Feria y Mercado de Navidad/ Christmas Fair and Market

December is just around the corner, which means that the Christmas celebrations are starting!

Can you think of a better way to gradually get into the magic of Christmas than by taking a walk through these famous markets and fairs? From the smell of Christmas trees, to the colours and lights of the decorations, to the products of the local craftsmen, it’s a real immersion in the heart of this festival that awaits you. Barcelona has many Christmas markets and fairs, both old and new, with their own history and identity. Among all these events, there are three that are part of the city’s history.

Feria de Santa Llúcia:

This is the oldest fair that revolves around the world of nativity scenes and Christmas traditions. It is therefore the most authentic fair in Barcelona. It was founded in 1736, so this year we are celebrating its 235th anniversary. For this reason, the organisers have gone to great lengths to put up more than 20 illuminated Christmas trees.

Located in the Avinguda de la Catedral, it has a total of 170 stands. It is the only fair in the world where you will find more than 140 spaces for the sale of strictly Christmas products, such as cots, figurines, foam, Christmas trees, accessories for your home and many others. In addition, you can also enjoy more than 25 spaces dedicated to gift items, such as textile accessories, ceramics, jewellery, leather, etc.

It runs from 26 November to 24 December!

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Feria de Reyes de la Gran Vía:

As it has every year since 1877, the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes will host the Epiphany Fair (Feria de Reyes), which will open its doors from 17 December to 6 January 2022. It is the second oldest Christmas fair in Barcelona.

Initially, the 18 stands of this fair were dedicated to the sale of toys and sweets. Today, the number of stands has increased and diversified. You will of course find the famous traditional toys and stuffed animals, but also many traditional and handicraft products or various stands of Catalan crafts. This market is therefore perfect for finding last minute gifts!

Don’t forget to stop at the famous Churrerías, spread throughout the fair, to try the famous “churros con chocolate caliente”, which will warm you up while stimulating your taste buds!

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Feria de la Sagrada Familia:

Celebrated for the first time in 1972, the Feria de la Sagrada Familia is the most recent of all the Christmas fairs in Barcelona. It takes place on the same dates as the Santa Llúcia fair, and this is not by chance. In fact, it was created when there was no more room for stalls in Santa Llúcia. Several craftsmen decided to set up shop next to Gaudí’s masterpiece.

This fair has a lot in common with its two “big sisters”. You will find all kinds of figures and elements for nativity scenes, Christmas trees and plants, gift items, food and sweets. On the food side, the “churrerías” will naturally be present, and you will also find a chestnut and sweet potato stall.

In addition, there are free family activities such as competitions, workshops, music and theatre. They also have a photocall with a giant “Tió” and a “Caganer”.

Don’t hesitate to take a walk through one of these Christmas markets!

Palao Market Fest

Palao Market Fest is an atypical market/festival, which takes place every first weekend of the month. It’s an atypical and modern concept that the organisers offer us: it’s not just a simple craft market with different food trucks, but a real dynamic festival mixing different arts, so you can live a real experience. During the month of November, the organisers have decided to add a date on the weekend of 20 and 21 December for the “Cool Christmas Fest” to get us into the Christmas spirit.

Far from the traditional markets that can be found in Barcelona such as the Boqueria or Saint Antoni, this market offers you the possibility of making artistic discoveries. Between jewellery, cosmetics, textiles or decoration, you are bound to find something you like. All the exhibitors are real craftsmen, and will make you discover their product with passion.

In addition to the exhibitors, you will also be able to find many Food Trucks of all kinds to eat, or simply to test! All types of cuisine will be present: Vietnamese, vegetarian, burger, pastry … The hardest thing will be to choose!

In order to live a real cultural experience and to make this event more dynamic, street concerts will be proposed. You will find the DJ set MIGUELITO SUPERSTAR and DJ set ZONZO on Saturday, and DJ set IVAN IVANOVICH and DJ set BUSA on Sunday. In addition, there will be 5 STREET MUSIC EXPERIENCES to make sure you have an unforgettable time.

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The market is therefore present this weekend of 20 and 21 November, but also the first weekend of December, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December 2021. Two time slots are available: from 12:00 to 17:00 or from 17:30 to 22:00. These times offer more opportunities to visit, but also two different atmospheres: one during the day and one at night. There is bound to be one that suits you!

