Botanical trail through Barcelona's Parc de Montjuïc

Beyond the iconic plane trees in the Eixample district and the palm trees on the seafront, Barcelona is home to a wealth of botanical treasures. Many of these can be found on Montjuïc hill, which is home to some extraordinary plants that not only fill the landscape with verdant hues but also tell us countless stories. The sheer variety of its gardens encompasses the ancient trees from agricultural land that helped the city grow; the rare botanical specimens in the Jardí d'Aclimatació, where botanists once studied the new species that were earmarked for planting in the city; Barcelona's tallest trees that conceal their height inside the hollows in the Jardí Botànic Històric; and one of Europe's most important cactus and succulent gardens, the Jardins de Costa i Llobera, which will suddenly transport you to some of the sunniest, most arid places on the planet. Aquatic plants also have their own special place in the Jardins de Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, with its terraced ponds which are transformed, each spring, into a stairway bursting with colour.