If you want to escape the heat and noise of Barcelona, there is no better place to do it than Montjuic. This expansive ‘green’ belt’ is perched high above the city and despite hosting countless intimate parks and gardens, a handful of the city’s top attractions, and breathtaking city vistas at every turn, it is surprisingly under-used by locals. When Barcelona's beaches are packed to the hilt, head on up to Montjuic for some fresh, pine-scented air. On Montjuic’s uppermost peak is a formidable fortress-castle (best reached by cable-car from the port), which has the most panoramic views and is a great place to let kids run wild. The rest of Montjuic’s architecture stems from the two major events. The 1992 Olympic Games’ heritage is the ‘Olympic Ring’; the stadium (now mainly used for large-scale musical events), water-sports facilities and the Palau Sant Jordi a striking auditorium designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. At the Plaça Espanya end of Montjuic’s landward, the 1929 Universal Exhibition left a string of pretty pavilions, now the locations of some of Barcelona's best museums, including the National Museum of Catalonia, the Archaeology and Ethnographic Museums. Also here is the Poble Espanyol, a showcase ‘Spanish Village’. In ...