BARCELONA AIRPORT CONNECTIONS

The Barcelona Airport, known as El Prat, is located 15 kilometres aprox. south of the city. It has two Terminals: T1, the larger and newer one, and T2. Next you have the connections between Barcelona and the airport and back.

Zara store in Barcelona Airport Terminal 1

If you aren't in a hurry and you didn't have to go to the Barcelona city centre, I recommend the 46 Bus (TMB). This bus is cheaper and Plaça d'Espanya is well connected with most places of Barcelona.

Another shop in Barcelona Airport Terminal 1

- Metro L9 (TMB)

• Stops T1 or T2.

• Single ticket price for the airport T1 y T2: 4,5€ (2016). This ticket is needed to reach or leave from the airport stations.

Barcelona Airport Connections

- Bus (TMB)

• The 46 bus runs from Pl. d’Espanya to Barcelona Airport (T1 and T2) every 30 minutes aprox.
• Single ticket price: 2,15 € (integrated fare)(2016).

• from 4.50am to 23.50pm departures from Barcelona Airport.
• from 4.50am to 23.50pm departures from Pl. d’Espanya.

• Further information: www.tmb.cat.

The Aerobus is probably the fastest way to arrive at Barcelona from the airport

- Aerobús (A1 and A2)

• Daily service every 5-10 minutes between Plaça de Catalunya, Plaça d'Espanya and Barcelona Airport (T1 and T2).
• Approximate journey time: 35 minutes.
• Ticket price: 5,90 € (single); € 10,20 (return) (2016).

• From 5am to 12.30am departures from Pl. de Catalunya.
• From 5.35am to 01.05am departures from Barcelona Airport.

• Web Site: www.aerobusbcn.com.

Another picture of the Barcelona Airport Terminal 1

- Train (RENFE)

• Daily connections every 30 minutes with Barcelona Airport from the Renfe (Spanish Rail) Barcelona Sants Station.
• Journey time: 20 minutes aprox. (from Barcelona Sants Station).

• From 5.13am to 11.14pm departures from Barcelona Sants Station
• From 5.42am to 11.38pm departures from Barcelona Airport.

• Web Site: www.renfe.es.

- Night bus (NITBUS)

• The N17 night bus runs every 20 minutes from Ronda Universitat / Pl. Catalunya to Barcelona Airport, stopping at Pl. d’Espanya.

• From 09:55pm to 4.45am departures from Ronda Universitat.
• From 11.00pm to 5:00am departures from Barcelona Airport T1.
• From 11.10pm to 4.40am departures from Pl. d’Espanya

• The N16 night bus runs every 20 minutes from Ronda Universitat / Pl. Catalunya to Castelldefels stopping at Barcelona Airport.

• From 11:30pm to 5.10am departures from Ronda Universitat.
• From 11.00pm to 4.40am departures from Castelldefels.

• Single ticket price: 2,15 € (integrated fare)(2016).

• Website: www.emt-amb.com.

Other Buses:

• L99 from Castelldefels (Departures from Plaça de la Estació). Stops in Gavà and Viladecans. Single ticket price: 2,15 € (integrated fare)(2016).
• L77 from Sant Jian Despí (Departures from Hospital Moisés Broggi). Stops in Cornellà, Sant Boi and El Prat. Single ticket price: 2,15 € (integrated fare)(2016).
• PR-1 Shuttle Bus from T2 to T1 and back. Free ticket.

- By car

• The C-31 Barcelona-Castelldefels highway leads to Barcelona Airport from Plaça de Catalunya and Plaça d'Espanya and it also connects easily with the C-32 Barcelona-Sitges motorway and Ronda Litoral ring road.

• From the Avinguda Diagonal and the Ronda de Dalt the best way to get the Airport is the C-32 Barcelona-Sitges motorway.

- Further information in the Airport web site: www.aena.es

BARCELONA BUS TURISTIC

Barcelona sightseeing official tour (Barcelona Bus Turístic) is an excellent option to visit Barcelona if you don’t have enough time to walk through it. 

While these buses show you the city, you can listen an audio guide, which is available in 10 different languages. The audio guide gives you a comprehensive explanation about the most interesting places and buildings in Barcelona. 

Barcelona Bus Turístic in Pedralbes (Route Blue)

Besides, you will discover Barcelona on open-topped double-decker buses, which have 44 stops at the city's major landmarks and attractions. You will be able to get on and off the bus as many times and for as long as you like.

Barcelona Bus Turístic in Passeig de Gràcia (Route Red)

Finally, there are three different routes included in the same ticket. Also it is important to remark that you can get off where yo want and take another bus whenever you want. Don’t worry about the queues because the buses run frequently. 

