Hi,
We are spending 2 days and a half in Barcelona the 2nd week of May. Should we book our tickets for the the hop-on hop-off bus + access to Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia on line now? Is there any site that you would recommend us to buy the tickets from?
Also, what would be the best and cheapest way to stay connected in Europe with our cell phone (we are from Canada)?
Thank you for your advice!
Barcelona has an excellent public-transportation system that will you get you around more efficiently than the HO/HO buses. I observed an incredible line of people at Placa Catalunya in 2016. They were waiting for the next HO/HO bus, but it was obvious them weren't all going to fit on it.
The city has become even more popular since my visit less than three years ago, so I'm not comfortable predicting how early the most popular sights may sell out for the period of your visit, just that they will have terrible, very time-consuming lines you will want to avoid. These are the sights that were problems in 2016: La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila/La Pedrera, Picasso Museum (which is usually packed like a!sardine can once you get inside) and the Palau de La Musica Catalana. The situation at the Palau wasn't as difficult as at the other five, and I believe it is no longer mandatory to take a tour. Snagging a spot on an English-language tour used to be the main problem.
Always buy your tickets at the official websites. Doing otherwise is likely to cost you extra money.
I think now would be a good time to book your tickets for the Monumental Zone of Park Guell and Sagrada Familia, since you're just about a month away from your trip, to get the days and times that you want.
In addition to acraven's good advice about transportation, taxis in Barcelona are said to be a good deal - I think even the RS guides mention this. We used cabs a few times and never felt ripped off.
We did get on a HO/HO at one point in our visit, but the cost was so outrageous, we immediately changed our minds. Unfortunately, the bus had already started moving and we had to ride the bus until the next stop - which was near nothing remotely touristic. Luckily, we didn't have to walk very far to flag down a cab.
With T-Mobile, we were able to stay connected in Spain with no additional charges.
Buy your tickets as soon as they are available as Barcelona is crowded year round. I personally find the public transportation and walking a better deal than the HIHO bus. Get a T10 ticket and share it. We also found using google maps a good way to find city bus routes. The buses and Metro are wonderful and pretty user friendly.
Thank you all for your replies!
It's been a long time since I've traveled to Europe. I'm anxious reading about all the scams, thefts.... and planning for the trip. This forum has helped me a lot.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)
I am normally a proponent of the Hop On Hop Off buses because I like to see cities from the road and listen to the little tidbits about the city on my last day somewhere. They’re a different experience from public transportation and generally a less stressful way of getting around to see all the sights. That being said, I was just in Barcelona and used the HOHO bus (touristic bus, not the red one) and was extremely disappointed- the return on investment was really low, the tickets were expensive and there was more music than fun or informative tidbits on the audio as you went around the city. My family and I were all really disappointed and half of us took naps on the bus.
Just a note - we chose the touristic bus (blue/purple bus with mosaic on the side) because they appeared to run far more regular than the red ones. It’s possible that the red one offers a better experience.
