the barcelona card

I know it's not a good answer, but you really have to do the math yourself on this one. Add up the entry fees and transportation costs that you are realistically likely to incur and see how that measures up against the card. Don't just go by how many things it pays for, but by how many you could actually do in the available time. For example, the London card is not a good deal since much of what it covers is free anyway. In Chicago, the Chicago card covers what looks like an amazing number of things, but how many can you realistically do in a day? When I hosted a friend from Spain, we considered the card, but decided against it. The admissions we ended up paying were less than the cost of the card, and we physically could not do everything to make the card "worth it". You might be better off with selected admissions and a daily bus pass or something similar.

Ditto Nancy. Each city's card is different, and each person's itinerary is different. You have to figure out what you will actually definitely see and use, then see how the cost of the card compares. For instance, if you're taking a cab from the airport or not arriving at the airport in the first place, the "free airport train" isn't helpful. And Nancy is right about the long lists of "included" attractions that cannot possibly be seen in the time one has. But, if you're seeing a fair number of included sights, and taking a good amount of mass transit, these cards can be great deals. My favorite examples of good value cards are in Scandinavia. For Oslo, the card was $50 for 3 days, but I got $75 of value from it. And in Copenhagen, it covered transit and many attractions not only within the city, but the whole region, so it was a great deal (for me; a friend of mine with a completely different kind of trip found it would be useless for him). On the other side, Rick himself goes to great lengths to point out that the Bergen Card is a worse value every year. And the Budapest Card is not a good deal; a transit pass coupled with buying admissions as you go is much better. I don't know anything about the Barcelona Card, so I can't offer specific advice on it.

This thread is about a year old, but as it ranks quite high in Google, I thought it would be useful to add a quick update: Advantages of the Barcelona Card: Free entrance to most museums Discounts at other attractions Free travel on public transport Disadvantages: The card is personal, cannot be shared The card is only valid for consecutive days (cannot be split) The Picasso Museum is no longer included (as of June 2013) To find out wether it´s worth it, you´d have to do the math. Have a look at the complete list of discounts and compare it with buying seperate tickets. As a rule of thumb: you´d have to pretty intensive sightseeing to make it worth it. The organization EuroTest rated the Barcelona Card 2012 "acceptable". Alternatives to consider: - The T10 transport card allows for 10 trips by public transport within Barcelona. The T10 can be used by multiple people.
- ArTicket Barcelona is a museum card that gives access to 6 museums for 30 euros