Is Barcelona Card Worth It?
A BARCELONA CITY PASSES COMPARISON
My clients often ask me if it’s worth it to get a Barcelona pass to get discounts for their sightseeing. I always answer that while some of them have quite tempting offers, they aren’t cheap and you totally need to carefully plan which of their discounted sites are you going to visit, otherwise you end up wasting your money on discounts that don’t really cover the cost of the day pass.
This is why decided to analyze for you the best Barcelona city passes, to help you deciding which one is the right choice for you (or if instead, they are not such a good deal for your plans).
These are our Barcelona city pass reviews:
1
Barcelona Card
Then you’ll be using for sure the discounts for la Pedrera. With one more of their free entrance museums (I’d recommend either the Miró Foundation or the MNAC) and dinner at one of their restaurants with 20% discount, you’ll have covered the cost of the 2-day card. That’s without counting that you get free unlimited use of the city’s public transportation.
The downside? It doesn’t include the Picasso Museum, and if you are a foodie, the restaurant options aren’t specially memorable. For each extra day you need to plan using it at least 2 o 3 times / extra day. There’s also an Express Card for less than half the cost that might be easier to compensate – but it’ll still require some planning to be worth it, and a Barcelona Card Family perfect if you are planning a very kid-friendly vacation (attention: it’s not a group card: you still need a card per person).
2
Articket BCN
3
Barcelona Tourist Buses
4
Arqueo Ticket
5
Modernism Barcelona Card
The downside: it’s high cost. You need to plan visiting at least 7 sites to cover the cost of the pass, so unless all your vacation has been planned revolving architecture, this card won’t work for you.
AND BONUS! Are you considering buying a subway day pass?
6
What about Subway Day Passes?
Definitely not. Barcelona is a very walkable city and the number of rides you are likely to need from site to site are relatively limited if you plan your day sightseeing with a minimum of common sense. A one-day Barcelona transportation card (T-Dia) costs around the price of 4 single tickets, but you can only use it one day.
Depending on how many people are in your party and how central is your hotel, I suggest you consider either one T-Casual per person (10 rides, not shareable) or one single T-Familiar for the entire group (8 rides, shareable) and keep buying more as you use them up. Same goes for Multiple Day Passes (called “Hola BCN“).
What Barcelona city pass did you decide to buy?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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