There really can be nothing worse than planning a trip to Legoland and to turn up just after park is open at 10am. This is first fatal move. You will end up queuing almost as soon as you get off M4 motorway (see Getting To Us for directions). This inevitably means you get to Legoland park some time after 10am, more likely nearer 11am, then queue into parking area, queue to get tickets, queue to get through ticket barrier, queue to get on train down hill and then you continue your day with a bit more queuing on all rides. Lovely!

I think you can all see picture I’m painting here! I will just add that this is normally only this bad on peak days in summer, at weekends and during school holidays, but it can happen at any day to a greater or lesser degree depending upon weather – it suddenly turns hot and sunny, everyone decides to go to Legoland – or there’s a special offer on you didn’t know about – all locals with their Legoland annual passes turn out for day.

So how do you start off on right foot?

The most important thing to remember is that Legoland park opens at 10am, and by park I don’t mean parking, pay points, Lego shop or hill top restaurant!

Yep you guessed it, this is all open earlier, about 9.30am! This is when you should be rolling up to parking area. From previous scenario you are already 1 hour ahead of those less fortunate who are about to get stuck in traffic queues off M4!

So you’ve arrived and parked up, its 9.40am and you’ve unpacked kids and are wandering off to ticket booths, but of course if you’ve planned ahead – which you should have because you’re reading this for a start – and have bought your Legoland tickets online and hopefully got a better deal…. You can pass straight into Beginning, get your bearings, form The Plan of attack, and try and keep children away from shop! Check out Model Makers Workshop and Hall of Fame – some amazing Lego models, a near life size 747 cockpit amongst many other exhibits. The Rocket Racers may even open early, or just get a coffee at Pitstop Café. There is plenty to do here for ½ an hour to chill out and relax before you hit Legoland proper. The Plan will help you get an idea of where to head first, which rides your children want as well as those with height restrictions and times of shows throughout day.

It is getting towards 10am, head down to Hill Train. Now it may not be worth getting on train, particularly if there is already a queue, after all, purpose of this guide is to cut down queuing, so why would you want to start day in one! Just wait until they let you past and walk on into park.

It’s all downhill into park, but it’s now time to follow The Plan you thought about earlier. The basic rule is to walk to back of Legoland and work your way forward. Its important to get to major rides as soon as you can, do them and then you can relax and make most of park for rest of day.

As any European can brag about, Barcelona in Spain is no exception with its endless history, much of it still remaining, but much more of it has been added on in 20th century. In many people´s opinion, you fully appreciate what Catalunya ( four regions including Barcelona ) is all about if you concentrate on newly added culture. Barcelona has been a busy city and with all new activities that it is willing to take on, tourism has become a big part of its daily life. So, for a full-scale visit to squeeze every drop of pleasure out of it, be well prepared with your map which has a details on hotels, entertainment, and best celebrations and latest exhibitions.

Pick one’s way in Barcelona

The place to set out from to find your first glimpse of Modernism would be to go straight to Guell Park. This natural space should really have been called Antonio Gaudi Park because it is entirely filled with this architecture´s spellbinding works. He has converted benches, balconies, walls and entire buildings into paintings. Once you have filled your camera with these delights, recharge it again for Gaudi´s highlight; Sagrada Familia Church. Even though at first sight Sagrada Familia has an antiquated look, it was started in 1883 and has been growing all during this century, getting special modern touch-ups and new addition.

In 1892 Barcelona Zoo was founded. A private collection was donated to city and as centre of city was in port area called La Ciutat Vella ( beautiful city), zoo is found in Ciutadella Park. This fascinating place, houses more than 7,500 different types of animals. The tiny hippo pygmy or odd looking anteater is a big attraction for wee folks and adults alike. The Barcelona Zoo takes much pride of its primates collection which at one time included and albino one. Dark grey coloured shell tortoises, pelicans and American buffalos and even a red kangaroo can be photographed up close without having to travel to distant lands. The weather in Cataluyna and especially in Barcelona is not extreme, so a casual visit to see your animal friends can be done all year round. If your travel happens to take you to this city in warmer months, Aquarama Barcelona, aquatic park within zoo will add to your zoo visit. Everyone is awed by bottlenose dolphins seen at daily shows together with other marvellous aquatic animals. The Barcelona Zoo excellent research programme is worldly known for breeding in captivity and for preserving species in danger.