By Bus - Barcelona Transportation

In my opinion, this is the most efficient way to see the sites and sounds of Barcelona. Please note the name above: "Barcelona Bus Turistic". That is the official tourist bus and, while there are others (for example, "Barcelona Tours"), this is the best and most efficient.

There are 2 routes: The Blue route (basically south) and the Red route (basically north). Each route goes its own circular way, stopping at sites which interest tourists. There is also and additional 3rd (Green) route which runs during the height of the summer tourist season, about which I know nothing, since I was there in March. Cost (March 2009): 21 euros for 1 day, 27 euros for 2 days (lower prices for children). I recommend the 2-day ticket. You can get off and on the buses as many times as you wish during the validity of the tickets and they are quite frequent (at most 15-20 minutes between buses - much less if during the busy season). They run from 9am till about dark (when I was there - Winter/Standard Time - the last bus for each route left at 7pm. They run later during Summer/Daylight Time). The 2-day ticket is for consecutive days only and, although the buses run 7 days a week, I recommend any 2 consecutive days of the following: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. This is because the weekends (Sat/Sun) tend to be more crowded and all museums are closed on Mondays. Also, the museums are open much shorter hours on Sunday. I would do the Red route first - it has the more important sites on it - and then the Blue route on the second day. My own personal experience was that there wasn't enough on the Blue route to fill a full day, so that you can go back to the Red route later in the second day to complete anything you may have missed on the first day.

Another personal tip: Since the Gothic area - including the Picasso Museum - is very centrally located and includes many sites worth seeing, do not waste valuable time visiting this area on the days of the ticket validity. It makes more sense to visit it on a separate day and should also include a visit to the nearby Las Ramblas and the Columbus Column - time permitting, of course. To each his own preferred pace. :)

Each passenger also receives a thick booklet for discounts at many places. As with most of such booklets around the world, the majority you probably won't use. However, there are many you definitely will use such as for the Picasso Museum, the cable car on Montjuic, the Gaudi house on Passeig de Gracia (Casa Batllo), etc. These discounts make the price of the bus ticket even more attractive.

And when considering other options (bus,metro), you must take into account that the connections of regular public transport to some of the sites are not very good (e.g., to Parc Guell, Tibidabo, Barcelona FC stadium).

By Bus, Barcelona

Barcelona Hotels

By Bus, Barcelona

Visiting Barcelona?

Visiting Barcelona?

Barcelona Hotels