Barcelona Touristic Hop on/ Hop Off Bus
 

This sounds like an interesting alternative....one question: is there a commentary on the busso you can learn history of the sites??? Also, what is the website to buy online tickets?

As I remember, you get a brochure rather than a commentary. It would be hard to have commentary in a multitude of languages.

We bought tickets in person rather than booking in advance. They are good for 24 hours, so if you buy your ticket early in the afternoon, it should be good until same time next day.

It is very good about taking you to the most important sites. The only awkward stop is at Parc Guell, where it is a very steep climb from the busstop to the entry.

I have not used this myself but I have read that in the summer there are LONG lines. Trip Advisor has alot of discussion about this, pro and con.

As I remember there is a commentary tape-- they give you little disposable earphone and you can pick one of several languages. We had no problems with lines, but we weren't there in summer.

Just did the Touristic Hop on Hop off in November 2009. We were a party of 5 and only in Barcelona for 3 days. We bought the 2 day pass .. and used it exclusively. We stayed at the Hotel d'Arts and the bus picked us up right there. Very Conveinent. Do NOT purchase your tickets on-line. If you do so .. then you have to print and bring your voucher with you to a ticket station and get your pass. Problems with that are .. 1) You have to FIND a ticket station and 2) you have to wait for it to open. You can buy your tickets on the bus; however, if purchasing right there, you need cash! The bus operator should give you headsets with your ticket. The headsets plug into the back of the seat in front of you and you simply select your language, using the up and down arrows. Very easy.

We road up top, as much as possible and NEVER had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for the next bus.

Best wishes and have fun!

Yes there is an audio guide which is good. You can see some nice Modernisme architecture if you like that. Otherwise it was a miserable, hot, hour long bus ride that circled around the city. I couldn't wait to get off. It was a waste of $65 for the two day pass for 2 people.

Egbert--what made it miserable besides the weather?