rent an apartment

in Barcelona

4 June 08

Travel to Barcelona: arrival and departure

When more than 4 people book a Barcelona holiday apartment rental, the cost per person of a nights stay in this town are reduced considerably. This has solved one part of the holiday cost equation, but what about the other major costs.

You could probably identify these as being:

arrival and departure costs,

getting around costs,

accommodation costs,

night life of Barcelona and other entertainment costs,

food costs,

entry costs to tourist highlights in Barcelona such as exhibits, museums shows etc

So, lets start with the first part…arriving and departing Barcelona

Like most other coastal cities, you can arrive and depart by either land, sea or air.

Arriving by land, you would arrive by either car, bus or train.

By car, you would probably find this extremely cost effective for groups of 4 or more. A word of caution when you approach Barcelona’s ring roads though, as they seem to have been designed by town planners who obviously had had too much of the local wine the night before. You will find that at some moments, roads will come into your path from all directions. Just don’t panic…you’re not seeing things. The major costs you will incur here will probably be road tolls and fuel costs, which year on year seem to be soaring at an incredible rate.

When you arrive by sea, you’re pretty much in the centre of Barcelona, very near the bottom of the Ramblas. Most people that arrive this way are usually on some type of Mediterranean cruise, with just a few hours of tourist time until the next port. If you are lucky enough to stay at least a couple of night, you could try to rent an  apartment Barcelona in Poble Sec, which is just up the road from the port.

And finally, the way that a majority of people decide to enter Barcelona, by air. Barcelona is served by 3 airports, 2 of which are primarily operated by low cost airlines (they also happen to be the furthest away in Girona and Reus). These airports are 1hour 15mins, and 1hour 30mins away respectively, and full details and links of the services which operate these services can be found in our Getting Around Barcelona page. They also arrive into Barcelona at 2 different bus terminals. The first to Estacio Nord, and the next at Sants Estacio. For 4 people arriving, the cost of the bus transfers in many instances can come very close to the cost of the low cost flight that was taken to arrive in the first place, and by making that comparison….well lets say that that comparison shouldn’t be made in the first place. Its like comparing apples and oranges. And then there is Barcelona airport itself. Not as large as Madrid’s airport, or many other airports that serve major cities, but still with the volume of travellers arriving, including long queues, screaming kids, drunk / hung-over stag and hen goers it can be a battle. And then there are the quiet days, where you just walk right through…no noise, no interference, no burocrats with a superiority complex, no checking in because you printed your boarding pass online..

Luckily, you can arrive into Barcelona centre with relatively little hassle from the airport by either taxi, bus or train. For groups of 4, taxis are fine, as the total cost of arriving at your destination will not be much more than taking a bus and buying 4 tickets. Remember that many of the taxis do not take more than 4, so a further cost could be incurred if this is your preferred mode of entry. You will see lines of taxis as you exit the airport, and with any luck, you will also not see lines of holiday makers waiting for them. The airport buses are fine, but for groups, probably the more expensive of the options if you take the cost / convenience factor into account. And finally the train. You will see the station sign posted inside the airport. Just cross over the walkway outside the terminal, and you will be there. This is by far the cheapest option,  working out to just under 3€ for 4 people when a T10 travel card is bought. The only downside of course, and there usually is one, is that there are only 2 trains every hour, and if you’ve just missed one…well lets not go there. This train takes you to the centre of Barcelona at Passeig de Gracia metro station, one block from which you will also find two Med Nights apartments: one of the self catering apartments in Barcelona, called Gaudi 1 and the other Barcelona apartment rental aptly called Gaudi 2.

Next month, a few notes about Getting Around Barcelona.