Taking public bus from Barcelona airport to hotel

[joshalow]

Just wondering whether taking the public bus/transportation from the airport into the city to our hotel will be easy, or whether we should take a taxi. There are 6 of us in our group.

[scottbee]

Just wondering whether taking the public bus/transportation from the airport into the city to our hotel will be easy, or whether we should take a taxi. There are 6 of us in our group.

 

Where is your hotel? That will make a huge difference in answering this question.

[4774Papa]

Just wondering whether taking the public bus/transportation from the airport into the city to our hotel will be easy, or whether we should take a taxi. There are 6 of us in our group.

Not sure about public transport, but we used Barcelona Day Tours for a car service.

Cost from the port to airport was 79 euros (total).

www.BarcelonaDayTours.com

[Hlitner]

Not sure about public transport, but we used Barcelona Day Tours for a car service.

Cost from the port to airport was 79 euros (total).

www.BarcelonaDayTours.com

 

WOW! So we are wondering why you would pay 79 Euros for a car service when you could have simply grabbed a taxi for about 30 Euros? Taxis are plentiful at BCN and right outside the door.

 

Hank

Edited March 8, 2014 by Hlitner

[4774Papa]

WOW! So we are wondering why you would pay 79 Euros for a car service when you could have simply grabbed a taxi for about 30 Euros? Taxis are plentiful at BCN and right outside the door.

 

Hank

We had six persons with luggage. One taxi will only handle two persons, with luggage. Perhaps you can get three in a taxi, but not necessarily.

Also, a car service (particularly from the port) means you don't have to wait in the taxi stand, which takes a while.

 

I don't remember the taxi line at the airport being that long. I offered the car service as an example of what you could pay per person. Six divided by 79 equals a little over 13 euros per person. Trying to take cumbersome public transport, will not save you that much and be far more of a hassle than door to door service.

[pris993]

We always do a taxi from the port or airport to and from a cruise. Taxis are small - can handle 2 passengers and reasonable amount of luggage only. But we are seniors and don't want to deal with luggage on a bus.

 

There is an airporter bus to the city center from the airport -- really depends on how much luggage you have whether this is an option and whether this is near your hotel.

 

Taxis are reasonable in Barcelona.

 

Do suggest you write the name of the hotel and address on a card to give to the taxi driver. Have found they don't always understand English speaking passengers giving them directions.

[joshalow]

Where is your hotel? That will make a huge difference in answering this question.

 

We are staying in Cuitat Vella area, near Passeig de Colom and Passeig de Picasso.

 

I had read about the airport busses, and was wondering if it'd be easy enough.

[scottbee]

We are staying in Cuitat Vella area, near Passeig de Colom and Passeig de Picasso.

 

I had read about the airport busses, and was wondering if it'd be easy enough.

 

Well, the answer is, "take the train". You can grab the airport train into town get off at Passaig De Gracia, then switch to the train to Franca Station -which is at the corner Passeig de Colom and Passeig de Picasso...

 

There used to be a direct train, but I believe the change is easy enough as it's even the same platform.

[4774Papa]

Well, the answer is, "take the train". You can grab the airport train into town get off at Passaig De Gracia, then switch to the train to Franca Station -which is at the corner Passeig de Colom and Passeig de Picasso...

 

There used to be a direct train, but I believe the change is easy enough as it's even the same platform.

What is the cost of the train and is it easy with luggage?

[RollieUK]

What is the cost of the train and is it easy with luggage?

 

The train is €4.10 per person or you could buy a T10 ticket (10 journeys on train/bus/metro) for €10.30

 

If you have just one bag each and you can wheel it the train is not too bad. Any more than that I would recommend getting a taxi.

[joshalow]

Well, the answer is, "take the train". You can grab the airport train into town get off at Passaig De Gracia, then switch to the train to Franca Station -which is at the corner Passeig de Colom and Passeig de Picasso...

 

There used to be a direct train, but I believe the change is easy enough as it's even the same platform.

Thank you! I'll have to share this with the others in my group. It sounds do-able!

[Milhouse]

We are staying in Cuitat Vella area, near Passeig de Colom and Passeig de Picasso.

