Barcelona’s travel cards

Whether your are in Barcelona for a short stay, a long trip, or moving here permanently, one of the first things you’ll want to know is how to get around. If you plan to use public transport, you will be well served by Barcelona’s extensive and well organized integrated transport system.

The best travel cards for short stays in Barcelona

Barcelona’s integrated transport system is operated by TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona) which includes metro, bus, tram and suburban rail services. TMB offers a tourist travel card called Hola BCN!, allowing unlimited travel within TMB zone 1, which is priced as follows:

• 2 days €14
• 3 days €20.50
• 4 days €26.50
• 5 days €32

Photo by TMB Flickr via Visualhunt

You can receive a 10% discount from TMB if you buy your Hola BCN! online. The advantages of this travel card are that it includes travel to and from the airport, on top of giving you an unlimited number of journeys. However, there are cheaper options for a short stay, if you are prepared to keep an eye on how many journeys you take. You can buy a T-10 ticket from any metro or rail station, which gives you 10 journeys within TMB zone 1 for €9.95. Please note that the T-10 does not include travel to and from the airport on metro and rail services, but it does include travel to and from the airport on local bus services (service 46 to Avinguda Paral·lel and the N16 and N17 night buses to Plaça Catalunya). If you find out the bus times in advance, you can get to the center just as quickly as you would traveling by train or metro, and save yourself quite a bit of cash. Another advantage of the T-10 is that it is a multi-person ticket: you can simply validate it for each person making the journey and that number of journeys will be deducted. Children under 4 do not require a ticket, but all other passengers must validate their journeys.

Related Article: Main train stations in Barcelona

Travel cards for longer stays in Barcelona, and for Barcelona residents

If you are staying in Barcelona for a month or more, there are a variety of travel cards available. You can choose a ticket offering a set number of journeys , or unlimited journeys over a set period. There are also tickets for families, senior citizens, and young people. The main ticket types are detailed below:

T-10, T-50/30 and T-70/30

As explained above, the T-10 is an individual or multi-person ticket that allows a total of 10 journeys for €9.95. If you make frequent use of the integrated transport system, a better value option might be the T-50/30, which costs €42.50 and allows you to make up to 50 journeys within 30 days from the date the ticket is first validated. This ticket is for individual use only and includes travel to and from the airport by rail and metro. If you always travel in a group, then the T-70/30 might be a better option. Costing €59.50, this ticket allows up to 70 journeys within a 30-day period from the date of validation. This is a multi-person ticket which can be validated more than once in a single journey.

T-Mes

Photo by transitpeople via Visualhunt

The T-Mes card allows unlimited journeys within a specified fare zone for a period of one month from the date of validation. It can only be used by the person who buys the ticket and therefore must be validated by passport number or DNI/NIE at the time of purchase. The T-Mes is available from all train and metro stations and costs €52.75 for travel within zone 1.

Special fare travel cards

Children under 15 who are residents of Barcelona can travel for free with a T-12 card. The T-Jove card offers unlimited journeys to people aged under 25 within a 90 day period for €105. There is also a reduced rate T-Mes FM/FN for large and single-parent families, and concessions can buy a T-4 card which offers 10 journeys for €3.90.

Related article: Taking a Taxi in Barcelona

Now you have your transport arrangements in place, visit ShBarcelona for all your accommodation needs, whatever the length of your stay in Barcelona.