burberry212

We are debating between taking a Hop on Hop Off bus in Barcelona versus using the public transport to visit all the sites in the city.
Does anyone have a recommendation on which is better?

BigRuss

Define better.

You can reach nearly all the major sites by Metro train. The exception is Parc Guell, but there are buses that run up the hill to it. The HOHO costs are not included with Metro tickets and cost far more than the public transport.

burberry212

So I have done a quick comparison between HOHO, Barcelona city card and Transport card
Ofocurse the transport card is the cheapest but my question will the HOHO have any advantage over the city or transport card?

IMDonehere

HOHO buses are usually expensive. And if you can walk, walk the City, there are many interesting neighborhoods.

BigRuss

<< will the HOHO have any advantage over the city or transport card>>

I don't get what advantage you're looking for. The city services will go everywhere the HOHO buses go, the "advantage" is that the HOHO buses provide insight for tourists (which you can get from a guidebook too). That's a private service for tourists and thus, the pricing.

eluckhardt

don't know which is better, but i enjoyed using the HOHO bus when traveling there last year with my 3 year old daughter.

colduphere

How long are you in Barcelona? If only for a day or two I suppose I could see taking the hoho from one site to the next. If any longer I would take the metro directly to the individual sites.

Cowboy1968

I don't see much advantage in using the HOHO buses if you simply want to get to the sites one way or another.
When there is nice weather, it can be an advantage, though, to sit on the upper deck of the "topless" buses and have a better view of anything left or right than on a regular city bus or the metro.
OTOH, you often see kinda huge crowds at the popular HOHO stops. And I wonder if you can always get on the next bus or have to waste more time waiting for the 2nd or 3rd..

Christina

I like the Barcelona HOHO bus, also, because it has an interesting route with some good views and some attractions are pretty far apart. And it's usuaully good weather there, so I just found it a pleasant ride. I especially liked it going out to the park where the Miro museum is. It wasn't as useful in the dense city center, of course, I think I got out down at the pier to see the Catalonia history museum and didn't get back on it to walk to the Barri Gotic. It was convenient to get from the Gaudi houses up in Eixemple out west, also. I used it for one day, and enjoyed it, but wouldn't have wanted to use it longer than that.

The lines to get on it can be kind of long at plaza Catalunya, BTW, if you are there in the middle of the day, but were no issue at all in other locations. I just started out from there fairly early (like 9).

Christina

oh, I did find some advantages to the HOHO that had nothing to do with tourist insight. I just enjoy bus rides like that seeing a city, if you get on top, that's all. And I think some of their stops are a bit more convenient than metro. I don't really enjoy riding metro, going down into the tunnels, waiting, etc. Yes, I do it a lot but don't find it pleasant.