2 full days in Barcelona - worth it to buy a pass?

Hi Laurie

1.) Yes, and at once, especially if you plan to arrive in the middle of summer

2.) Why not? the difference between hoho and public transportation is that hoho allows you to pass through many sights without worrying about changing lines or having to transfer to other transportation means. On the downside, the hoho is pretty full in summer -albeit the line is reinforced with many buses- and that it cost ~30€ p.p. for a day pass. In any case, it's not a must, you can go everywhere with the excellent network of bus/metro/tramway... it's cheap, reliable, safe, clean and convenient. Know as well that all vehicles have A/C, which is very welcome in the hot Barcelona summer (note I said the vehicles... the tracks at the metro stations, for obvious reasons, do not... and sometimes can be as hot as an oven!)

3.) You have the T-10, which allows you 10 journeys for 10€. More info: http://bit.ly/bcn-t10

4.) You'll probably discover you're a bit deaf if you try to play it by ear, LOL! Barcelona is a very popular destination, and it's busy all year long, but especially from Jun to Oct, so going with the flow might prevent you visiting lots of places as many run on time-slots (like Sagrada Familia) and you might find yourself the next empty one is not even on the same day you want to visit. Note as well that tourists are just one of the "actors"... you have plenty of business visitors -using the same transport network, eating out, and visiting some sites as well in their free time; also lots of interior tourism and lastly, but probably the most important: locals going out, on holiday, on weekends, etc... we also visit our own city, our museums, sites, etc. In short, expect lots of people so be prepared. But again, if you've visited Paris or London before you know what I mean, right?

Enjoy!

The day I arrived in Barcelona (August 1, 2016), the line for the HO/HO bus at Placa Catalunya was monumentally long--maybe as many as 200 people. It looked like a very bad idea at that point.

Winging it doesn't work well in Barcelona if you want to go inside the modernista sights. The following pretty much require pre-purchased (usually timed) tickets, else you may spend an hour or more in each ticket line, and possibly come up empty-handed:

La Sagrada Familia
Parc Guell
Casa Mila/La Pedrera
Casa Batllo
Picasso Museum (which is likely to be a madhouse even once you get inside)
Palau de la Musica Catalana (requires a tour)
Camp Nou Soccer Experience (sells out early)

Barcelona has many other museums that you can usually just walk into, though I think you might end up in line for a few minutes at the MNAC or the Miro. A great sight that has so far allowed walk-up entry is the Sant Pau Recinte Modernista site.

A walking tour of the Barri Gotic is also recommended. I liked the one offered by the tourist office.

To visit the Basilica de la Sagrada Famíla, you have to buy tickets in advance for specific time slots? It's that regimented that you need to specify a time slot in advance even if you're traveling in early November?

Yes Continental, and there are a bunch of sites that work like that.

I've discovered that they are only selling tickets through the end of June right now on the official Sagrada Familia site. I'll keep a close eye...but I have another question!

How old are "seniors" in Barcelona, or Spain in general? I can't find an age listed anywhere on the SF site, and the tickets are definitely less for seniors. While I don't think I'm quite a senior yet...I did receive the AARP invite a while back. :-)

Enric, can you please enlighten me?

Gracias!
Laurie

Thanks for the update, Enric. I'm thinking a long way away but I'm toying with the idea of going to Barcelona in November 2019. I have a friends out there and I never thought to ask if it were necessary to buy a ticket to the Basilica in advance and at a specific planned time in November.

You will see more by NOT purchasing a pass, and NOT taking a HOHO. If you are staying centrally, and have only 2.5 days, then you will most likely walk to most sights of interest. Buy a T-10 metro ticket to access Sagrada Familia and Park Guell.

Arrival Afternoon
•Eixample - Passeig de Gracia, Casa Mila & Casa Batllo

First Full Day
•Sagrada Familia (BOOK a first up visit)
•Hospital Sant Pau
•Park Guell (BOOK a late visit)

Second Full Day
•Palau de la Musica Catalana (BOOK a first up visit)
•Las Ramblas - La Boqueria, Placa Real
•Bari Gotico - Cathedral
•El Born - Basilica Santa Maria del Mar

David, we came to the same conclusion this afternoon, after all of these consideration! Thank you for your ideas about how we can spend the time in Barcelona. With so many options, it really helps to see how others might prioritize in a short time frame.

