Riding Barcelona: Tibidabo, Montjuïc and the best views of the city

Most visitors see Barcelona from the pavement: the queue at the Sagrada Família, the crowds on the Ramblas, a taxi between the two. On a motorcycle it is a different city. In one morning you can climb through a pine forest to the top of Tibidabo, look down on the whole city and the sea, then ride to the Olympic hill of Montjuïc and park in front of a palace. This is the ride, and what to know before you do it.

Up through Collserola to Tibidabo

Behind Barcelona there is a wall of forested hills called Collserola, and the whole city sits between it and the sea. Tibidabo, at 512 metres, is the highest point on that ridge. The road up leaves the streets behind quickly: pine trees close in, the corners get tighter, the air gets a few degrees cooler, and the noise of the city drops away until it is just the bike.

At the top you can see the entire city laid out below you, from the towers of the Eixample grid to the port and the Mediterranean beyond. The Temple of the Sacred Heart stands on the summit, a church with a sculpture of Christ on its tower that you can spot from all over Barcelona, and it looks very different from underneath. If you keep going over the ridge you come down to Sant Cugat del Vallès, a calm town on the other side of the hills, which is why we ride this loop as Tibidabo & Sant Cugat.

Montjuïc: the Olympic hill

Come back down into the city and the second climb is Montjuïc, the hill above the port where Barcelona held the 1992 Olympic Games. The roads are wide and smooth, there are lookouts over the harbour and the container cranes, and at the top of the long steps stands the Palau Nacional, home of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC). The plaza in front of it is one of the best places in the city to stop a motorcycle: open, with room to park and a view of the whole facade, and at its quietest early in the morning.

Marcia, who did this ride with us, wrote on Google: “I took a tour with Gabriel around Barcelona’s must-see sights, and I can say I felt very safe and comfortable during the whole tour.”

Sagrada Família, Barceloneta and the old city

From Montjuïc the ride drops to the waterfront at Barceloneta and the parks of the Ciutadella, then crosses the city to the Sagrada Família. This is the part that surprises people who have only ever walked it: on a motorcycle you move between the big landmarks in minutes, you park right at the kerb, and you never join a queue for a taxi. If you would rather have the landmarks than the hills, the Barcelona Highlights ride covers the Sagrada Família, Passeig de Gràcia, the Cathedral and Barceloneta in the same four hours.

What it is like to ride in Barcelona

Barcelona is a motorcycle city. Scooters and bikes are everywhere, drivers expect them, and there are motorcycle parking bays all over the city. The only stressful part is the first few kilometres through the Eixample, the grid of one-way streets in the centre; after that the hills are quiet. This is also the strongest argument for a local guide: not the roads, which are easy to follow, but the junctions, the lanes and the order in which to do things.

If you want the Mediterranean as well as the city, the other great ride out of Barcelona is the coast road south: read about Sitges and the Garraf cliffs.