Barcelona getting there
TravelSavvy guide to low cost city breaks in Barcelona
Barcelona is one of Europe's easiest-to-reach cities with a wide range of city break flights and ever-improving rail links, including a new AVE high-speed railway link to Madrid. Barcelona is also one of the major holiday cruise ports of the Mediterrranean.
Barcelona airport is 12km southwest of the city centre and has has three terminals called prosaically A, B and C. Barcelona flights land from most major European airports.
Airlines such as BA and Iberia now use the new Terminal 1. Many budget airlines, including easyJet, Jet2 and Bmibaby, use the older Terminal 2. Both have bus connections to the city and easy rail links.
Ryanair use a number of airports they dub ‘Barcelona’ but some are actually 100km away at Girona and Reus. Their bus service drops passengers off at Estacio Nord.
Trains leave Barcelona airport for the city centre every 30min daily, stopping at Central-Sants (17min), Plaça de Catalunya (23min), Arc de Triomf (26min) and Clot-Aragó (30min) where there are connections to the Barcelona metro.
The Aerobús service runs to Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya via Gran Via every 10 - 15min on weekdays, and every 30min at weekends, taking 15-30min. Taxis go to and from Barcelona airport and cost around €20, with an airport supplement and a charge for each suitcase. Taxi ranks are outside the terminal buildings.
RENFE runs the Spanish rail network, which radiates from Madrid to all major cities including Barcelona. Barcelona rail services also run from the French border along the Mediterranean coast. Seat reservations are required on all intercity trains and supplements are charged on many faster trains, even for passengers holding Interail and Eurail passes.
The excellent AVE (Alta Velocidad) train service network now has a Madrid - Barcelona link taking 3hrs from Madrid. A cheaper alternative, which takes about nine hours with lots of stops, including stations beyond Barcelona, is the ‘Costa Brava’ train.
Estació Central-Sants on Plaça del Països Catalans is the main Barcelona railway station, serving international, national and suburban routes. It has tourist information, hotel rates and left luggage facilities.
Estació de França on Avenida Marqués de l’Argentera also handles many long-distance services, including the Talgo trains from Seville and Malaga. Passeig de Gràcia station, near to Plaça de Catalunya and La Rambla, handles routes from Tarragona, Figueres and Girona.
Direct trains to Barcelona from Paris arrive at the Estacio de Franca north east of the city centre.
Drivers can turn off any of the the various Autopistas on to the Ronda Littoral, on the southern side of Barcelona ring road and look for signs to Port Vell, the main old town exit. Car parks in Barcelona are plentiful but they are expensive. On-road parking in Barcelona is near impossible. A foreign car is no protection from fines or being towed away.
Barcelona port is the second largest Mediterranean cruise port after Athens. Crueurs del Porte de Barcelona run five cruise ship terminals (two at Moll Adossat and two at Moll Barcelona and one at Moll Espanya) and the Autoritat Portuària de Barcelona runs the Port Vell terminal. All Barcelona cruise ship terminals have taxi and shuttle buses to the city centre and they have parking and car hire services.
For ferries from Barcelona to Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, the Estació Marítima Balears or Balearic Maritime Station, is at Moll de Sant Bertran 3 - metro stop Drassanes. A fast ferry service also operates between Barcelona and Palma.
The Camp Nou stadium is Europe's largest
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