Barcelona Bus Turístic routes

Useful Information:

- Timetable:

• Winter: 9:00 - 19:00
• Summer: 9:00 - 20:00

- Frequency:

• between 5 and 25 minutes, depending on the season

- Running times

• Daily service all year round (except 1/01, 25/12) Green Route from 30/03 to 04/11
• Journey time: 2 hours approx. per route except the Green Route, which takes 40 minutes

- Ticket:

• 1 day: Adult : 24 euros. Children (4-12 years): 14 euros
• 2 days: Adult : 31 euros. Children (4-12 years): 18 euros

- Where to buy:

• 1) On the bus.
• 2) On line, in the following link of Barcelona Bus turístic website. There is a 10% discount if you buy the ticket on line.
• 3) Tourist office
• 4) TMB (Transport of Barcelona) offices
• 5) Hotels
• 6) www.tmb.cat

- Routes:

• 1) Green route
• 2) Blue route
• 3) Red route

On the Barcelona Bus Turístic you will be able to visit:

- Route Blue

• Sagrada Familia
• Park Güell
• Casa Milà (La Pedrera)
• Casa Batlló
• Pedralbes Monastery
• FCBarcelona Stadium (Nou Camp)

- Route Red

• Palau Nacional de Catalunya (MNAC)
• Montjuïc Castle
• Olympic Stadium
• Joan Maragall Gardens
• Magic Fountain
• Santa Maria del Mar
• Santa Maria del Pi
• Plaça del Rei
• Plaça Reial
• La Rambla
• Palau Güell
• Mercat de la Boqueria
• El Raval
• Ciutadella Park

- Route Green

• Olympic Marina
• Promenade and beach

You can find more information about this routes clicking on the following link of Barcelona Bus Turístic website.

BARCELONA CITY CARD

Today I would like to speak about the Barcelona Card, which could be interesting for you in case you stayed in Barcelona up to five consecutive days.

Barcelona city card offers free travel on public transport, discounts and free offers at museums, cultural venues, leisure facilities, night-clubs, shops, restaurants and entertainments, other services and unique means of transport. The features of Barcelona Card are:

- Barcelona Card is valid per 2, 3, 4 or 5 consecutive days (Card is valid per calendar days and not for 24-hour periods).

- Free public transport: Barcelona metro and city buses of TMB and FGC city and suburban train network, trams, train to Barcelona's airport and Renfe trains zone 1.

The Barcelona Card offers a 20% discount at the Picasso Museum

- Discounts at museums, culture venues, entertainment, leisure attractions, shops, restaurants, other services at Barcelona and unusual means of transport. For instance, the most interesting discounts for me are:

• Casa Milà - La Pedrera (- 20%)
• Sagrada Familía (- 1€)
• Casa Batlló (- 20%)
• Colònia Güell/Cripta Gaudí (- 15%)
• El Poble Espanyol (- 25%)
• Palau de la Música Catalana (- 20%)
• L'Aquàrium de Barcelona (- 20%)
• Parc d'Atraccions del Tibidabo (- 20%)
• Zoo de Barcelona (- 20%)
• Camp Nou Experience (- 5%)

Clicking on the next link, the complete list.

Barcelona Card offers a 20% discount at La Casa Milà, where you can visit the impressive rooftop

- Barcelona also includes free discounts at:

• Las Golondrinas
• CosmoCaixa
• Torre de Collserola
• Mirador de Colom
• Circuit de Catalunya
• Jardí Botànic
• Casino de Barcelona
• Museu de la xocolata
• Museu Olímpic i de l'Esport
• Museu de la Música
• Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
• Museu del Modernisme Català
• Disseny Huv Barcelona
• Museu Barbier-Muller d'Art Precolombí
• Museu de Ceràmica
• Museu Etnològic
• Museu d'Història de Barcelona
• Monestir de Pedralbes

Museu d'Història de Barcelona inside the Palau Reial (Royal Palace) in the Barcelona Gothic Quarter

- With the purchase of your Barcelona Card, you will receive a guide in three languages (Catalan/Spanish/English or French/German/Italian) which includes:

• Information about the discounts and the free offers with the city card.
• Information about Barcelona's main sightseeing areas.
• General map of Barcelona.
• Map of the metro network.

Finally, clicking on the next link, you can buy the Barcelona Card on line.

BARCELONA: BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS

If you are planning to visit Barcelona, although Barcelona is a safe city, you have to take care of your belongings because there are a lot of pickpockets, especially in La Rambla. These people have a great ability to detect people who are distracted. So, I would like to advise you to try to avoid looking lost or showing a map in the middle of the streets of the city center.

 La Rambla de Barcelona, one the most lively places in Barcelona

It is important to pay attention when you take the metro in rush hours because they try to rob your wallet without you noticing. Pay special attention when you take the metro green line because there are a lot of formal complaints of this line between Sants station and Passeig the Gràcia station. Moreover, the same caution we should have when we take the train from the airport to the city center.

