Cheetah Girls 2 came out when I was 11 years old. I remember watching Raven, Adrianne, Sabrina, and Kiely dance all over Barcelona. Back then, it didn’t even cross my mind that I could also visit this vibrant seaside city.
Finally in 2018, I made the conscious effort to visit Barcelona with my boyfriend. While there are plenty of exciting things to do and see, I was most interested in visiting Parc Güell. This is where some key scenes from Cheetah Girls 2 took place, and I wanted to feed my inner preteen.
What I didn’t realize was there was a second park in Barcelona that would take my breath away. After visiting Parc del Laberint d’Horta, I began to ask the question: “Is one park better than the other?”
And thus begins the Battle of the Parks!
Contender No. 1 – Parc Güell
Parc Güell if you aren’t familiar is a park designed by Antoni Gaudí located in the northern part of Barcelona. Originally Gaudí was asked to create a luxury housing development, although in the end only the park became a reality. After taking a look at the architectural monuments and garden layouts, I imagine that the luxury housing would have been something out of a Dr. Seuss book.
It took my boyfriend and I a moment to figure out the best route to get to the park from the Lesseps metro stop. After a sweaty 15 minute walk alongside other visitors up the hillside, we finally found the front entrance. Cue the drumroll please!
At the entrance, we were greeted by two funky buildings that looked like they belonged in Wonderland. Looking past these buildings, I was able to see the main Monument Zone. This is where my inner Cheetah Sista’ got excited, because just beyond the main entrance was El Drac i Les Cascades (The Dragon and The Stairs) and Plaça de Natura (The Nature Square). The Monument Zone was swarming with people, but I could imagine a film crew setting up the shots that would end up in the final cut of the musical number “Strut”.
So you gotta understand, for this trip we were on a bit of a budget and most of the plans were last minute. The Monument Zone is now a ticketed area, and is best booked online in advance. By the time we even considered that we wanted a closer look at the colorful architecture, the tickets for that day were sold out. Lucky for us however, Parc Güell has a Free Zone outside of the ticket Monument Zone.
Honestly, the Free Zone is awesome. Not only does it have a lot to see on its own, but technically you can still get a pretty good view of the Monument Zone. The Free Zone forms like a semi circle around the ticketed section, and there are multiple pathways that lead up the hillside to some amazing views of Barcelona.
My favorites part of the Free Zone were the Viaducts that run throughout the park. The mixture of rock textures that form the curving columns and pathways stands in contrast to how lush the park was. It felt like a desert version of Whoville! (Although, it was probably the heat that gave me desert vibes, but I digress). Another singular memory I have is simply finding a park bench and watching a guy create big soap bubbles for little kids. The Free Zone felt like the perfect spot to people watch and take fun pictures with really cool architecture.
By the way, there are free restrooms located smack dab in the middle of the park, as well as a couple on the outer perimeter. Considering that in most of Europe a free restroom is rare, I did a little happy dance when I found them. My American brain still isn’t used to having to fish for a euro or two from my purse just to use the loo.
Contender No. 2 – Parc del Laberint d’Horta
Going to Parc del Laberint d’Horta was a total “eh, why not” moment. It is farther north than Parc Güell is from the city center, and wasn’t mentioned nearly as much in any Barcelona guides I had read. Getting to this park took a bit of planning, and I really hoped that the time spent getting there would be worth it. Guess what? It totally was.
Right after visiting Parc Güell, the boyfriend and I got on the metro again and rode 20 minutes up to the Mundet Station. When we popped out from underground, any signs of tourism were gone. The neighborhood feels more casual in comparison to the curated tourist center. After getting our sense of direction, we set off on a short walk past some soccer fields and (at the time) an abandoned-looking stadium. Soon we were standing in line for the Parc del Laberint d’Horta, alongside spaniards and a little asian girl speaking better spanish than I ever could. She also seemed to like to poke my legs, so that was a random memory from the line.
Anyways, for a mere €2.23 (seems like a random price, but whatever), I had unlimited access to this huge park! Inside is a challenging Labyrinth (this isn’t those kiddie corn mazes you find at county fairs), NeoClassical architecture everywhere, and enough plant life to make an allergy prone person like me sneeze up a storm. There was legit no english anywhere, so we had fun attempting to translate the Spanish and Catalan signs that are all over the place. In comparison to Parc Güell this park was way less crowded, so we were able to take some fun pictures for the ‘Gram.
At the time of my visit, I had no idea why the park existed in the first place. I came to discover that it was designed back in late 1700’s originally for the Desvalls estate. Parc del Laberint d’Horta is one of the oldest garden-museums in Barcelona and is older than Parc Güell. For a majority of the park’s history it was private park, until 1971 when it was finally opened to the public. Since this park isn’t really mentioned in any guides, I would consider it to be a hidden gem. While the park didn’t scream stereotypical Barcelona to me, it made a much bigger impression on me than Parc Güell. It was much more secluded, and there seemed to be a secret building or sculpture everywhere you turned. The Cheetah Girls totally missed out by skipping this park.
And the Winner Is…
Ok, so choosing the winner is hard. I mean, both parks have so much charm to them! But you did read this story to figure out who won the Battle of the Parks, so here are my thoughts:
I would totally recommend Parc del Laberint d’Horta for my adventurous budget travelers who skipped the Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell entrance tickets. It’s away from the center of town, and is a great place to explore for an afternoon.
On the other hand, wandering through Parc Güell feels like walking through an interactive living art installation. Seeing it in person in comparison to viewing it on TV is a completely different experience, and I would direct all my artsy travelers to make the pilgrimage.
For my travel tastes, the price of admission for Parc del Laberint d’Horta is a steal. I felt like on top of being a pleasant surprise, I felt like I got bang for my buck. Paying to go inside the Monument Zone at Parc Güell in the end didn’t really feel worth it, since I had a pretty clear view from the Free Zone.
So for this battle, Parc del Laberint d’Horta wins because of how much there is to see and do in a park that isn’t swarming with tourists. However, I would say visit both if you have the time! Take advantage to save some cash by visiting the Free Zone at Parc Güell, and then make the trek and pay the entrance fee for Parc del Laberint d’Horta. You will get to see two very different parks, reflective of the amazing natural diversity in Barcelona.
Just remember that no matter which park you visit in the end, be prepared to walk up hills. After all that walking, my legs were like jello. Definitely a reminder to hit the gym.
Which park do you think should win? Any other parks in Barcelona worth visiting? Let me know in the comments down below!
