Barcelona Tourist Cards: saving time and money

How to save money in Barcelona? Many tourists ask this question when coming to the fantastic city, which beckons with various museums and sightseeing programmes. You want to see everything everywhere, but museum tickets are usually expensive. The answer is simple: choose and order one of the Barcelona Cards and make the most of it!

You will be surprised, but there are several City Cards in Barcelona. They all have a similar principle of operation but differ in the list of included services. By purchasing one of the Barcelona tourist discount cards, you get significant discounts on visits to popular museums and attractions, exhibitions, organised sightseeing programmes, free public transport, and transfer services.

Depending on the card type, the services and entry tickets can be provided either completely free of charge or at a discount. Reviews about Barcelona tourist cards show that such cards are advantageous to buy if you plan to get to know the city better.

Barcelona has taken care of its tourists, so the numerous card options will maximise savings depending on what you plan to visit. For example, there are cards designed specifically for art lovers (Art Ticket), archaeology (Arqueo ticket), as well as universal cards (Barcelona Express Card or Barcelona Card). We will explain the benefits of some of these in more detail below.

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• Time saving. With any of our Barcelona discount cards, you get tickets with priority entry: no need to queue.
• Money saving. Cards offer significant discounts on admission tickets to museums, galleries and other attractions. Calculate the estimated transport, access and sightseeing costs, and you will realise that buying a discount travel card is reasonably cost-effective, especially if you are travelling as a family.
• Many travel cards offer free airport transfers or public transport, so you don't have to think about what transport tickets you'll need and where to buy them before each trip.

1. Choose the proper card for you.
2. Book your discount card online from the comfort of your own home.
3. Receive an email with instructions on how to use it. You won't need to exchange it for a plastic card in Barcelona if it's an online card. However, if it is a plastic card, look carefully at where you can pick it up when you arrive in the city.
4. Show your card at the entrance or the ticket desk each time you visit a museum or listed attraction.

Before you start choosing your guest card, read our tips on how to spend time in Barcelona with children. If you come to this city for a few days, our children's itinerary will help you plan and organise your family's leisure time.

Select your Barcelona City Card

Read more about several of the most popular tourist cards for Barcelona; by purchasing them, you will get several advantages and discounts during your stay in the capital of Catalonia. Study the peculiarities of each of them and choose the one that will best help you to organise your sightseeing holiday and save a lot of money at the same time.

It's ideal if you're visiting Barcelona for a couple of days. For a fixed fee with a two-day Barcelona Express Card, you can travel free on public transport and get discounts at museums, cultural venues, entertainment venues, nightclubs, shops, restaurants and much more.

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What's included?

Collcetion points, where you can pick up the Barcelona Express Card:

• Airport, Terminal T1: Barcelona Airport. From Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Saturday and Sunday: from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
• Airport, Terminal T2: Barcelona Airport. From Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Sunday, from 8:30 to 8pm.
• Pl. Catalunya: plaça de Catalunya, 17-basement. Daily from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
• Pl. Catalunya (information booth in front of El Corte Inglés department store. From Monday to Sunday, from 8:30am to 2:30pm.
• Plaça Espanya: plaça Espanya, s/n - Avinguda Maria Cristina. Daily, from 8:30am to 14:30pm.
• Sagrada Familia tourist information booth: Daily, from 8:30am to 14:30pm.
• Mirador de Colom (Columbus Monument): plaça Portal de la Pau, s/n. Daily from 8.30am to 2.30pm. Closed: 1/1 and 25/12.

*Information office opening times may be changed due to circumstances beyond our control.
 

What's included?

• Barcelona City Card includes free entrance tickets to 25 famous museums in Barcelona (see table below; the list is constantly updated).
• Free public transport in Barcelona (buses, trams, trains).
• Free travel does NOT apply to night transport.
• Free train fare from Barcelona airport.
• More than 80 discounts (20-60%) on museums, cultural centres, leisure facilities, nightclubs, shops, restaurants, and sightseeing tours (see table below; the list is constantly updated).

For the youngest travellers between the ages of 4 and 12, the Barcelona Travel Card Kids is available, which gives you all the benefits of the Barcelona Travel Card at the same price as the pass.

