Discover Barcelona with a funny Gymkhana by Artemis

We can’t think a better way to discover Barcelona than playing and having fun, and these French but living in Barcelona girls know that. Vanessa and Perrine began organizing recreational routes for their friends and ended up creating a business out of it with Gymkhanas Artemis, which will test your knowledge about Barcelona and discover the city in a different way to what you are used to as a tourist walking with a map. From ShBarcelona we encourage you to investigate this other option to know your own city if you are a local resident or a new city that welcomes you to live in it . Let’s know Artemis a bit more…

What are Artemis Gymkhanas and how the idea of creating it came up?

These are games in which participants must look for clues in the city following instructions to reach the goal or solve the riddle. Through criminal, historical or cultural gymkhanas, the city, its history, stories and places that people would never have visited on their own are discovered in a playful way.

We are fans of games and history and have been creating gymkhanas for our friends and family for years, and they enjoy so much that we decided to create Artemis Project in 2013. We try to test people’s knowledge about the city or discover it in a new way.

Who ‘s behind Artemis and what is your background?

We are two French girls, Vanessa and Perrine, but Barcelona have “adopted” us. We have ten years of experience in coordinating international projects and social events.

What do you offer in Artemis?

It can be played solo, in teams and/or against other team. Through criminal, historical or cultural gymkhanas, the city, its history, stories and places that people would never have visited on their own are discovered in a playful way.

They last between one and three hours. We organize teams if people come alone and want to play as a team. If two teams want to compete, they don’t need to speak the same language as the gymkhanas are translated in English, French, Spanish and Catalan.

What kind of groups usually attend these gymkhanas and how do you think they feel after it?

It is for individuals as well as for private/public institutions companies.

These are games for tourists of all nationalities but also for the citizens of Barcelona. It is aimed at people of all ages. They are games that allow to (re) discover the city in a fun and educational way and also allow to learn a language (for example for an Erasmus student).

Private companies use these gymkhanas to develop teambuilding on their companies and employees.

The games are adapted to the history or language program of any students whatever their level is and can be included on the school calendar.

What is the gymkhana most people choose?

Currently there is no gymkhana we could define as successful but it is true that the “Barcelona Romana” is a favorite!

Has been difficult to create a company like this in a city like Barcelona, especially being from abroad?

It was not that hard. We were very lucky because we knew a marketing specialist who accompanied us during all the steps of our communication campaign.

We were also able to attend training and information sessions of Barcelona Activa. Those are very general sessions but you get many tips to start creating your project and also some indications regarding entrepreneurship.

 Any future project for Artemis that you can tell us about?

We are in our first phase today, we have 4 gymkhanas developed in various formats (different languages, from 1 to 3 hours long, for adults and children…). Right now, we are developing a  little different gymkhana in one of the most beautiful parks in Barcelona. But we will tell you about it on our website and in our social network!