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Please help with Barcelona bus routes

Posted by (Atlanta, GA) on

I am so confused. OK, so I want to get from the Four Points Sheraton Diagonal to the Sagrada Familia. On the www.tmb.cat website it advises me to take the "BCTE - Barcelona City Tour - Ruta Est (Verda)" bus - what the heck is this? Is this this hop-on, hop-off bus that costs like 27 Euro pp? If so, I don't want it, and also, why is this appearing on the public transit website? Then, when I go to Google Maps and plug in the same route, it recommends the blue N7 route, which starts at "Diagonal - Rambla del Poblenou and ends at Marina - Av. Diagonal Service run by TUSGSAL" - but I can't find any mention of an N7 route on the tmb.cat website.

So...are these separate, but competing systems? What is the best way to get from that side of town (near the Glories metro stop) to Sagrada Familia? Why does Barcelona have to be so confusing!? Gah! Thanks for help!

Posted by
2026 posts

I believe the Barcelona transit website shows all public transit options including the HiHo bus BCTE. If you wanted to take a bus, it look like you would take the No. 7 bus to Gran Via and walk up to Sagrada Familia(20 mins). However, another option and one that's only 10 mins slower is to walk(30 min). Barcelona is such a beautiful and interesting city that as long as no one is disabled or has health issues and it's not blazing hot, I would and have walked that far.

The N7 simply refers to a Night Bus along the same route. You are lucky as you are walking through L'Eixample which was laid out in a grid pattern so it's hard not to get completely lost.

Posted by
23615 posts

This is type of question I ask the hotel desk after I arrive or go to the local TI and get a bus schedule. Barcelona is actually one of the better laid out cities and once there I don't think you will find it very confusing.

Posted by
1131 posts

Thanks, guys - I think the problem was I was searching in the evening in the US, which would be the middle of the night in Spain, and thus the website was not showing me all the options. When I repeated it this am I saw everything. Thanks for the tip about taxis - it does look like a taxi would be easier/same price to use than a bus/metro since there are 4 of us.

Posted by
11294 posts

Barcelona mass transit is not confusing once you're there. But I agree that with four people, taxis will make a lot of sense for many of your trips (as a solo traveler, for me they would be a splurge). Taxis cruise all over Barcelona - just hail one when you need one.

Posted by
7175 posts

Tram along Diagonal from Pere IV to Glories then a pleasant 15 minute walk to Sagrada Familia.

Posted by
1 posts

The BCTE buses are driving me crazy on Google Maps - the mobile version regularly recommends those as the "Best Route" and it's hard to get it to recommend alternatives.
What makes it even more confusing initially is that BCTE is not used on the bus facades or bus stops - they refer to the standard name HopOn-HopOff.

We spent an annoying few minutes today looking for the "BCTE stop" and realising eventually it must be the HoHo bus, then confirming by googling the term BCTE.

One tip that might help - use the Options button to prioritise Light Rail/Tram and you will get alternatives that don't include BCTE (or take the subway, again with the options).

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