Collcetion points, where you can pick up the Barcelona Card:

• Airport, Terminal T1: Barcelona Airport. From Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Saturday and Sunday: from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
• Airport, Terminal T2: Barcelona Airport. From Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Sunday, from 8:30 to 8pm.
• Pl. Catalunya: plaça de Catalunya, 17-basement. Daily from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
• Pl. Catalunya (information booth in front of El Corte Inglés department store. From Monday to Sunday, from 8:30am to 2:30pm.
• Plaça Espanya: plaça Espanya, s/n - Avinguda Maria Cristina. Daily, from 8:30am to 14:30pm.
• Sagrada Familia tourist information booth: Daily, from 8:30am to 14:30pm.
• Mirador de Colom (Columbus Monument): plaça Portal de la Pau, s/n. Daily from 8.30am to 2.30pm. Closed: 1/1 and 25/12
  
  *Information office opening times may be changed due to circumstances beyond our control.

Additional information

•     The price of the Barcelona Tourist Card depends on the number of days you can use it: 72, 96 and 120 hours.
•     Together with the card you receive a booklet with all the discounts.
•     The total amount of discounts and promotions on the card is over €320.
•     When purchased online, the card cost is approximately 15% lower than at the point of sale in the city.
•     The card is valid from the moment of its first activation.

What's included?

• Unlimited metro and bus travel, including Barcelona Metropolitano de Barcelona (TMB).
• Metro and train to/from Barcelona Airport.
• The ticket is not valid for night transport routes.
• Travelling on the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat urban network trains, trams and Renfe suburban trains in zone 1 (including airport trains).

Additional information

• The card is valid for 48h / 72h / 96h / 120h from the moment of activation.
• One Hola BCN! card can only be used by one person. If you are travelling as a family, you must purchase a separate card for each family member.
• The card includes transfers from one transport to another.
• Zone 1 includes the city centre with all of Barcelona's main attractions and some suburbs such as Badalona, Castelldefels, and San Joan Despí.

Collcetion points, where you can pick up the Hola BCN! (Tourist-Infos):

1. Airport, Terminal T1: Barcelona Airport. From Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Saturday and Sunday: from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
2. Airport, Terminal T2: Barcelona Airport. From Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Sunday, from 8:30 to 8pm.
3. Pl. Catalunya: plaça de Catalunya, 17-basement. Daily from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
4. Pl. Catalunya (information booth in front of El Corte Inglés department store. From Monday to Sunday, from 8:30am to 2:30pm.
5. Plaça Espanya: plaça Espanya, s/n - Avinguda Maria Cristina. Daily, from 8:30am to 14:30pm.
6. Sagrada Familia tourist information booth: Daily, from 8:30am to 14:30pm.
7. Mirador de Colom (Columbus Monument): plaça Portal de la Pau, s/n. Daily from 8.30am to 2.30pm. Closed: 1/1 and 25/12.
   
   *Information office opening times may be changed due to circumstances beyond our control.

What's included?

• Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.
• Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Joan Miro Foundation.
• Fundació Antoni Tàpies.
• Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona.
• Picasso Museum Barcelona.

Additional information

• Save 45% on ticket prices.
• Priority admission to the museums.
• The discount card is valid for one year.
• The Articket Barcelona discount card can be picked up at both terminals of Barcelona Airport and several locations in the city centre. More information can be found on your ticket.
• Children under 16 years of age are admitted free of charge.

When looking at all the options for Barcelona travel maps, it is very easy to get lost in the numbers and costs. Our recommendations are as follows. If you are planning a first acquaintance with Barcelona and travelling with children in primary school or toddlers, for whom visiting many museums will be tedious, buying a card may be unprofitable. Purchasing entrance tickets to 1 or 2 museums that interest children is cheaper.

If you have school children travelling with you, consider buying a Barcelona Card. You will be able to visit many exciting museums for free geared towards school-aged children and use public transport for free.

If you plan to visit free attractions, parks, exhibitions and shopping in shopping centres, and you must always use public transport, we recommend purchasing the Hola BCN! card.

Suppose you have purchased the Barcelona Card, Barcelona Express Card or Hola BCN!. In that case, we recommend picking them up at the Tourist Centre when you arrive at Barcelona Airport. In this case, you can already use free transport from the airport to the city.

We wish you great trips to Barcelona and great opportunities offered by the discount cards.