The entrance fee is 5€, and it is recommended to book your place in advance on their website (https://palomarketfest.com/es/home), in order to be sure to have a place.

Regarding accessibility, you can get there by metro (SELVA DE MAR (L4)) or by bus (H14, H16/ N.BUS: 12, 29, 30). There is a bike park right at the entrance of the market, so don’t hesitate to rent a bike to get there!

Llum BCN 2021

Created in 2012, the Llum BCN will be back on the streets of Barcelona on 5, 6 and 7 November 2021. Originally scheduled for February this year, the festival of lights has had to be moved to November, to the delight of end-of-year visitors. Poblenou, as it has been since the 2018 edition, has been chosen to host one of the most anticipated events in the city’s cultural calendar.

Llum BCN is a large-scale light show featuring international artists. For three nights, the festival will bring together these creative explorers from different disciplines: art, lighting design and interactive environments, architecture, extended audiovisual and performing arts. Attending this festival will of course give you the opportunity to fill your eyes with stars, but also to ask yourself questions, since its aim is also to challenge our preconceived visions of what urban space can be and to create new models of participation and coexistence in public space. During three nights, the public can also discover a new neighbourhood, as in many cases the doors of restricted spaces are opened for the first time. It is a unique event for its artistic singularity, like the great European festivals of light.

In previous editions, Llum BCN has welcomed leading creators such as Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, United Visual Artists, Luke Jerram, Julio Le Parc, Daniel Canogar and others. Like this year’s participants, they are part of the official programme with Barcelona’s design, architecture, art and lighting schools, in a coexistence between leading artists and works from the academy, a distinctive element of the Llum BCN model.

This year there are 31 proposals from 14 different artists, three of them international. Among the places or spaces where you can enjoy a show of light, music and colour are the Plaça de les Glòries, Les Encants, the façade of Disseny Hub Barcelona, the Pompeu Fabra University, Jardí del Sol, the Plaça de les Glòries…

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This year the festival pays tribute to the figure of the artist Eugenia Balcells. She will present two installations as part of “Light as the voice of matter”: the projection of the work Frequencies on the façade of the Museu del Disseny will show the chemical symbols of each element, and the work “From infrared to ultraviolet”, which will illuminate the neighbouring Glòries building and show the horizons of colour on an urban scale.

You will also be able to see the work of Jordi Mitjà, which is based on a ban: “Don’t look”, which is what his father used to say to him when he was welding, and he has taken this name to search for options and observations that allow us to get as close as possible to the light and, in the room, it is resolved by three video projections. You can wander around the visual and sound installation and get closer to the projected images in the Hangar space, Centro de Producción e Investigación de Artes Visuales (Carrer d’Emília Coranty, 8-16).

There is also a gastronomic area run by Van Van Llum where all festival visitors can enjoy a meeting and resting point where you can taste different hot dishes from the now famous food trucks parked in the area.

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How to book?

This edition of Llum BCN has limited spaces. The festival is free, but it is advisable to book in advance to reduce queues and to be able to plan the visit, choose the times and improve the quality of the experience.

La Castanyada: the international chestnut festival

This traditional and popular festival, deeply rooted in Catalonia, is celebrated on All Saints’ Day (1 November), but also the day before (31 October).

The tradition of this festival is to eat chestnuts. Chestnuts are traditionally eaten on the day before and the day of Castanyada, but they can be found at street vendors in Barcelona at any time in late October.

What is it?

Chestnuts are roasted chestnuts on charcoal grills and often sold wrapped in newspaper, perfect for warming company when it is cold in Barcelona. Panellets are also very common in Barcelona at this time of year. They can be described as small almond-flavoured balls covered with pine nuts. These snacks are served in coconut, lemon or chocolate flavours. They are beautiful and traditional, and you can find them mainly in local bakeries. If you visit Barcelona during this period, this is a must-have dessert, which can also be used as a souvenir!

If you have a salty palate, you can also find sweet potatoes during the Castanyada. These little delicacies will warm you up from the inside out, often accompanied by a glass of sweet traditional muscatel wine.

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Where does this festival come from?

Castanyada is a pagan tradition – like Magosto in Galicia or Asturias or Halloween in the Anglo-Saxon countries – whose origins date back to the 18th century. There are several legends that explain these beginnings. It is said that before All Saints’ Day, families gathered to watch over their dead. In order to survive, they stocked up on the first fruits of autumn, mainly chestnuts, legumes and sweet potatoes washed down with sweet wine (today’s Muscat). This custom gave rise to the emblematic figure of the “castanyera”, who prayed while the chestnuts were roasting.