If you were robbed, you could make a formal complaint in the following police stations:

- Sants-Montjuïc quarter: 

• 1) Address: Plaça d'Espanya, 1 - Phone: 932 903 737 (next to Montjuïc Magical Fountain)
• 2) Address: C/ Creu Coberta, 104 - Phone: 932 903 421

- Raval quarter:

• 1) Address: Carrer Nou de la Rambla, 76 - Phone: 932 902 854

- Plaça Catalunya:

• 1) Address: Plaça de Catalunya, s/n - Phone: 93 412 61 56 (under the square)
• 2) Address: Via Laietana, 43 - Phone: 932 903 327

- Les Corts quarter:

• 1) Address: Travessera de les Corts, 319-321 - Phone: 93 495 97 00 (next to Camp Nou, the FC Barcelona Stadium)

- Horta quarter:

• 1) Address: Carrer Marina, 347-349 - Phone: 93 326 82 00 (next to Sagrada Familía)

BARCELONA: BEWARE OF SCAMS

La Rambla is one of the most beautiful and lively streets in Barcelona, where you can discover its Mediterranean life but, unfortunately, you can also be a victim of a scam.

La Rambla is not only full of actors who are playing an interesting performance, but also there are a lot of restaurants which offer you an economical menu, such as a paella and sangria for 15 euros pro person or pizza and two tapas for only 13 euros.

However these advertisements are only a way to attract the customer, because drinks are not included in the menu. Moreover you have to be aware if you order a beer because waiters don’t ask you for the size and they serve you the biggest one. Obviously the prize is extremely expensive, such as 12 euros for a 1,5l beer.

Therefore, I recommend you that, before ordering in a restaurant located  in La Rambla, you ask to the waiter for the prize of drinks.

La Rambla is probably the most lively street in Barcelona

Besides, trileros are another scam that you can find in La Rambla.  They try to cheat tourist people playing a game. The game consists in moving three recipients fast during less than a minute after having hidden a small ball under one of them. A person wins when he points the recipient where the small ball is hidden.

It seems really easy to win because one of the trileros starts betting and he always wins money. It is done to caught the attraction of the tourist. I want to say that the more you bet, the faster he moves the recipients and so it is impossible to know where the small ball is.

BARCELONA: BICING

Barcelona offers a new way to move around the city. It's perfect for people who love doing sport instead of taking the underground or the bus. Bicing has actually been really successful among the citizens of Barcelona since its commissioning.

A Barcelona bicing stop where you can see bicycles of this successful public transport

This new public transport is called Bicing. You have to register for a year in the bicing website paying an annual fee. As a user you can take a bike for 30 minutes for free, but if you exceed this time you have to pay an extra fee.

Besides, there are a lot of bicing stations around the city and they are increasing every year. Next you can see an updated map of bicing stations:

There a lot of bicing stations around Barcelona

If you want, clicking on the next link you can get the same updated map of bicing stations.

BARCELONA: LANGUAGE EXCHANGE

Barcelona is a vibrant city where visitors could find great quality services. One of them is Language Exchange. Following we describe different ways to find people interested in making contact with native speakers of a specific language.


1) Advertisement in Loquo

Publish an advertisement in Loquo giving details about your native language and the language that you are interested in practising. It’s completely free.

Loquo Logo

2) Joan Fuster library language exchange

You can take part in the language exchange organised by Joan Fuster Library, where a native will talk to you in Catalan or in Spanish for a half an hour. Afterwards, you will talk in English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and another languages you choose for half an hour too. This service is free. You only have to fill out the application form.

To get more information call to 93-368-45-64 o send an email to b.barcelona.jf@diba.cat. It is also possible to ask for information at the library information desk of the Joan Fuster Library:

• Address: Pl. Lesseps, 20-22.
• Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday from 10h to 21h.
• Monday and Saturday from 10h to 14h and 16h to 21h.

3) Websites on Internet

Learning English using websites on Internet. A fantastic way to practise languages at home without spending money at all:

• Conversation Exchange website
• My Language Exchange website

4) Escola Oficial d’Idiomes (Language School)

Escola Oficial d’Idiomes offers the Chance to take part in courses for learning different languages. The price is affordable around 200 euros pro year. This School has different buildings around Barcelona and the surrodings areas.

Following you can see the links of some of these schools where you could learn Spanish or other languages:

- Escola Oficial de Drassanes: It offers a lot of courses to learn different languages such as Catalan, Spanish, German, Greek, Chinese…

• Address: Drassanes Avda. Drassanes, 14,
• Phone: 933 249 330

- Escola oficial Vall Hebron: It offers a lot of courses to learn different languages such as Catalan, Spanish, German, French…

• Address: Avinguda Jordà, 18,
• Phone: 934 18 68 33/ 934 18 74 85
• Email: info@eoibcnvh.org

www.conversationexchange.com