The Best of Barcelona

Best Public Transit: Part 1: Metros

2009-11-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Barcelona has great public transportation. The Metro is one of the most convenient and timely ways to vip around the city. The following ticket prices will be valid until Dec. 2009.

Metro Tickets
Every station has machines and often attendants to purchase tickets from. The machine have many language options and I highly recommend using them.

Individual Tickets: 1.35 Euros

It buy you a one way trip. Purchase these if you plan on riding the metro once, twice or three times. If you are planing to ride more then three times, I recommend purchasing the T10 (or a discount card, more information on this will be posted later).

T10 ticket (Zone 1): 7.70 Euros

This ticket gets you 10 rides on the Metro, the FGC, the buses, the trams and the RENFE in all Zone 1 areas. This ticket can be shared with other members of your group.

You can buy T10 tickets for any of the zones, but most of the tourist sites and all of the city center are in Zone 1.

T10 tip: Your journey will count only as a single journey if the length of your entire trip is under 1 hour and 15 minutes and you have to use multiple forms of transit. Meaning if you have to take the metro and then a bus to arrive at your destination. When you use your T10 at the metro and then the bus, if its been less then an hour and 15 minutes, that counts as only one journey on your ticket.

Ticket Tips

The metro turnstiles work as follows:

Insert ticket into the front of the machine
The machine marks the back with date and time
Take the ticket from the slot on the top of the machine
The turnstile will unlock and you can pass through

Turnstiles vs Glass sliding doors

Turnstiles: Hold your ticket in the left hand when you put it into the machine and the turnstile to your right will unlock.
Glass Sliding Doors: Enter with the ticket in your right hand and the doors will open on your left.

Care for your ticket

Damage can easily occur and it can become illegible by the machines

The machine will read "Esta Tarjeta no funciona" or
The machine will spit the ticket back out

Damaged tickets can be reissued by an attendant for the remaining number of rides.

Ticket Machines

Most machines take bills, coins and credit card, however, some only take coins so its best to always have coins with you
Often you can choose what language the machine uses. Push the button of the flag that corresponds with your preferred language.

For English its the UK flag (so don't wait time looking for the US stars and stripes

Navigating the Metro
Which way to go...

When entering the metro each line with have two sign written in their respective colors. And each sign will be labeled with the first and last stops of the line. See which direction your stop is and head to the platform that corresponds to the last stop in that direction.

For example lets say we are in the Placa Catalunya Station (aka Cataluna) and we want to go to Placa Espanya (Espanya). We look at our metro map and see that both L1 the red line and L3 the green line go to Espanya, but the red line is more direct. Now the signs in the metro for the red line will be in RED and one sign with say Hospital de Bellvitge and the other Fondo because those are the last stops for each direction. From Catalunya, Espanya is in the direction of Bellvitge, so we will head to the L1 Bellvitge platform.

Main entrances to each station has a large wall map

These can help you plan your journey
Help you enter and exit the station so you end up headed in your desired direction

Take our time. Some stations are very large and can be disorienting. Breath and following the signs. It really very easy when you get the hang out it.

How much time...

Maximum wait for a train about 5 minutes
3-5 minutes between stops
give or take 2 min per stop
10 min for a metro line change
Sundays trains don't run as often so give yourself and extra 10-15 minutes.

When to ride/Hours of Operation (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5 & L11)

Mon-Thurs, Sun & Holidays 5:00-24:00
Friday 5:00-2:00
Saturdays Continuous Service
Dec. 24th 5:00-23:00
****On public holidays and Fiesta days the metro often runs continuously but double check the hours with an attendant or tourist information booth.

Best Barcelona City Maps

2009-11-19T04:46:00.000-08:00

The streets in Barcelona can be tricky. Street numbers are different for house numbers and business number, for example all the apartments could be number 10, 12, 14.... and the business 436, 438, 440... and can often confuse online maps like mapquest and google maps. But this online map is from the crazy BCN government and it is the most reliable.

http://www.bcn.es/guia/welcomea.htm

This website also has some great links. In the right column next to the map there are quick search options to help you find Culture and Leisure locations, Hotels, Markets, Churches and more. Click on these links and get a feel for the great variety Barcelona has to offer.

The map be low is a great close up of the "heart" or city center of Barcelona. It features very nicely the Barri Gotic and el Borne. These are two of the oldest neighborhoods in Barcelona and they are some of the trickiest, and most fun, to navigate.

A1 & A2: el Raval

B1 & B2: Barri Gotic

C1: La Ribera

C2: El Born

C3: Barceloneta: The beach community of Barceloneta is also on the map. This is a fun area to hang out by the beach, have a sangria and if its warm enough, hit the waves or wind surf.
The Port on the Map is Port Velle

Click this link to the map's homepage, where you can download the PDF.

The map below has a great overview of all the major tourist and historical sites around town. This is a map from one of the bus tours you can take, however, Barcelona is a great walking city, so let me encourage you to walk around as much of the city as possible.

Getting Started

2009-11-19T02:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Best of Barcelona.

I've been living in BCN for about 2 1/2 years and I've found some real gems and really wonderful tips on how to live in the city as a foreigner or if you just on a short visit.

Personally the touristy stuff makes me a little sick. And its easy to get confused with Castillano and Catalan as the regions languages. Most people here prefer to speak Catalan, but don't be fooled they do speak Castillano (Spanish).

So if you are planning on living and visiting the city brush up on your Spanish and get ready for a great time.