Barcelona Public Transport

Barcelona Public Transport - Integrated Fare System

Barcelona Public Transport in the metropolitan region has an integrated fare system among Metro, Metropolitan Trains, Tram and Bus. You can combine any of them for the same journey at one price.

For the Barcelona Public Transport, all you need is to buy a card. You can do it at any Metro station. You will pay less per trip by buying one card, let us say for ten trips, called T10. Choose Zone one if you will remain inside the limits of Barcelona City.

The number of public transport changes and the time you are allowed to wait for taking the next transport, are restricted and vary according with the card type. Minimum three transports and one hour fifteen minutes. Not Bad!

Even better, you will get good discounts and have a number of benefits if you buy the Barcelona Card.

Barcelona Airport Trains

This is a Barcelona Public Transport alternative for airport transfer.

The airport rail station is connected with the airport terminals through a closed aerial passageway. You will see it between terminal A and B. It runs above the street and continues over the parking lot.

Trains are available from 6:00 a.m. to 11:44 p.m. from the airport to Sants station in Barcelona city. In the opposite direction, they run from approximately. 5:30 a.m. to 10:55 p.m.
The trip lasts twenty minutes and the trains run with a frequency of thirty minutes.

You can buy the ticket directly at the rail station. Payment with "plastic money" is also possible.

Metro (Underground)

The Barcelona Metro is, like any other Metro in the world, a mass public transport system.
There are several available lines which are color coded.

You can reach many important places in the city within few minutes, at an average of a couple of minutes between stations.

Underground? Well, not at all. In some parts of the city it runs above ground. So, the best definition will be simply "Metro".
The whole fleet is equipped with air conditioning system for your comfort.

The network can not be compared with that of Paris, but it is still good enough for you to get around in a cheap and fast transport. A good option for Barcelona Public Transport!

Some stations count with lifts for handicapped. Some lazy people use them also...
Click here for the Barcelona Metro Map.

Bus Service

This is a modern integrated transport providing services to Barcelona city and other districts. There are more than one hundred lines composed by more than one thousand buses.

All of them provide access to disabled or handicapped passengers.
The whole fleet is equipped with air conditioning system for your comfort.

There are also some special services running during the night. I will not recommend you to take any bus at night.
My advise in this case is that you should better use the Metro or a taxi.

Tourists at night are easily identified by some bad people. You know what I mean... Right?

Barcelona Tram

This is a relative new integrated public transport system. A kind of revival of the old trams. Barcelona Tram started to run in January 2004 with the first test trips.

The tram network is composed by six lines of a modern, high-tech fleet of vehicles, equipped with air conditioning.

You can check the tram map for details regarding the places that you can reach with each line. Take a ride with the Barcelona Tram, even just for fun.

Believe me, it is really very interesting!

Taxi

A taxi has to be recognized from a certain distance due to some characteristics, for instance because of its color. Barcelona Taxis are not the exception. They are black and yellow. Easy to identify!

A green light on top indicates that it is free to be hired. You usually have to pay the amount indicated in the display of the meter, plus an extra for every piece of luggage.

There are some radio taxi companies where you can call and ask to be picked up in some place. They charge you an extra fare that can be surprisingly high. Donīt use this option, unless you have no other alternative!

From the airport to downtown or vice versa, you should pay around twenty Euros under normal traffic conditions. You should avoid a taxi to get in the Gothic Quarter. Use the Metro, or a scooter, or a bike, or your feet!

It is a good practice to ask for a receipt for the amount you paid.
In case that you forget some personal belonging or have to complain for some reason, the necessary information is on that receipt.

There are also some cabs especially prepared for handicapped or disabled people.

Bike

This is called "bicing" and is a relative new Barcelona Public Transport mean, which is still growing up. It started on March 2007 and since then more and more people are "bicing".

This service is not for tourists. I am sorry!
It is only available for people living in Spain.

These bikes can be used free of charge for the first thirty minutes. Then costs 0,30 Euros every half hour, until a maximum of two hours.

No pollution, no noise, no traffic jam. Maybe in the near future we are going to have bike jams like in some Asian countries...
Nobody knows!