Another theory is that the festival was for bell ringers, who rang the bells all night to remind the faithful of the need to pray for the souls of their dead. Whenever they rested, they regained their strength by eating what people brought them, in this case the fruits of autumn.

How is it celebrated?

Although most festivities in Catalonia include wild street parties, dancing, costumes and fireworks. The castanyada is more of a quiet celebration, with most families going to the cemetery to lay flowers and then spend time with their loved ones. If you are in Barcelona during this festival, do as the locals do and visit one of the city’s most beautiful cemeteries, the Poblenou Cemetery.

Tour in the botanical garden

A bike tour on the botanical garden

Ideal for the weekend plan!

The botanical garden is located on the mountain of Montjuïc, between the castle and the company of Olímpic Lluís.

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It has 14 hectares of surface and its shape recalls that of a large amphitheater. It retains the collections of Mediterranean plants around the world and offers a magnificent view of the Delta del Llobregat, the Olympic Ring and part of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

In the botanical garden you will find a large collection of plants, you will focus on the plants of the Mediterranean regions of the world, it is a vegetation linked to the Mediterranean climate that is characterized by a long summer, of mild winters and rains in spring and autumn.

The paths allow us to access the area of the region, from the Canary Islands at the entrance and rises to the west Mediterranean recognizable by the Botanical Institute, which stands out.

From the Northern Hemisphere, the region with a greater representation is the Mediterranean basin, following the way of a visit welcomed to the Californian coast of the Mediterranean climate.

Then there are the Mediterranean regions of the southern hemisphere where the Mediterranean region of Chile, South Africa and the two Mediterranean regions of South Australia are visited.

Are you ready for a bike tour and enjoy a day of plants?

Walk through Collserola

The Colserolla park, with more than 8,000 hectares, is an invaluable natural heritage. Its importance lies in the proximity of the urban environment. It is the lung and backbone of biodiversity. It is ultimately the city’s connection to nature.

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Collserola highlights a great diversity of landscapes and incredible views over the city. Its layout, which encompasses the entire northern limit of the city, acts as a border and delimits the city between two great natural elements: the sea, to the south, and the mountain, to the north.

This large longitudinal park represents, for Barcelona, the potential to be, at the same time, a large green space in contact with the urban fabric and the starting point of a whole series of green corridors that connect the city to the sea. visible across Montjuïc, to the west, but which is achievable from Besòs, to the east, and also through the urban center connecting different urban parks. These corridors connect spaces that range from Ciutadella Park and Linear Waterfront Parks to Aigües Park, Guinardó Park, Güell Park and Creueta del Coll Park, among others.

Let’s rent a bike and discover!

If you want to know more about Barcelona, follow our social links
Born Bike Tours Barcelona
📍Carrer de la Marquesa Nº 1 08003 Barcelona
50 meters from metro station Barceloneta L (4) yellow
✉️info@bornbikebarcelona.com
🔹www.bornbikebarcelona.com
📲(+34) 93 319 00 20

Bicycle Rental in Barcelona

Barcelona is one of the cities in Spain best prepared for tourism by bicycle, you can visit each point of interest in a safe, healthy and fun way, with its almost 200 kilometers of bike lanes perfectly marked and protected from traffic to guarantee the safety of cyclists who, more and more, use the bike for daily commute.

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Barcelona has two types of bike lanes: the unidirectional, which has a minimum width of one and a half meters, and the bi-directional, with a minimum width of 2.20 meters. They are always segregated from the rest of the vehicles by a 30-centimeter white strip and, in areas with heavy traffic, the separation is reinforced with rubber pieces. Wherever the bike lane intersects with other vehicles, it is painted red. The network is 186.7 kilometers long.

Don’t forget to rent your bike and get to know the best places that Barcelona has prepared for you

If you want to know more about bike rental, you can stop by our store
Born Bike Tours Barcelona
📍Carrer de la Marquesa Nº 1 08003 Barcelona
50 meters away from the Barceloneta L (4) yellow metro station
✉️info@bornbikebarcelona.com
🔹www.bornbikebarcelona.com
📲 (+34) 93 319 00 20

Tours in Spanish

Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities to visit and learn, that’s why we tell you the four tours in Spanish that you can do with us.

