The tourist bus: a fast and comfortable way of discovering Barcelona
Whilst the tour bus isn’t the most budget-friendly way of discovering Barcelona, it’s a great way of seeing as much of Barcelona as you can in very little time.
How does it work?
The tourist bus wends its way through Barcelona, past tourist attractions and the city’s most emblematic sights.
- A ticket allows you to get on and off as many times as you like over the course of one or two days, depending on your selected option.
Advantages of the tourist bus
- At the start of your stay, a trip on the tourist bus will help you to get your bearings and to identify places you’d like to visit “properly” later on
- The ticket gets you money off at a number of museums, monuments and restaurants
- It’s a fast way of getting around the city: no stops in non-touristy locations to slow you down
- It’s comfortable and designed to help you get the best photos, with its open top
- No need to think about how best to get from one sight to the next
- English audioguide for the whole journey
- Free wifi on board
- Note: there are two tourist bus companies operating in Barcelona: Barcelona Bus Turístic (the blue buses, our favourites) and CityTour (red buses). The first company is affiliated with the tourist information office and offers more advantages than the second, particularly in terms of discounts.
Tourist bus itineraries
You have three options:
- Red route: Plaça Catalunya, Casa Batlló, la Pedrera, Plaça Espanya, CaixaForum, Poble Espanyol, Catalan National museum of Art, the Olympic stadium, the Miró foundation, the port, the maritime museum, the Catalan History Museum, the Olympic Port, parc de la ciutadella, the zoo, the Gothic quarter
- Blue route: Plaça Catalunya, Casa Batlló, la Pedrera or Casa Milà, Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, Tibidabo, Monastery of Pedralbes, Palau Reial, Camp Nou (FC Barcelona museum), Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
- Green route (end March – early November): the Barcelona coastline, from the Olympic Port to the Fòrum
- Tickets are valid on all three routes.
Tourist bus prices
- Adults: €30 for 1 day, €39 for 2 consecutive days (full price)
- Seniors (over-65s) and disabled passengers: €25 for 1 day, €35 for 2 days
- Children aged 4-12: €16 for 1 day, €20 for 2 days
- Under-3s: free
- Click here to buy your tickets with 10% off.
Combined tickets: Tourist Bus + Parc Güell + Sagrada Familia + Aerobus
can be interesting for you! You will get a ticket for the tour bus, a round-trip ticket for the Aerobus, in order to get from the airport to the city centre, and you will also get fast-track access to both Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell.
Barcelona by Night: summer tour itinerary
On summer evenings, the tour bus offers a journey around the monuments which light up the Barcelona night! Enjoy the son et lumière show at the Montjuïc fountains and see the Sagrada Familia, the Torre Agbar and the Sant Pau hospital all lit up. An unusual and magical way of discovering Barcelona!
Useful information:
- Duration: 2h30
- Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 3rd June to 28th August (2016 dates)
- Departs from plaça Catalunya at 9.30pm.
- Price: 19 euros for adults, 10 euros for children.
- Audio guide in English, Catalan and Spanish.
- Daytime tourist bus tickets are not valid on this service.
Top Tourist Bus Tips
- Stops close to the main tourist attractions can get very busy. To avoid a long wait, walk to the next (or previous) stop, getting on the bus will take nowhere near as long.
- Don’t forget to take water, suncream, a hat and sunglasses: the top of the bus is very exposed!
- If you want to go to Tibidabo, ignore the bus audioguide when it tells you to take the tram blau: it only takes you up one avenue, and costs more than a standard bus ticket. Instead, take a bus in the same direction from just opposite the tour stop.
Useful information
- The buses run every day except 1st January and 25th December. The green route runs from 18th March to 1st November
- Buses operate from between 9 and 9.30am (depending on the stop) until 9 – 9.30pm
- Frequency is every 5 to 25 minutes, depending on the season: check the bus stop for up-to-date times
- The buses are wheelchair-accessible
- Tickets must be presented on entering the bus, using either a printed version or your smartphone
- The audio-guides are specially adapted for the hard of hearing
- The red and blue routes take around 2 hours each, whilst the green route lasts around 40 minutes
- Tickets are valid on any dates
- Note that validity is counted in calendar days, not by periods of 24 hours.
