Activities and Excursions for your School Trip to Barcelona

Barcelona is a city surrounded by a rich and diverse natural environment. Shouldered by both the sea and the mountains, and in close proximity to Delta del Ebro, the Costa Brava, and the Pyrenees Mountains, Barcelona offers multiple options for all types of multi-adventure activities that are customizable to the varied interests and skill levels of your school group. In this article, we outline the activities and excursions possible to choose from for an educational school trip to Barcelona.

Although Barcelona is a large city known for cultural attractions, must-see monuments, and endless options for leisure activities, you’ll also find countless sites of interest nearby that are worth exploring. If your Barcelona school trip is 4 to 5 days long, it’s worthwhile to mark off some of the excursions we describe below: a stroll through Stiges, an amusement day at PortAventura, water sports at the coast, an excursion to Montserrat, or exploring Tibidabo Mountain in Barcelona itself. Get ready!

An Excursion to Stiges

Stiges is a coastal city surrounded by the mountains of Garraf National Park. It’s well known for its Mediterranean beaches and lovely waterfront promenade bordered by impressive mansions. Situated only 40 kilometres from Barcelona, an excursion to Stiges is one of the most interesting day trips you can do from the Catalan capital. As a beautiful beachfront town, Stiges is characterized by two fundamental reasons: a lively historic centre great for getting lost wandering its streets; and an overall atmosphere of diversity, respect, and acceptance of its inhabitants.

Some of the most important streets along which you can stroll are Carrer d’en Bosc (Stiges’ oldest avenue) or Pecado Street, one of the town’s main thoroughfares and epicentre of gay culture in Catalunya. If you’re up for a bit more on your excursion to Stiges, here are the most famous sites of interest you can visit during your school trip: Cau Ferrat Museum, Maricel Museum, Church of San Bartolomé and Santa Tecla, and the Stiges Town Hall.

A Day at PortAventura

One sure way to make your school trip ends with a bang is to plan an excursion to the iconic PortAventura theme park: a true miniature city with attractions of every variety. The park is divided in 5 themed areas: Far West, Mediterranean, Polynesia, Mexico, and China, each offering a plethora of rollercoasters, thrilling rides, kid zones, and other entertainment.

Discover the exciting attractions in the world of Mexico, dare to ride the Khan Dragon in China – the gigantic red rollercoaster with 8 loops and plummets- or travel to the Far West to raft the raging rapids of the Grand Canyon. For something a bit calmer, head to the world of Polynesia. In addition to this, there are more than 100 live shows to choose from, including dance, acrobatics, and shootouts in the Wild West. Don’t miss out on this incredible excursion on your school trip!

Multi-Adventure Water Sports at the Coast

Another possibility for an excursion on your school trip is Barcelona is to dedicate an entire day to exploring the coast for a day of multi-adventure water sports. This is a perfect option to introduce your students to new experiences to develop and hone their skills, even perhaps to discover new talents. Sailing, kayaking, windsurfing, and paddle surfing are some of the most popular options for water activities. Some of these require great concentration and team collaboration, while others involve more individual effort, requiring students to rely on and discover their own strengths.

There are several options for coastal locations where you can go for all of these types of adventures: the Barcelona coast that is made up of towns like Mataró, Villanueva i Geltrú, Casteldefels, Badalona, etc. There are also the marinas of Barcelona and Port Olimpic, where you’ll find a number of water sport activity companies ready to help your group have an exciting day on the water.

Excursion to Montserrat

Montserrat is considered one of the world’s most unique natural parks, as well as one of the most visited in Spain. The jagged mountain peaks have an altitude of 1.236m high where you’ll find the Sanctuary of the Patron Saint of Catalunya. An excursion to Montserrat during your school trip to Barcelona will be a breath of fresh air for your group: an escape into nature as well as a visit to a site of cultural importance. You’ll find all of this just over 30 kilometres from the city centre. From Barcelona, you can catch a train or hire a coach to travel through some of the most picturesque villages of the region, finally arriving at the town of Monistrol de Montserrat. From here, we take the famous Montserrat railway that leads to the top of Montserrat in only 15 minutes.

A one-day excursion allows us to visit two important locations. The first is Montserrat Massif, a large rock formation jutting out of an otherwise flat plain. The formations of this mountain are so fascinating and peculiar that you can entertain yourself just wandering through and imagining shapes of people and animals among the rocks. Second, the Monastery of Montserrat (or of Santa María of Montserrat), a Benedictine monastery nestled 700 metres high in the mountains.

Barcelona’s Tibidabo Mountain

Serra de Collserola National Park is considered the natural heart of the Barcelona metropolitan area. It stretches over 8,000 acres of predominantly forested area. The highest point in the park is Tibidabo Mountain, where you can enjoy views of any and all points in the city. This is the ideal stop for a school group when visiting Barcelona, given its proximity to the city and all the possibilities it offers.

To get to Collserola Park, you’ll want to catch line S2 to Sabadell or S1 to Terrassa de los Ferrocarriles Generales de Catalunya (FGC) and get off at Baixador de Vallvidrera station. Once you arrive, we recommend stopping first at the park’s information centre where they can help you identify which hiking route is best for your group to explore the park.

A Practical Guide for Planning Your School Trip to Barcelona Barcelona is a city that you must visit at least once in your life. Want to learn all there is to know about this city so you don’t miss anything on your trip? We’ve mapped out the best neighbourhoods and gathered the city’s best kept secrets to help you live the experience to the fullest on your educational trip to Barcelona. Here is everything you’ll need to know:

  • How to Organise a School Trip to Barcelona
  • The Most Important Neighbourhoods of Barcelona
  • School Trip Activities and Excursions in Barcelona
  • Why Visit Barcelona for your School Trip? (Main Sites of Interest)
  • 10 Things to Experience on a School Trip to Barcelona

A Practical Guide for Planning Your School Trip to Barcelona

Barcelona is a city that you must visit at least once in your life. Want to learn all there is to know about this city so you don’t miss anything on your trip? We’ve mapped out the best neighbourhoods and gathered the city’s best kept secrets to help you live the experience to the fullest on your educational trip to Barcelona. Here is everything you’ll need to know:

For more information about all school trips that we organise to Barcelona through Etheria Trips, contact us at info@etheriatrips.com or call us at +34 689 844 233