Acraven, hearing you mention the queue of 200 waiting to board the hoho bus was enough to cinch that decision. No thank you. In our second trip to Paris, we discovered the joys of riding the buses aboveground, instead of the Metro, because we could see more. Glad to know about the T10 tickets - that will be a good choice for us.

It looks like the Sagrada Familia tickets are available 60 days in advance, so I'll be watching the site as we get closer to our dates! So exciting!

Thanks again,
Laurie

Hi Laurie
"Seniors" are normally people over 65 (the old retirement age, which now is 67), however, this doesn't automatically qualify you for some discounts for seniors since these are aimed to resident seniors, those living here -and require the presentation of a special card, named "pink card" (targeta rosa). You should check the relevant website to see if it mentions that. If not, assume it's talking about "anyone over 65". Period. In that case, just bring any document with your picture and your date of birth -not necessarily the passport!- and claim your discount. Note this applies here in Catalonia and its capital Barcelona, in other autonomous communities (sort of "states") in Spain that might differ.

As per hohos, while in some stops you can indeed find lots of people waiting, note that frequency is every 5-10' in the high of summer, thus, even with 200 people, it's a matter of a "few" minutes to be able to board one -well, a few minutes can be waiting for your third bus :). Still, I'm with you, I also prefer to take regular buses whenever I travel to another city.

In order to see the routes, you have several options: (1) check the Metropolitan Transport Authority website (TMB), (2) its journey planner, (3) download its app or -for me the easiest!- just check the map on the back any bus shelter in the city. Note not all stops have a shelter, but there are plenty. Here an example of a shelter (although this is a mockup, so there's no actual map). Also, if you're curious, you can browse the article and understand a bit how the bus network works in this city,

Hi @Continental

The SF is visited by 4.5 million people every year. An average of 13000 people visit the church every day of the year -and yet it's estimated that only 2 out of 10 that go to the site actually enters it so there are lots of people outside taking pictures of its façades. Just throwing these figures to make everybody realize why many sites in the city have instated this time-slot system.

If you're travelling in November, just drop by the SF website a few days before your intended visit -say a week or two- and you are very likely to find a ticket. If your visit was anywhere between Jun and Oct I'd say do so at least a month in advance.

Yes, with only 2 full days, you do need to prioritise. I think, if you can, it’s good to include Palau de la Musica Catalana and the Hospital Sant Pau as it gives another Modernist perspective and some contrast to Gaudi.

Thank you! I really appreciate the insights shared here. Now if the Sagrada Familia website would just stop crashing tonight, I'd be set! I wonder if they are getting ready to add July - or have just done so and lots of people are ordering?

Laurie

We were in Barcelona last week. Park Güell is having some renovations done so the upper plaza is half closed. Lovely views from up there but it's pretty crowded because of the renovation. If you are heat sensitive I would definitely go in the early evening (as of last week it was light until 9pm). If you go via Metro it's a 15-20 minute walk uphill and the same down. We went from Sagrada Familia to Park Güell and sprung for the 5 Euro taxi ride. Thought it was totally worth it.

We did the Rick recommended Barcelona Taste tapa tour and LOVED it!

Thanks! I wondered about those tapas tours. I thought it might be a good intro to the Barcelona food scene - and maybe a good thing to do with 5 of us.

We are hoping to get an early morning time for the Sagrada Familia visit...what is a good interval of time before trying to choose a Park Guell time that same day? It's all coming together!

:-)
Laurie

Laurie - I highly recommend that you allow enough time between the SF and Park Guell to take the 10 minute walk to Saint Pau and spend some time there. If you are at all in to Modernisme, you should really enjoy it. I actually liked Saint Pau better than anything else in Barcelona, except the Palace of Catalan Music.

Tickets for Sagrada Familia tour purchased!! Woo Hoo!!

Thanks for all of the great advice. I am excited about this trip as everything is coming together.

Laurie

That's the feeling we want you to have, and the words we want to hear. Enjoy Laurie.