I have a few transporation-relatd questions that I'm wondering if anyone can help with:

1. If one is taking the bus from the airport into town, are the tickets purchased on the bus from the driver, or elsewhere in advance?

2. Will it be possible to find cabs that fit 5 passengers? If not, are they heavily regulated such that the driver would not permit us to squeeze in an extra child?

3. Are the various cable cars open? I think someone mentioned in a recent trip report that the cable car up to Tibado was closed-was that just for that day, or is work being done? How about the ones around Mount Juic?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Topping for Missypie. Have a great trip!!

The cable car was open two weeks ago. I din't notice any extra large taxis - most are small to medium size saloons.

Airport shuttle : You pay the driver when you get on.

Tibidabo.

What does an airport shuttle cost (approx.) to the center of town? Is this going to be better than a taxi?
Thanks!

Airport bus fare to city is 3.75 euros.

I don't know how many people a
taxi will hold. We took an airport
bus into the bus station in Madrid
and then a taxi to our hotel. Be
very careful of the taxi drivers.
Watch the meter and make sure it is
on 1 and not on 2. The meter spins
twice as fast on 2 and can only be
used at certain times.
The driver drove us all over Ma-
drid before taking us to our hotel.

It cost us as much as a taxi from
the airport.
I knew we were being ripped off but
was too tired after the flight to
pursue it. It will never happen
to us again.


had a driver that drove us all oer
Madrid on 2 before he took us to our
hotel

Taxis do not take Five passangers even if the fith one is a small child.
We are a family of five and have tried this many times and while a few years some taxis did take five, nowadays I have given up even asking. Just asume you will need two taxis.
You can give it a try anyway and be lucky.
I was told it was a matter of insurance coverage.

You can also take a train from the airport but I'd recommend a taxi for convenience. To the centre of Barcelona it should be around 20 Euro and trying to find a way around public transport with luggage and a child can be rather stressful.

By the way, I took a lot of taxis in Barcelona and never had a bad experience.

In Rome, about 10% of the taxis had a 6th seat (with seatbelt also) in front. In Florence, we were able to find a few mini-van taxis. No such things in Barcelona?

Hi Missypie, although there were only 4 of us, the taxi we took from the airport to the apartment was a small minivan type vehicle that could hold 5 people. If I remember correctly I think I saw plenty of these vehicles during our stay in Barcelona. The cable car was running in Feb. but the funicular at Montjuïc was not operating. WJH

When we were there in February, the funicular to Tibidabo was undergoing construction. The conductor on the Tramvia Blau was explaining this to people as we got on and gave a date for completion some time in March, but I don't remember the exact date (especially as I thought he was talking about the amusement park and not the funicular so I wasn't really paying attention).

The cable cars across the port from Montjuic were open.

The funicular to the castle at the top of Montjuic was closed.

So....if you don't take the funicular to Montjuic, then....I guess you don't go to the Para-llel Metro stop. Do you go up the other end (by the majic fountain)?

Actually I'm not sure about the funicular from the Paral.lel metro stop up to Montjuic; that might be running. But the part that runs to the top, where the castle is, is not running. That is a cable car, I think. The only way to get to the castle right now is by bus (or taxi), I think.

To get to the other attractions on Montjuic, you can go up from the magic fountain at Placa d'Espanya, which requires walking and escalators. Or you can take the cable car from the end of Barceloneta, which is what we did. Or you can take the Bus Turistic, which we also did.