By Plane, Barcelona

1 more image

A great thing about the Barcelona El Prat Airport (simply known as Barcelona Airport) is, that it is located only 12 km southwest of the centre of Barcelona. The airport is rather large and this will be made clear once you know that this airport is the second largest in Spain behind Madrid Barajas Airport and 31st busiest in the world. It is also the main airport of Catalonia and this all makes you explain its importancy.

We flew in one straight line from Schiphol Amsterdam to Barcelona El Prat. The airport use to have three terminals at the time we arrived there. We arrived at terminal A and had to pick up our rental car at terminal B. This was quite a long walk indeed. Today there is an all new terminal 1 and the old terminals A, B and C are now Terminal 2. We learned that the staff was polite and always open for a question. Although the airport was huge we never got lost and had a very safe feeling.

Address: Barcelona Airport 08820 El Prat de Llobregat España.
Directions: Located only 12 km southwest of the centre of Barcelona.

.
** Tip updated on July 17, 2012 **
.
Barcelona has ONLY ONE airport: : Barcelona – El Prat (BCN)

However, Ryanair may advertise Girona (GRO) or Reus (REU) as "Barcelona", being these far away (80-100 km). GRO is convenient if going to Costa Brava / Catalan Pyrenees, REU if going to Costa Dorada, Tarragona, Port-Aventura, etc., but usually not the "best" option when your destination is Barcelona itself (unless the airport of departure is more convenient for you)

Ryanair now uses as well BCN, like other low-cost companies (Easyjet, Vueling, Air Berlin...) in addition to the biggies (Iberia, Air France, BA...). When planning your trip, check all possibilities, the regular companies sometimes have even better offers than the "cheap" ones!

BCN has LOTS of shopping and eating possibilities if you're using the new Terminal 1, so it's not a bad place to wait. The fashion shops have the same prices than at the city center, and you can find most Spanish brands there. As well, you can do there the last minute shopping of your souvenirs. There are as well many food options, even a gourmet restaurant.

If you're using the old terminals, now T2, your eating and shopping options will be very limited.

Both terminals are about 4 Km. far apart, with the landing strips in between, so you can't walk from one to the other. There are free buses connecting terminals, but it takes at least 15-20 minutes to go from one to the other.

There are as well free buses connecting the Terminal 1 with the train station (next to Terminal 2)

The Renfe Rodalies Line 2-Nord links the airport with Sants startion and Passeig de Gràcia (in the very center of the city) as well with El Clot and other stations that probably are less useful for a tourist. Please be aware this train does NOT reach Estació de França (the old C10 line from the airport did, but this line does not exist anymore!).

The trip does cost less than 3€ but you can use as well a T-10 card or other transport cards, making it even cheaper! Not the best option with luggage or babies, as there is quite a long walk to the airport station, and some stairs. Trains do leave every 30 min. The airport is a terminus station and only line 2N reach it, so no worries, you can't get lost taking a wrong train in the wrong direction!

The train station is next to the T2 (old terminal B), it should be reaching the new T1 in the future, but so far there is a (free) shuttle bus between terminals, about every 10 minutes.

Also you can get there by bus: Aerobús Traveling with luggage, apart from taxis, IMO this is the best option (no stairs). One way: 5,65 €, round trip: 9,75 €. Buses depart every 10-15 min in front of each terminal.

Regular bus #46 links BCN airport with Pl. Espanya, but it takes a long time. You can buy a single ticket (1.45€) or use the T-10.

If you prefer to take a Taxi, there are ranks of these in from of each terminal exit, and usually you can take one immediately or just after queuing a few minutes. You should pay what the taximeter shows, plus a few euros of airport supplement and 1 € per each piece of luggage. An average total to the city center would be about 30-35 €.

1 more image

I used Vueling Airlines, a Spanish low cost company to travel from Athens (return ticket for 135 euro). The international airport of Barcelona Prat of Llobregat is always busy of course but have in mind that some airlines like RyanAir fly to Girona which is 100km away from Barcelona and the bus to Bcn will take about 75 minutes!