From Gothic to Modernism

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A perfect tour for lovers of art and architecture, get to know ancient and medieval Barcelona through its streets, secrets and legends, reaching the works of Modernism. Born Bike Tours Barcelona for history lovers.
We will discover the most emblematic works of Modernism: Sagrada Familia, Palau de la Música, La Pedrera, Casa Batlló with Gaudí in front and their unique and genuine geometric shapes. We will pass through Born, a medieval neighborhood, with some of its landmarks such as the Basilica of Santa María del Mar, the Picasso Museum and the Born Market.

Beach tour

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At Born Bike Tours Barcelona we suggest that you enjoy maritime Barcelona. Live with us a cultural and pleasure experience discovering the history, evolution and transformation of the port, the lively beaches and the essence of some of the most emblematic neighborhoods. Barcelona is a city that faces the sea!
We will visit various places such as the Olympic Port, built for the 1992 Olympic Games, dominated by its two towers and the immense golden fish (Frank Gehry) and we will pedal through the different beaches of the city to the Universal Forum of Cultures. On the way back, we will visit the Poblenou neighborhood, the industrial center of the city at the end of the 19th century, where the present and the industrial past coexist with the modernity of the 22 @ technological district. We will continue through the Olympic Village, shelter of the Olympic athletes, finishing the route in the Parc de la Ciutadella.

Walk through Montjuic

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We will enjoy the Magic Mountain in a relaxing tour suitable for all audiences. Go ahead and discover the history, the present and the past of the port, the 1929 Exhibition, its palaces, its Magic Fountain and the Olympic Ring.
It runs almost entirely on peaceful roads without traffic, bike lanes and zones 30, very safe for all ages. We accompany you with experienced guides who know the city and its history. During the Tour we will make various stops to listen, contemplate and enjoy each point and where you can take your photographs and your memories of the Tour.

Tapas tours

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And finally and with an appetite, we offer a different route, with good taste and very good taste so that you can enjoy a selection of tapas. Designed for those who enjoy food wherever they travel. You will know the history of the typical dishes and you will live a very tasty experience, in which you and your palate will enjoy !

If you want to know more about our tours in Spanish you can stop by our place
Born Bike Tours Barcelona
📍Carrer de la Marquesa Nº 1 08003 Barcelona
At 50 meters Barceloneta metro station L (4) yellow
✉️info@bornbikebarcelona.com
🔹www.bornbikebarcelona.com
📲 (+34) 93 319 00 20

Spanish village in Barcelona

El Pueblo Español is a museum that offers contemporary art, architecture, crafts and gastronomy. The site is made up of 117 full-scale buildings, which make up a typically Spanish town with its streets, houses, squares, theater, school, restaurants and artisan workshops.

statue of a woman in blue clothes from Pueblo Espanyol, in Barcelona

It was built for the international exhibition that was held in Barcelona in 1929, an idea promoted by Joseo Puig I Cadafalch (Catalan architect) where they created a small town that brought together the main characteristics of all the towns in Spain. They also worked together with Joseo Puig, Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventós, and the artists Xavier Nogués and Miquel Utrillo, in order to achieve this exhibition, they made various trips through Spain taking photographs, drawings, observing the styles and creating concepts of the different places. 

Today there are various activities, exhibitions or events.

Tourists can visit it by taking their ticket on the website  : www.poble-espanyol.com 

Our recommendation is to rent a bicycle and tour the mountains of Montjuic, where you will find various monuments, museums and historical buildings.

Bicycle Routes

We won the TripAdvisor Travelers of the Year award and we don’t want to stop posting cool things about Barcelona.

That is why we decided to create different routes so that you can go cycling.

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The Mountain of Montjuic

The Montjuic mountain (name attributed to the Montjuich etymology ”Mount of the Jews”) being a fortress, created as a strategic place to defend the city, where in 1751 the current castle was built, the work of Juan Martín Cermeño, who during the war of the Spanish Independence it was occupied by the French.

Nowadays and thanks to the 1992 Olympic games we can find around it the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium (next to which is the Fundació Barcelona Olímpica Museum).

