The Best Park in Barcelona

OK, so you might be expecting me to churn out a post about the magnificent Park Güell? Or maybe how much I love La Cuitadella (you wouldn't be wrong)? And no, it's not about the botanical gardens up on Montjüic, either. This is a real gem inside Barcelona, and one which is not often visited. I'm talking about the Parc del Laberint, up in Horta.



The northern neighbourhood of Horta literally translates into "market garden" and indeed used to be farmers fields by all accounts. Well, despite being notoriously difficult to reach by public transport (Line 3, Mundet on the metro, guys, then a bit of a walk) it is my favourite park in the city. Maybe cos it's because I'm a sucker for Jim Henson movies or that I'm really just a big kid at heart, but give me a maze any time!

The park actually looks a bit like a forest from the outside and it's only from the inside can you see the amazing labryinth, which dates back to 1791!! Originally owned by the Desvalls Family, Italian architect Domenico Begutti was hired to design gardens around a cypress maze complete with stream and waterfall. There are even picnic tables outside for you to relax with a spot of lunch. There's a similar attempt at training cypress trees up on Montjuic in the Font del Gat Park, too, which I've pictured below.


The park charges a measly 2,17€ to get in, which is well worth the price if you ask me, but is also free on Sundays and is open all year round (different opening times). So why on earth post about parks and gardens in January, I hear you ask? Well, given the pretty baltic temeperatures that have been sweeping around Spain and the rest of Europe, it seems that Barcelona has escaped with just a bit of a chill. No snow (boo!) and just a sharp drop in temeperatures, nothing out of the ordinary. However, imagine for a moment that Barcelona was covered in a blanket of snow, and you ended up getting lost in the maze.......sorry, any excuse to get this photo in the post!!! I've been waiting for ages to do that.



So what do you reckon? Have you been to the maze? Somewhere you'd like to visit, or do you think I'm completely wrong? Leave a comment guys and let me know. Oh, and if you're coming to Barcelona soon, check out these great Barcelona apartments for rent instead of a hotel!