mrsgo

We are looking for a 1 day HOP ON/ HOP OFF Barcelona Bus Tour for a Friday/Saturday combination. Pros/ Cons? Is there a website for a tour you recommend? Are the 2 day tours better , or are we better off doing the second day on our own? We are walkers and will be staying close to the Placa Catalunya.

We will be in Barcelona late Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday, and all day Sunday in early June. Is there any activity that is weekly, only available on a specific day of the week ,that we should not miss?

Is the Rambla a pedestrian mall? (no vehicles)

THANK YOU!!

Len

MyriamC

If you want a two day combination, you will have to buy a two days ticket (35 euro pp). It's not like you have 48 hours to use the buses. I thought your ticket started when you first got on the bus but this is NOT the case. It goes day by day. The first bus starts at 9 am on Plaça Catalunya, the last bus goes at 8 pm from Plaça Catalunya. Same for the second day.

We bought a two days ticket last week from Barcelona Bus Turístic (blue buses). We won't do it again. It seemed as if they have far too few buses running for the number of tickets sold. Sometimes we had to wait half an our to find two free seats on the bus. Sitting in the open air was impossible most of the time.

We noticed that the buses of Barcelona City Tour (red buses) seemed to have more buses running and less people on board. Their prices are the same and the routes are comparable (they call it east and west route, whereas Bus Turístic calls it the blue route and the red route).

For the 70 euros we paid (2 x 35 euros) we could have taken several taxi rides!

La Rambla is indeed a pedestrian street.

suec1

For the most part I find HOHO's overpriced and often frustrating as you stand waiting for a bus to come to find it all packed out. Barcelona is quite walkable and while some of the sights are spread out, it might be better to plan your day and use taxis or the metro when you shift to another part of the city. Get a map - I'd group the sites sort of like this: Las Ramblas, Old City, El Born? be sure and go to one of the markkets. Then head up to where the Gaudi Houses are, tour one. Next, La Sagrada Familia followed by taxi to Parc Guell. If there is time, another fun area is LaBarcelonea and beach area. Finally there is the part of the city with some of the Olympic sites, Mont Juic?

Oh if you are there in the summer, check out the fountain, music and lights show in one of the big plazas. I think you will cover alot more ground cheaper and quicker with the metro but do be careful, at least in the past, the metro was a playground for the professional pick-pockets of the city.

samoca

I took one of the red bus tours last October. I bought my ticket at Plaza de Catalunya. Both companies sell tickets at separate kiosks. IIRC one of the nice tourist office CSRs explained to me the difference in routes. I think the red ones were a slightly better deal money-wise, which is why I took one. Also, the red bus had a deal for seniors, which the green one didn't have (I'm over 65) My suggestion would be try one direction, see if you like it, and then buy your second trip separately in the afternoon or the next day. There is so much to do in Barcelona (I was there for a week and only felt I scratched the surface), that you might want to go directly to the sites you want to visit and not spend so much time on the bus.

I would highly suggest a Julia Travel tour of the Sagrada Familia. I bought my ticket for that also at the Plaza Catalunya TI office. The guide spoke very good English and you could avoid the long entrance lines. Sagrada Familia is the single most awe-inspiring building I saw in Spain (including a trip to the Alhambra and the Mezquita in Cordoba) and is a MUST!!! The inside of the church (it is not a cathedral!) is finished since 2010 and was so astonishing I had tears in my eyes (and I am not at all religious.)

Enjoy your trip!

MyriamC

I agree with suec1. We ended up walking a lot during our four days. Our hotel was very centrally located (Passeig de Gracia), and we 'grouped' our walks, just as indicated by you.

Barceloneta and the Port Vell are great to relax and have a drink in one of the beach cafés.

tomarkot

Hi mrsgo, we did use the HOHO buses in Barcelona, because on our day of arrival we were really dragging and found them to be a good overview introduction to the city. We didn't have an issue with long waits, but we were there in September. You might want to check out our TR by clicking our screen name. We describe LA Rambla plus a lot of other places of interest in Barcelona.

Good luck planning for a wonderful trip!

suec1

A good idea might be to get on and if you get a good seat, stay on to get an overview of the city and view some of the main sights in passing. Then go back to places you want to explore. That eliminates standing and waiting for a bus to appear.

BigRuss

<<La Rambla is indeed a pedestrian street.>>

Yes and no. It is a divided street where the pedestrians can walk through the sizable median but cars travel between the median and the sidewalks.

Thinking that the HOHO is unnecessary. Barcelona's main attractions are walkable in two phases and the Metro is quick.

MaineGG

suec1 has a good point about staying on the HOHO bus for its entire route. I'm generally not a fan of the HOHO buses and not inclined to use them in most cities. For Barcelona, though, I thought two of the routes (the Red and Blue) of the Bus Turistic offered an easy way to see some areas of the city that were not easily accessible.

We did a 2-day ticket and did one route one day and the other the next day. On the Red route, we left the bus once to take the telefèric on Montjuic (which was then included on our HOHO ticket. Not sure that is still true). On the Blue route, we never got off the bus. Doing this avoids the aggravation of waiting for the next bus, only to find it is full, or you have to sit inside with limited views.

mrsgo

Great info! THANKS! We truly appreciate your help/guidance!!!!!

Can we purchase the T -10 ticket at the airport and use this ticket for the bus that takes us to the hotel/ Placa Catalunya area?

How long does the RED LOOP take on the tour bus if you remain on?

Julia Tour for La Sagrada Familia....where can we purchase the tickets? Cost?

At the Placa Catalunya is there an English speaking tourist info desk where we can learn which metro/or bus to take to specific areas of the city?

MaineGG

I really don't remember how long it took to do the Red route, but you can contact them for more info here:

http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/en/contacte

Info here about Tourist Office location:

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.c...st-office.html

MyriamC

The red route is 2 hours. The blue route 1 hr 40 min.

MyriamC

There's a fast aérobus that runs from the airport (from both terminal 1 and terminal 2) to three stops in the city centre. Plaça Catalunya is the terminus (Plaça d'Espanya is another stop). It costs 5.95 per person one-way and buses run every 10 mins. during the daytime hours. Every 20 mins. at night, and this 24/7. Very convenient if your hotel is in the centre of town.

BigRuss

<<Can we purchase the T -10 ticket at the airport and use this ticket for the bus that takes us to the hotel/ Placa Catalunya area? >>

No. Airport bus shuttles are not on the usual metro ticketing scheme in any major city. Barcelona is no different.

IrraGimeno

Barcelona has a great network of public transport (tram, metro, railway, buses) and it's a relatively small city, which means you can get anywhere in a short amount of time. It's also a very pedestrian/bike friendly city, so walking or cycling is a great option. If you want to use public transport, get a T10 ticket, much cheaper than buying tickets per journey.

RM67

We used the HoHo on our first day in Barcelona - it gives you a good general sense of orientation around the city, how far apart various attractions are and also photo ops for places like La Sagrada Familia from a somewhat different and higher angle. We did not got off - rode the whole loop.

For the rest of the week we walked or used the metro.