In all of fairness, we were expecting to be disappointed. The tickets aren’t cheap. The place is slap bang in the middle of Barcelona’s number one tourist district. And the place has the audacity to call itself “Big Fun Museum”.

But actually the place is a lot better than we had expected. Still a little pricey, as of course might be expected for the area, but really rather fun. Kids will certainly enjoy it, and most adults will find it quite interesting too.

So what is the place all about?

The Big Fun Museum actually consists of eight separate attractions spread across three floors. There’s the Sweet Museum, for example, or the somewhat disturbing Museum of Madness. Each area consists of a series of well-designed displays, according to the theme, as well as some very interesting explanations. Learn, for example, all about the legend of the Moth-Man or the smallest woman that ever lift.

From what age can I take my kids?

Much of the museum is suitable for children from the around the age of four. However, you should bare in mind that parts of the museum are quite scary for very young kids.

Giant’s House, Topsy-Turvy House, the Sweet Museum and Alice Through the Looking Glass can all be enjoyed by the younger members of your family.

Parts of Records and Wonders and the Madness Museum are quite scary and only recommended for older children from the age of seven or eight. The Madness Museum has an age recommendation of 12. Some of the animations in the Magic Room – such as the dancing skeletons – could be a little frightening, too.

How much does it cost?

Tickets aren’t cheap: €25 for a single ticket, or €30 if you want to also include a visit to the Big Fun Museums of Illusions, which is just round the corner.

However, you can get a fairly significant discount by purchasing online: €15 for a single ticket or €18.75 for a combo ticket.

How do you get there?

The museum is a 10-minute walk from Plaça de Catalunya down La Rambla: very easy to find!

How long do you need?

The woman on the ticket desk said that we’d probably need around 45 minutes to see all the museum, but in actual fact we stayed for twice this amount of time. We could easily have stayed for longer, too, had our stomachs not got the better of us – there’s quite a lot to take in!

The different zones

Records and Wonders

This is where you’ll learn about some record-breaking phenomenons (the shortest woman that ever lived, the tallest man or the longest finger nails that have ever been grown) and other astonishing wonders (such as the Moth-Man; a legend, presumably, for no evidence of it was ever produced).

Giant’s House

This is where everything is extra-large. Have fun sitting on a chair that is waaaay too large, or trying on a Mexican sombrero that just isn’t the right fit.

Topsy-Turvy House

Everything is upside-down! It’s totally disorientating as you enter on the ceiling and look upwards to the floor. Take some great trick photos… like the shot of a motorbike where you appear to be hanging off the handlebars.

Sweet Museum

Say no more, say no more! A kid’s paradise where all the sweets are super-sized. Unfortunately none of them are real.

Museum of Madness

This is a rather disturbing part of the overall, where you learn about people that have gone insane… and the rather dubious treatments that were once meted out to them. Screeching models of deranged men and women, which come to live when buttons are pressed, make the experience somewhat sinister. There is an notice at the start of the museum, suggesting that this zone might not be suitable for children younger than 12… and for good reason.

Food Art

A fairly small area where famous paintings – Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers – are recreated using plastic food models.

Alice Through The Looking Glass

A particularly fun part of the museum where visitors are guided through a hall of mirrors, full of colourful models taken from Lewis Carol’s magical book.

Magic Room

One of my personal favourite zones, and great as a last stop after visiting all the other areas. Come here to chill out on the comfy beanbags, listening to music and watching the animated video all around you. The video playing changes every few minutes: the bottom of the sea, the cosmos, a wildlife safari park, dancing skeletons. It’s magical. And thoroughly relaxing!

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When it comes to thrills-and-spills, Barcelona’s only amusement park may not be able to compete with the top theme parks that you find elsewhere in Europe. However, it is certainly one of the most visually-stunning parks on the continent.

You can spot Tibidabo from miles away, identified by a grandiose church – The Church of the Sacred Heart – that was built in the early 20th Century. A smattering of traditional fairground rides – a ferris wheel, a merry-go-round and a couple of others – cluster around the church.

From afar, the church seems to be calling out to the traveler, inviting them up to the mountain. It is a call that is difficult to ignore, and most visitors eventually ask themselves the question, “What is that building – and how do I get there?”

The name ‘Tibidabo’ actually comes from the Latin ‘I will give you’. According to the Bible, these were the words that the Devil said to Jesus as they looked down from an exceedingly high mountain upon the kingdoms of the world.

The Tibidabo mountain is the highest peak of the Collserola national park. From here you can enjoy spectacular views over the whole of Barcelona, spread out before you like an inviting Persian rug stretching all the way to the sea.

The panoramic area has completely free access, and so you can enjoy these amazing views even if you don’t want to enter the park.

The amusement park itself is spread across five floors, with most of the rides being located outdoors. The uppermost floor, which sports half a dozen rides, is open most of the time, while the other floors are usually only open at weekends and during school holidays.

There are a total of 32 rides and activities in the park. Children who are taller than 120 centimetres will be allowed on most of the dies, although there are some that restrict unaccompanied access for children shorter than 130 or 140 centimetres.

Tibidabo is relatively easy to get to and you can reach the park with a single metro ticket from the centre of Barcelona.

How much does it cost?

Standard entrance price is €35 per person. This includes access to all rides and activities apart from the fairground games where you can win prices. Children who are between 90 and 120 centimetres enjoy a reduced price of €14. Those who are shorter than €90 can enter for free.

If you just want to enjoy the handful of rides that are in the upper part of the park, you can buy a ticket for €19 – or pay €4 per go. It is not possible to pay per-ride on the other floors of the park.

If you live in Barcelona, you might want to consider buying an annual membership pass for the park. Since an annual membership pass costs €60, plus registration fee, you only have to visit the park with the annual pass to save money.

However, there are a few things you should think about before buying the annual pass:

1. The whole of the park is usually only open at weekends, during the peak summer season and during school holidays. Outside of these periods, only the handful of rides on the upper floor will be running. So the pass will not allow you to escape the queues by visiting the park during off-peak times.
2. The park is fairly small with a limited variety of rides, so visiting regularly can get a little repettitive.
3. You are entitled to a 30% discount when buying tickets for guests (limited to six tickets per year). At certain periods, such as the summer months, the park even gives away free guest tickets for those that have the annual pass.

How to get to the park

The simplest and cheapest way to get the park by public is to take the S1 or S2 trains that run northwards from Place Catalunya. Look for the sign that says 'FGC'. Get off at Peu de Funicular, and then change on to the funicular railway that takes you up to Vallvidrera, which is the last stop. Exit the funicular and take Bus 111 from just outside all the way until the last stop. The bus ride will take around 10 minutes.

The theme park also has its own private funicular (called Funicular del Tibidabo. This is red in colour and has a more modern design than the funicular mentioned above. This funicular isn't as convenient, however, both in terms of cost and access. This funicular runs from Plaça Doctor Andreu; you will need to take bus from the metro station Avenida Tibidabo or TibiBus T2C from Plaça Kennedy. The Tibidabo funicular runs from 10.15 am until the amusement park closes. It only runs on on days when the Tibidabo is open.

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