Transportation from Barcelona Airport to Plaza Cataluna
 

I'm going to Barcelona in Oct. and was wondering what the best transportation from the airport to our apartment, that is close to Plaza Catalunya, is. Are cabs expensive in Barcelona? I've read about the "Blue Bus" but I'm afraid after spending 11 hours on a plane I won't have the energy to try to get a suitcase on a bus! Also does anyone know how to book a concert or show at the Palau de Musica? And, one last question, is it necessary to book tickets in advance to visit the museum at CampNou? Thank you.

Cabs aren't inordinately expensive for a city, no, nothing unusual. Personally, if you are going right to Placa Catalunya I would definitely take the airport bus as it is efficient and cheap and goes right there. I've never heard it called Blue Bus, it's called Aerobus. But if you just want to rent a cab, fine, shouldn't be a problem, may be around 30 euro, I suppose. If your apt is a ways away from placa Catalunya, that wold probably be a good idea.

You can buy tickets right on their own website (Palau de Musica). It has a section for tickets and you can get the site in English. http://www.palaumusica.cat/en/genera...rmation_180114
click on programme

This website gives excellent information about most anything in Barcelona, and it recommends you buy those tickets 4-7 days in advance, but you don't have to if you mean is it possible to buy on-site.
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.c...a-fc-tour.html

To add to what Christina has already said, the airport buses also have undercarriage luggage compartments, so unless they were already full, you wouldn't have to try to get your suitcase on the bus. Here's some info:
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.c...s-aerobus.html

BTW, consider taking a tour of the Palua de Musica, whether you go there for a concern or not.

Thank you Christina, lots of good information! Appreciate your help.

We were posting at the same time!

I arrived very early in rhe morning on an overnight flight. I took the bus and I couldnt believe how safe, efficent and easy it was to get into the center of town.

If you look at http://www.worldtaximeter.com/ you can calculate the fare for a taxi from the airport to your destination.

Regarding the Palua de Musica - I second the idea for doing a tour; the decorations in interior of the building are absolutely fabulous. There's no way you could see all the detail and hear about the meanings, whether you were seated upstairs or downstairs for a performance.

At the conclusion of our tour we were offered a pass for discount tickets for a performance. Unfortunately we were leaving Barcelona, and unable to take up this offer. We were there in October, and there would have been plenty of performances to choose from.

I've just checked their website http://www.palaumusica.cat/en and they now offer a tour plus mini concert . . . maybe the best of both worlds! Di

You don't need to book for a tour of the Camp Nou, just turn up. Do make sure that it's not a match day though. The cost to take the tour if I remember is an adult ticket costing €23 and discounts for under 16's and over 70's.

You should book for the Palau, as I've seen people being disappointed when they just turned up there. It's a stunning building and the acoustics are excellent if you can fit in a concert.

Take a cab in from the airport, it's less hassle and at around €25-30 it's well worth it.

I'm one of those who prefers public transport over taxi, unless the public transport option is cumbersome. In this case, the airport bus to Placa Catalunya couldn't be easier. Follow the signs, and the buses pull up almost continuously. I was having a jet-lagged hard time trying to use the ticket machine and someone told me I could just pay the driver. Simple.

Since OP uses "we", I assume there are at least two people involved.
In that case, the difference between costs for a cab (25-30, as rubicund wrote) and for the bus (11.20 for two people, one-way) is not that much for a seamless door-to-door private transport.

Thank you all for your information. I will definitely book something for the Palau de Musica, I have done the tour before and thought the building was magnificent so very excited to see a concert there.

I completely understand. I choose shuttles over buses. I went to Barcelona solo last July. I was very happy with AeroCity shuttle. There is a bit of a walk to get to them within the airport. I was impressed by the professionalism of the driver particularly. I reserved through Viator and was assigned AeroCity. Here is the AeroCity website address.

http://www.aerocity.com/en/

The airport express bus doesn't have steps (or under carriage baggage storage). The floor of the bus is at curb level and you just roll your suitcase right onto the bus. There is a small gap between the curb and bus floor but a quick pull up on your luggage will clear the gap. Same is true of the airport express bus in Madrid which I have taken. Please scroll down in the link that Kja provided to see the info and photos.

OMG, I honestly thought I remembered stowing my luggage in an undercarriage compartment! I'm glad that I at least provided the correct link... Thanks, joannyc!

Lol, kja!!! No problem! The bus from Madrid Airport to Burgos has the under carriage luggage storage. Maybe that is the bus you were thinking of?

So, what great place did you or are you going to this year?

@ joannyc: Maybe I was just remembering that I didn't need to heft my luggage up stairs on the bus. :-) No decision about my next trip yet -- how about you? (BTW: My last trip included two dawns, but no mimosas, as wine of any sort is not readily available in Java. I thought of you, though!)

@kja: I guess Java will not make it onto my bucket list! LOL!!! I bet it was a terrific trip though!

I leave on Monday for 32 days in eastern France with a couple of nights in Frankfurt before I fly home.

@ joannyc: Yes, Java (and Singapore and Bali) were terrific, and I actually filed a ridiculously long and detailed TR. You know how to find it! (Of course, with my advance warning, you would know to pack some splits... :-) Oh, if only I had thought of it!) I know you're going to love your next adventure, and then later, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy following in your footsteps, with the benefit of your advice. Bon voyage!!!

@ tuki92: Sorry for the digression!

@tuki92: I, too, add my apologies for digressing from your topic!

@kja: that sounds like such a marvelous trip you made! Looking forward to having some time to read your TR!!! This week is a bit hectic getting ready/cleaning the house and floors/doing all those pesky little tasks you need to do before leaving for a big trip. Thanks so very much for your compliment! I hope my pics live up to it! My best to you!

@ joannyc: Oh, how I know those moments! I've never managed to leave for a trip without serious loss of sleep. Good luck!