Walking down Lleida street, you will find the old Palacio de los Deportes, now converted into the Barcelona Teatre Musical. You can also walk through various places of tourist interest such as the Pueblo Español, an enclosure built for the 1929 exhibition and which includes streets, squares and characteristic places from all over Spain, the Montjuic Telecommunications Tower designed by Santiago Calatrava. The Joan Brossa Gardens or the magic fountain of Montjuic that offers a night light show.

Collserola

You will find the great natural treasure in the ”Collserola Natural Park”, with more than eight thousand hectares of surface, where you can enjoy a bike ride through the mountains, one of the main routes is called “La carretera de las Aigües” where it begins on the Pla del Maduixers route (accessed from Avenida del Tibidabo) and ends in Plaza de Mireia. It is a path of low difficulty, since it is mostly flat, and it is where you can get to know one of the best views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.

The good thing about this tour is that it is suitable for all bicycles and you will be able to visit emblematic buildings such as the Collserola tower and the Fabra observatory.

Greenway of Llobregat

Greenway of Llobregat  is the old route of the Manresa-Olván railway. It runs through a natural environment shaped by the passage of the Llobregat river. It is a route suitable for families and children due to its flatness and ease of travel, on it you can pedal along the Llobregat river, crossing tunnels and visiting the Gothic bridge or the Pedret Monastery.

On this road you will find both vehicles, people walking or cyclists, since it is a route suitable for all kinds of walks and at the end you will cross the Llobregat river through a small bridge until you reach the Baells reservoir dam.

You can find the face of Barcelona a few steps from our local Born Bike Tours Barcelona, From the metro station Barceloneta L (4) amarilla🚇
Visit our web www.bornbikebarcelona.com
Or write to info@bornbikebarcelona.com
📍Born Bike Tours Barcelona find us Carrer de la Marquesa Nº 1 08003 Barcelona A 50 Mts.

An infinity of opportunities for taking advantage of Barcelona

As we have described many other times, Barcelona is a city full of opportunities for anyone who wants to get to know new places, and don’t mind the origin and tastes. Here you have some of these opportunities:

For adventurers:

From the sea to the mountain, through the beach of the Barceloneta, the Ciutadella Park, Montjuïc, and stopping at the Laribal Gardens, going down and then up again to the Horta Labyrinth and the Park Güell, in order to go to look for peace and tranquillity in the great Natural Park of Collserola. Although we can find innumerable buildings in Barcelona, it has achieved to conserve these places of gardens and green zones.

For shoppers:

The Boqueria, Sant Antoni Market, Santa Catarina, Concepció, Ninot, Barceloneta, Lliberat, Sants, Galvany, the Encants, or many other ones! We will find all kind of local products and, we will also get to know the architectonic works which constituted many of them.

For the cookers lovers:

Barcelona provides the most authentic tastes of the sea and the mountain in the most typical appetizers. At the port zone we have the freshest shellfish and fish, and as we enter the city, we can find the most traditional tidbits of meat and cold meat.

For people who prefer the architectonic jewels:

From Gothic to Modernism, two historic eras which have left a trace in a lot of the Barcelona buildings, even though the great edifications are not the only testimonies. Taking a walk through the streets of Barcelona, especially through the Ciutat Vella district, we can find a lot of unknown corners which bring us closer to the previous life of the city.

For the sporty people:

Any one of the former tours can be combined with the bicycle. If we want to arrive at all the destinations, it will be the best means of transport to arrive quickly and without missing a detail.

New plans for September, nearer and, of course, on bicycle

Although so many people have finished holidays at the end of August, this doesn’t mean that they can only go into reclusion at their homes. They can also look for activities for weekends in September and get to know better nearby zones where we live.

September is also a great month for continuing with family activities. The weather is good, there are not too many agglomerations and we have weekends to fill with activities.

Probably a lot of you will be in a saving mode after paying planes, food, hotels, etc., so in order to recover a little, the best we can do is to keep close to home at a place where we can arrive without doing a lot of kilometres by car or where we can go by public transport.

And, we are sure that after going through the most exotic places, for example, of our city, Barcelona, you’ll be surprised about a lot of details of its history, architecture or gastronomy.

So, upon returning from your holidays, don’t stay at home look for new corners to discover and get around on bicycle, the best therapy for post-holiday depression, for your pocket and to get fit again after this well-deserved month of relaxation.

Born Bike Tours Barcelona

Bike tours & bike rental in Barcelona

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