 

I had read about the airport busses, and was wondering if it'd be easy enough.

 

We (four of us with one luggage and one carry-on each) took the Aerobus into town for about 5.90E per person so the savings were a bit of a wash for us compared to taking a taxi and getting door to door service. The buses stop at pl Catalunya (which is close to the north end of La Ramblas) so if your hotel isn't close by, it won't be as convenient since you may have to hoof it a bit or transfer to another bus/metro. (And I don't think your hotel is close by.)

 

On the way back to the airport, we took a taxi. We found that to be a bit of a tight squeeze for the four of us; partly due of the fact we just took the next taxi in the rank which was a compact.

[4774Papa]

Frankly, after flying transatlantic, the last think that I want to do is take public transportation.

[Hlitner]

Ok, we better touch on another topic related to taking your own luggage. Unfortunately, Barcelona is the home of many gypsies (and other dishonest folks) who make a very nice living picking pockets, snatching purses, and taking luggage that does not belong to them! My point is that if you take the train, make sure you do no leave your luggage out of your reach (or grip) at any time! If you do, you might not have to worry about wheeling your luggage to your hotel...because you will not longer have any luggage!

 

Hank

[scottbee]

Frankly, after flying transatlantic, the last think that I want to do is take public transportation.

 

Funnily it's completely the other way around for me. The last thing I want to do after a long flight is argue with a taxi driver that's trying to long haul me. Public Transportation gives me a nice simple guarantee no fuss, no muss.

[joshalow]

After reading a few more posts, I am starting to wonder whether we should arrange for a transfer. Any suggestions?

 

We have a couple of seniors traveling with us, and each of us would have our own carry on, at least, to haul around.

 

We'll be in Paris, and London before arriving in Barcelona, and had planned on using public transportation in both of those cities, because they seem easy enough to do.

[4774Papa]

I a suggestion that may help in Paris. CDG airport and for that matter Orly Airport have buses that go into the city at key points.

 

http://francetravelplanner.com/go/paris/trans/air/af_bus_cdg.html

 

This service is not expensive, and taxis from CDG into the city are very, very expensive.

Once you are into the city at one of these key points, you can take a taxi to your hotel at a much cheaper cost.

 

Another possibility is to take the RER from CDG into the city, which connects to the METRO. OF course you have to lug your suitcases, but it is cheaper as well. I think the RER goes to the Paris East train station.

 

London is another, matter, and we rented a car there, so I cannot address the options.

 

Barcelona's airport is relatively close to the center of the city compared to the much larger cites of London or particularly Paris. Therefore, taxis are way more expensive at those two cities.

 

I hope that helps.

[Milhouse]

Generally speaking, I don't mind taking public transportation from the airport into town. However where it starts getting a bit more of a pain in the rear is if/when you have to then transfer to a metro line to get to your hotel; particularly if it's rush hour. Barcelona was ok us because it got us to about three or four blocks away from our hotel from pl Catalunya .

We've also done a taxi once in town a couple of times (not Barcelona) but we've also encountered situations where it was pretty painful explaining where the hotel was.

 

We've taken the Gatwick express to Victoria station and RER into Châtelet les Halles. Gatwick express was pretty easy and Victoria station is a hub so it was pretty easy to transfer apart from there being so many people. And we generally stay at this hole in the wall in the 1st in Paris so we generally don't have to transfer. The problem with rolling your luggage in London and Paris is that you may encounter challenges with the sidewalks (eg. narrow, cobblestone, etc)

 

The metro's in both London and Paris, IMO, are very easy to use and get you pretty much everywhere. But of course, if you are flying it and connecting to the metro, you have to be prepped in how to buy metro tix.

[joshalow]

Our hotel in London is within walking distance of Paddington Station, so we're taking the Connect. We would have taken the Express, but it's double the price of even an airport transfer. We're arriving at Gare D'Nord in Paris (taking Eurostar over from London) but have to get over to the other side of the city. Thinking of the RER but have to look at it more carefully. I think we may take a transfer in Barcelona instead of the public transportation because it'll be much easier than having to change trains, etc.