Preparing your wonderful trip to Barcelona. Today: transportation to get there and hotels to rest.
Luggage, tickets and looking forward to get to your destination: Barcelona! But how to organize a trip to Barcelona?
Once you are here, the Barcelonina guide team will make things easy you; Besides, we also want to advise you on all the details for your own organization. Little by little we will offer you tips, recommendations and the keys to make your trip to Barcelona a success from the very beginning up to the end.
Transport to Barcelona
Let’s start from the beginning: what means of transport have you chosen to get to Barcelona? Do you come by plane, train, boat, own car …?
By Train
You will arrive to the Sants Station where you will find, without problem, metro, taxis and buses as well as a car rental agencies. Another railway point in Barcelona is Estación de Francia ( Old, but pretty, very close to Barceloneta and the Born district) but has a reduced traffic and currently only receives national routes.
We attach the link a renfe, the state railway company.
By Plane
Although we have some secondary airports as Girona or Reus, it is sure that if you travel to Barcelona by plane you will arrive at El Prat international airport.When you are organizing a trip to Barcelona you must take into account the way to get to the city center. It is about 12 kilometers from the airport so we will need to go on wheels.
A taxi to Plaza Catalunya is the most common and the cost is about 30€. The bus service Aerobús allows you to do the same journey in about 35 minutes with a ticket 5.90€. Its output frequency is high so it is a good choice.
Another option is to use Renfe and its service of Rodalies (Aeroport – Maçanet-Massanes / Sant Celoni), which in a journey of only three stations and approximately 20 minutes will bring us to the Sants Station for 4.10€.
The novelty in Barcelona’s transport network to reach the city center from the airport is line 9 of the Metro which takes you to central areas of the capital.
By Bus
Looking for the cheapest way to travel to Barcelona, the bus is an interesting alternative. From anywhere in Spain and, of course, in Europe, you can reach Barcelona by coach.
The best-known peninsular company is Alsa. Normally all services of this type are concentrated in the Estación del Norte, very close to the center and with the possibility of linking with the metro network.
Barcelona by Car
The private car is perhaps the least envisaged option for foreign tourists. Also the influx of private vehicles has fallen within the national territory, especially since the implementation of the AVE high speed train or the Euromed.
The most common entrances to Barcelona are the Rondas. We do not want to fool you, parking is not easy in the city. A system of parking meters called Blue Zone can solve a brief parking. For the rest: Public or private parking. When organizing a trip to Barcelona take into account the mobile app to find possible places.
Once in Barcelona there is a good transport network that we will talk about on another occasion.
Accommodation in Barcelona
But surely you are tired of the trip, you want to drop the suitcases and give a good shower. We reached the key point when organizing a trip to Barcelona. What criteria do you follow when choosing your accommodation? Do you want to be in the center of all the events of the city? Or do you prefer to be just a few steps from the beach? Is your Trip a 100% cultural visit or you go crazy shopping? Maybe, you want to discover a peaceful and relaxing Barcelona.
In Barcelona the accommodation is varied in both styles and prices, from hostels for young adventurers with backpack to the most luxurious hotels in Europe. Remember that in the official establishments of the guild of Hospitality you will have to pay the tourist tax (between 0.5 € and 2.5 € per night).
Truly for lovers of calm and discretion is the Hotel Primero Primera, a very cozy boutique hotel, located in a residential street in the upper part of Barcelona. If in addition to tranquility we seek luxury and refinement: Abac
And if we already want super-luxury but with total essence Barcelona: La Florida. The views of the city from your terrace will leave you breathless … but you will soon recover it in its spa or in the restaurant.
If you are attracted to the old splendor in hotels of the first half of the 20th century: Palace (former Ritz that has had to be renamed for legal issues but that maintains its chic touch as always) or Majestic of the Eixample area.
Cosmopolitan and centric essence: Cotton House, Mandarin and Meridien.
Am I designing and living supercool? Funny plan, I stay at Casa Camper. Or in Barcelo Raval in the middle of the Rambla and near the Filmoteca and the almost disappeared Barrio Chino.
Close to the beach to not miss a minute of Mediterranean sun, you have a very varied offer. From the Hotel Vela, where you will live the crazy Barcelona nightlife, or apartments of beach type or perhaps something more groundbreaking like the emergent neighborhood of Poble Nou: young people, beach, art galleries, a living piece of the history of Barcelona In which you will find from hostels to a magnificent hotel like SB Diagonal Zero.
Do you want to be in that most central downtown impossible? Two hotels in Plaza Cataluña but with a lot of personality: Olivia Plaza and Pulitzer.
But if what you want is a trip in time and visit the Gothic Barcelona in its historic heart you can not leave the opportunity to stay or at least visit the Hotel Neri or Hotel Mercer.
Finally, we will not enter into the polemic of the rent in webs like airbnb. It is your choice. But what we recommend is not renting “illegal” tourist apartments. Remember that they are not regulated and can not be trusted in price or quality.
Are you been hungry? In other posts, Barcelonina will take you to the places where you can taste all kinds of local gastronomic delights. See you soon!