Page: Main.Travel - Last Modified : Thu, 29 Nov 07

Closest airport

Aeropuerto de Barcelona "el Prat" (BCN)

Connections from El Prat airport to the city:

• by taxi: the black and yellow Barcelona taxis can also be found at the airport. They cannot carry more than four passengers. When a taxi is free, a green light will be alight and a LIBRE or LLIURE sign will be visible. A taxi will cost around 18 euro, bit more expensive at nights and on weekends.
  • Getting the taxi at the airport: there is no office inside the airport terminal to get taxis. Taxis stop is just outside the building. A lot of taxis parked in a row can be seen. Travelers might have to line in a queue (in some moments there can be quite some people waiting for a taxi, and lots of taxis stopping and taking the first in the queue).
  • Taxi drivers might or might not speak english at all. So print the hotel address and show it to the driver.

• by bus: two options: public service or private service.
  • public bus service line 46, each 30 minutes, from airport to "Plaça Espanya" (+ underground red and green lines). Very cheap but not recommended, too crowded and very dependant on traffic).
  • private Airbus servite to city center (Plaça Catalunya) each 20 min. The Aerobús leaves from the airport every 15 minutes, from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight Monday to Friday, and from 6:30 a.m. to 12:00 midnight on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It costs 3.16€ and the terminus is Plaça Catalunya, in the centre of Barcelona.
• by train (R10 airport - Sants Station - Passeig de Gràcia - North Station) + underground. It is cheap (less than 4 euro) but it can take an hour to an hour and half, depending on train frequencies (usually each 30 min), possible delays in service (because of future TGV line) and your final destination in the city, and travellers have to carry their luggage up and down through several stairs. Train terminal is outside the airport terminal, please follow the signs. Train to the airport is integrated into the Barcelona public transport system, zone 1. Travelers can use the same Barcelona public transport travel cards (please see the Moving inside Barcelona section).
  • Train service BCN airport to city center:

• Hotels in the Sants area: stop at "Sants Estacio" (please beware pickpocketeers).
• Hotels in City Center: stop at "Passeig de Gràcia", then walk or change to underground, green/blue/yellow lines (beware: lots of stairs and a laberint of tunnels).
• Hotels close to UPC area: stop at "Sants Estacio" (please beware pickpocketeers) then change to underground (green line L1, heading to "Zona Universitaria").

Alternative airport

Aeropuerto de Girona (GRO), specially for low-cost companies.

Connections from Girona airport to the city: there is one bus line (operated by an Ryanair associate) connecting to Barcelona North Station. Trip Girona-Barcelona arround an hour and 10 minutes. Price is arround 11 euro single ticket, 19 euro return ticket (valid for 30 days).

Moving inside Barcelona

Barcelona public transport system (TMB), specially underground and trams are highly recommended. Cheap and (time) efficient.

• Recommendation: to buy a 1 zone T-10 card (10 trips, around 7 euro). Even if 10 trips won't be used, it is cheaper than 5 single trips. T-10 cards can be used in metro, bus, tram and trains (single tickets cannot). Tickets can be bought at any station, but please take into account that most automatic expendors do not accept foreign credit cards, so bring some euro with you or try to find a human ticket office.
• See the underground + tram map and the trains + underground + tram map