shaped the cities, but also the lighter, quirky side of their stories.

John’s tours not only guide you to the most famous tourist attractions but also show you the lesser-known plazas, stunning architecture, hidden cafes, and Instagram-worthy spots. He’ll share strange histories, myths, stories of famous historical figures, and even bizarre events that once unfolded on these very streets.

We’re adding new cities all the time, and some of our most popular tours are in Barcelona, Valencia, Sitges, and Zaragoza. Whether you’re uncovering Roman ruins, medieval castles, or picturesque plazas, there’s always something new to discover.

The average tour length is around 3.5 km, so get ready for a great walk and enjoy Spain 🇪🇸

Preview Location

Location 15

El Born Cultural Centre

Just stop in front of the front doors here before we go inside and I'll tell you what's going on here.

This building was the El Born market for 95 years, and then they decided to redevelop it into the town library. But.... While they were building it, they dug down a bit t... Just stop in front of the front doors here before we go inside and I'll tell you what's going on here.

This building was the El Born market for 95 years, and then they decided to redevelop it into the town library. But.... While they were building it, they dug down a bit to a layer beneath the market floor and made a discovery that halted construction. What they found fired a debate that lasted for 30 years about what to do with the building.

This Cultural Center is what they eventually decided. If you're here on a Monday and it's closed, sorry about that, walk around the building to the door directly opposite, on the other side, and wait for the audio to finish before you start moving on.

If it's open, let's go in and see. It's free to get in so just walk straight inside.

Remember the loving and thoughtful French King Felip, conqueror of Barcelona? He tore down the seaside quarter in the early 1700s after the Seige, to build his fortress. What you're looking at now are the remains of the buildings and streets that he demolished. I think it's really interesting that these excavations are a snapshot from an exact time. Most excavations fell into ruin over centuries and layers of the earth slowly covered them up... but not these ones. This is Barcelona in the 1700s.

It's so easy to see the shape of the city too, and using old maps they even know the street names and the purpose of these buildings. There's about 60 houses and workshops spread over 42 streets. And even though most of it is the remains from the 1700s... the foundations of some of these buildings go all the way back to Roman times.

If you want to complete the picture, you just have to imagine the people walking around on these streets. The 1700s was the era where men had luscious long curly hair or wigs for the baldies, a tricorn hat - those triangular ones - big buckled shoes, white tights and knee-length knickerbockers. The women wore those massive puffy gowns, lots of silk and lace, and probably a bonnet... sort of like what I'm wearing now.

The rich wore clothes like that all the time, but even the poorer people would dress like that on a night out. Probably a bit scruffier during the day though, but there'd have been all types of people here, this was a relatively wealthy area and an industrial area.

There's a few exhibitions in the building showing the objects that they found here... those have an entry fee, but it's generally only a few Euros. You can get your entry tickets opposite where we entered.

Take your time and have a look around. There's a whole lot of history here and a lot of it's been written down for you in English, as you look over the rails. Or you can take a guided tour where they'll actually walk you along the streets and tell you everything you need to know.

When you're finished, walk out the door directly opposite the door we came in, so straight across to the other side. Remember if the museum is closed, walk around the building to the exit on the other side. I'll rejoin you there.
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Major Landmarks

Estació de França
Ciutadella Park
The Parliament of Catalonia
Mamut
Neptú
Monument of Tribute
Castle of the Three Dragons
Monument Homenatge a Picasso
El Born Center for Culture and Memory
Passeig del Born
Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar
Fossar de les Moreres
Carrer de Montcada
PALAU DALMASES
Moco Museum Barcelona
Picasso Museum Barcelona
LA CARASSA - siglo xv
Placeta d'En Marcús
Carrer de la Flor del Lliri
Mercat de Santa Caterina
Carmela
Sant Pere de les Puelles
Arc de Triomf

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Av. del Marquès de l'Argentera, s/n, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Total distance

4km
Final location
Passeig de Lluís Companys, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Distance back to start location

849.07m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins at the main entrance to Estacio de Franca, just a few hundred meters from Ciutadella Park. Although there are local trains direct to the station from certain stations (eg: Sants, Passeig de Gracia), there is no Metro station directly connected to the station - but don't worry, the nearest is Barceloneta and it's just around the corner.

If you're based around La Ramblas, Gothic Quarter, Barceloneta or El Born it's an easy, short walk.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

When we get to the centre of El Born, on Montcada street, there's a small traditional Tapas Bar called El Xampanyet that I really recommend. It's named after it's homemade Cava that it serves and it's well known to locals as The coolest bodega in town. If you're passing by at lunchtime, you'll see the queue outside long before you see the restaurant. If you're after a quiet relaxing meal, this isn't the place for you. It's energetic and alive, just like Barcelona. You won't find a place more Spanish than this one.

C/. de Montcada, 22, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 19 70 03

Best time of day

10am to 8pm. Many of the locations we'll visit operate tourist hours, so it's better to match these hours, so you can go inside if you wish. Please note: one of El Born's most popular attractions, the El Born Cultural Center is not open on Mondays, so if you're hoping to catch it, take the tour Tue - Sun.

Precautions

Ciutadella Park, El Born and Sant Pere are all quite safe, however, any tourist hotspots are attractive to pickpockets so make sure your valuables are secure and hold on to your bag.

Summer in Barcelona, the sun can be pretty intense... that's no problem in the shady lanes of El Born, but while we're in the park you'll be a little exposed, so slap on some sunscreen, bring a cap and a bottle of water. At the waterfalls in the park, there is a cafe in case you need some cold refreshments.

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