Barcelona Beach Bike Tour

Description of the route point to point:

• 0,5 km: Fernando Botero’s cat

Fernando Botero‘s Cat was acquired by Barcelona City Council in 1987. From then until 2003, the sculpture wandered through the streets of the city in search of a definitive location. He first found a spot in the Parc de la Ciutadella, not far away from another animals (the ones from the Barcelona Zoo). Afterwards it was taken to the Olympic Stadium and a few years later it was placed in a small square behind the Drassanes (the city’s old shipyards) of Barcelona, next to Ramblas. Finally in 2003 the decision was taken to place it definitively at the end of the young Rambla del Raval.

• 4 km: Port and W Hotel

Our beach bike tour starts in our By-Cycle shop, so after going down along Ramblas and riding in front of Barcelona’s commercial port, we will arrive to Barceloneta neighborhood. At the end of the avenue you will find the W Hotel, built in 2009 and that has become one of the most famous images of Barcelona’s seaview. From the W Hotel you have a nice view of the port and Barcelona’s sea side. 

• 5,3 km: Barceloneta Beach

Ride our beach bike tour for about 10 more minutes till Barceloneta Beach and you will arrive to one of the most crowded and popular beaches of Barcelona city. Barceloneta was a fishermen neighborhood built in 1753. It was built over an island called Maians island, now integrated in the uniderground terrain. It was a poor neighborhood since a few years ago, but now it is popular among the people that want to enjoy the sea, fresh fish and great ambiance. Barceloneta beach has all the services you may need when going to beach: restaurants, showers, bike paths… 

• 6,6 km: Olympic Port

In the northern end of the Barceloneta beach you will find Barcelona Olympic Port, built for the Olympic Games of 1992. Nowadays it is considered one of the most important sportive ports of the Mediterranean Sea, putting together a huge offer of restaurants, leisure and nightlife. In this area you can find some of the most famous disco clubs, the Casino, a shopping mall and many other facilities.

• 7,1 km: Nova Icària beach

This beach was built like all the surrounding area for the Olympic Games of 1992. Before that time, this area was a poor barrack neighborhood called Somorrostro, where thousands of families lived in miserable conditions. The works done for the Olympic games erased all the memories of this neighborhood. Now, Nova Icària Beach is one of the most popular beaches among the local people, because there are many services in it like volleyball nets, ping-pong tables and other facilities. Come to Nova Icària if you want to enjoy a less crowded beach compared to Barceloneta. 

• 7,7 km: Bogatell Beach

Following the bike path you find all along the seaside, after Nova Icària Beach we find Bogatell beach. It is similar to this last one and as well, renewed and rebuilt for the Olympic games of 1992, like all the surroundings. Bogatell beach is a very quiet and extent piece of sand, with restaurants and services. The best thing you can find in Bogatell is a beach football pitch, with two metal goals. It is very common to see a lot of people playing volleyball at this beach. Usually tourists don’t arrive to this beach and they stay at Barceloneta beach, so the people who come to Bogatell are mostly locals. 

• 8,2 km: Mar Bella Beach

Our free beach bike tour continues to the next beach in the list: Mar Bella beach. It is the only nudist urban beach in Barcelona. Mar Bella beach is hidden behind a small rocky mountain and it is a reunion point for the gay community.

• 9,2 km: Llevant Beach

The last one of the urban beaches is Llevant beach, a long and quiet beach in the outskirts of Barcelona. The most remarkable thing of Llevant beach is the fact of having a dog friendly beach. Here you can take your dog for a bath without having to worry about causing trouble to other people. 

• 10,5 km: Forum Park

At the end of Barcelona urban area, where Diagonal avenue meets the seaside, you will find the Forum Park. It is an area that was rebuilt in 2004 to host the Forum of the Cultures, and since then it has been used as convention center, exposition area and and for venues and concerts, like the famous Primavera Sound festival. 

• 14 km: Agbar Tower

The Glòries Tower is a skyscraper in Barcelona located at the confluence of Avenida Diagonal and Badajoz street, next to the Plaza de las Glorias, and which marks the gateway to Barcelona’s technological district known as 22@ District. The tower was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel in collaboration with the firm b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos.67 The construction, as Nouvel himself explained, was strongly influenced by some of the most representative symbols of Catalan culture. On the one hand, it was inspired by the work of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, taking as a reference the bell towers of the Sagrada Familia.

• 14,1 km: Encants Flea Market

Los Encantes de Barcelona – Fira de Bellcaire, or simply Encants, with more than 7 centuries of existence, is one of the oldest markets that still exist in Europe. Its origins date back to the 13th century. This is one of the main reasons why this is one of the most important, known and busiest daily markets in the city. It is a clear example of the commercial dynamism of the city of Barcelona.
The Encants Barcelona market is the city’s free market par excellence: around 500 traders and professionals, approximately, are responsible for giving out a multitude of unusual products, old, new, or difficult to find. One of the main attractions is the public auction held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning. This is the most significant exponent, as it is the only one in Europe in which this type of sale still works. The market is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9.00h to 20.00h.

• 16,1 km: Arc de Triomf

The Arc de Triomf is a monument located at the confluence between the Passeig de Lluís Companys, the Passeig de Sant Joan and the Ronda de Sant Pere. It was designed by the architect José Vilaseca as the main entrance to the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1888. Unlike other triumphal arches that have a strong military character, Barcelona’s Triumphal Arch has a greater civil component, characterised by artistic, scientific and economic progress.