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Image source: Pinterest
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Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is the second-largest city in Spain. Much like Paris, France, the city of Barcelona is also well connected with a number of public transport options. We extensively used the Metro(Subway) to commute during our trip to Barcelona.
We had purchased this is a card that offers a public transport ticket that gives you access to unlimited travel via the metro, buses, and trams. You can choose between a 48, 72, 96, or 120-hour ticket option depending on the length of your trip. This card helped us to get around Barcelona and the surrounding area with ease and thus aided us in saving both time and money. The best part about this card is that the metro ride to and from the airport is also included.
We had purchased the card online, we had been provided with a code over email. On reaching the Airport we procured our card from a ticket vending machine that is easy to find near the tourist information office located inside the airport metro station. (This station is near Terminal 2). We took the metro from here towards our hotel.
Travel Checks: Keep maps of the metro routes handy, it helps in traveling and understanding the layout of the lines better. You can easily get them from the ticket counter of the metro stations, alternatively, many hotels also keep them at their receptions. We got ours from the Tourist Information office.
1. Metro or Subway
The Barcelona metro consists of twelve lines that are operated by 2 companies. The lines are numbered from L1 to L12 and have a distinct colour assigned to them
The Metro runs from Monday to Friday from 5.00 am to midnight and Sunday night until midnight.
The metro has been in operation since 1924, unfortunately, not all stations are completely barrier-free or step-free. According to travelguide.barcelona, the Barcelona Metro stations, which are not fully accessible:Line L1: Clot, Plaça de Sants, Espanya, Urquinaona Line L1: Clot, Plaça de Sants, Espanya, UrquinaonaLine L3: Espanya, Vallcarca Line L3: Espanya, VallcarcaLine L4: Maragall, Verdaguer, Urquinaona, Jaume I, Ciutadella-Vila Line L5: Plaça de Sants, Virrei Amat, Maragall, Verdaguer.
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A metro
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2. Buses
The buses with their 109 lines form the backbone of local transport in Barcelona. One can reach almost every corner of the city with these red and white buses. The buses display their route number on the front. A sign at the stop indicates which lines stop here. In order for the bus to stop at the stop, the driver has to signal by waving the hand, or else he may drive past without a halt at the bus stop. The front door or one of the two front doors in a 4-door bus is usually used for boarding whereas to leave the bus, usually, the back door is used. There are several validation devices on the bus, once on-board you need to validate your ticket without which you might become a dodger.
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A Barcelona bus
Image source: Google images |
In 2004 the trams were revived. Currently, there are 6 tram lines running on almost 30km of the rail network. The trams operate Monday to Friday, Sunday and public holidays from 5.00 am to midnight Friday, Saturday and the evening before public holidays from 5:00am to 2:00pm. We saw one tram line when we had gone to visit Camp Nou.
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A tram of Barcelona
Image Source: Barcelona tourist guide
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Travel Checks: A ride in the “Tramvia Blau” (Catalan for “blue tramway”) is not just a pleasant experience for tram enthusiasts. The trains are more than 100 years old and the last survivors of the historic tram of Barcelona, which was closed in 1971. The approximately 1.3 km (1 mile) long route avoids the steep climb to the mountain Tibidabo (520m). The Tibidabo offers a great view of the city and the surrounding of Barcelona. This is also home to the famous “Parque d’Atracccions” amusement park. (info source:Wikipedia )
NOTE
We went to Montserrat on our third day in Barcelona. We had purchased the train tickets for the journey from the Tourist information office located at the airport metro station opposite terminal 2.
You will find the details for the same in our blog post for Monserrat, linked below.
Planning a trip to Barcelona?
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