The airport of Barcelona is 12km away from the center and you have 3 ways to reach the center:
1)taxi, an expensive solution (about 35euro +5e before 6.00am +1e per luggage!) but safe and comfortable expecially if you have heavy luggage and the only one after midnight anyway although there must be a local night bus
2)Renfe train, , train station is near Terminal 2, there’s shuttle bus from Terminal 1. it costs 2.80euros and you can stop at Passeig de Gracia station (main train station) and change for the metro (single ticket 2euro), the green line will take you to Plaza Catalunya where most of the travelers go. Have in mind that many metro stations have a lot of stairs. Instead of the single ticket you better buy a T10 ticket which is 10 rides on metro/bus for 8euro. I used the T10 for the Renfe train but still I’m not sure if it was legal or not.
3)Aerobus shuttle bus(runs 5.30-00.30 from Pl.Catalunya, 6.00-01.00 from airport). It serves both terminals and it costs 5.30euros and takes directly to Catalunya station. Watch out for your luggage (and your wallet) upon your arrival
4)local buses
During the day(5.00-00.15) bus#46 to Pl.Espanya, then change to metro. During the night (23.00-04.40) NitBus N17 to Pl.Catalunya(stops also at Pl.Espanya). No space for luggage and kind of slow but the ticket is only 2 euros (less than 1euro if you have a T10 card). Of course it’s much slower than aerobus (double time, sometimes more) and makes lots of stops along the way

2 more images

It is fairly easy to get around inside the airport, and it is not terribly crowded when we came here; but it was off season in October, though. Connection to rides into the city which is about 6 miles away is available near baggage claim are. A blue bus takes you to the Plaza Espanya as a first drop off point, and then on to Pl CAtalunya, and two other spots. Price is only 5 Euro, versus a taxi that may cost 20-25 Euro.

Barcelona El Prat is Barcelona's main gateway if you chose to come by plane. Since the new terminal was constructed in 2010, low-cost airlines have taken over the older structures and lowered the fares to this airport. However, the lower fares are available from two other nearby airports, Reus and Girona. Europe's leading low-cost airline Ryanair uses all three airports, but prices and frequencies are usually most favourable at Girona. I got a cheap Ryanair ticket from Bremen to Girona and flew back via London/Stansted. The trip from the airport to Barcelona's city centre takes around 1 ½ hours and costs 12 EUR (21 EUR return). Bus tickets are available from a counter close to the bus stop at Girona Airport. The buses are scheduled in accordance to Ryanair's schedule and buses wait for incoming flights. The bus stop in the city centre is at the coach terminal at the Estació del Nord coach terminal, close to the Arc de Triomf.

Barcelona's airport is big, it has 3 terminals: A; B & C.
We flew in with Brussels Airlines as we had the chance to purchase some promotion tickets.
I always try to remember when checking in to ask for a seat at the window and not just above a wing, but with small planes like these it seems to be almost impossible to have a full view.
Also... accordingly the time of the day and your direction, will determine if you will have a nice view or just the sun in your eyes `-)

It is possible that your plane is not going to taxi all the way to the gates. In that case you will be picked up by a bus that gets you to the terminals or, when leaving, that will get you to the plane.
The busses are mostly overcrowded as they want to push as much passengers into it to safe a second trip.
Seats are hardly available.
It is polite and a proof of good manners if you offer your seat to a parent with a baby.

To be able to enjoy every minit of this trip we went (we is our group of students, learning the Spanish language) by plane.

We had our own guide and bus and.....our prof. had lived in Spain for over 10 years.

At the Airport I saw this plane and I love those fantastic fins.It made me think of Mrs. Prime Minister (now Lady) Thatcher who once, at a reception at an Airport saw a scale model and found it so disgusting that she threw a tissue over the little, funny fin!

How ridiculous......

I love them, see these gulls and the whale/dolphin!!

I found an incredibly cheap ticket from Ancona to Barcelona with spain air 31,50€.
For the ones who flyght from italy, you can check www.evolavia.com.Sometime you find only a cheap one way ticket, it happens to me, in that case you can consider to come back by bus or train, I came back by bus www.eurolines.com and it costed about 80 €, yes, more than the one way flyght.

2 more images

The easiest for me to get to Barcelona is by airplane, and so we arrived to Barcelona airport. Seems it is not very big airport and rather modern one probably since the Olympic games held here many years ago. When we arrive as well as when we check-in it was rather quick, especially as we used self check in counters.