Hop On, Hop Off Bus Recommendation in Barcelona

[sunfan03]

I think there are two HOHO busses in Barcelona that are relatively similar...

 

Red ones - Barcelona City Tour

 

Turquoise Blue - Barcelona Bus Turistic

 

Looking for feedback if you've used either.

 

Was planning on using the red one, but heard from a friend that there are more blue ones that were less crowded. And was reading that the audio on the red busses weren't always working.

 

Our plan is to ride the entire route to get a general overview and then decide if we want to go back to certain places...we have a few days in Barcelona.

[mskaufman]

We used the blue route in early July (peak season) and were happy with the choice. We chose blue based on where we started and an order in which we planned to see things. We got on an early bus and had early Sagrada Fam tickets. Then went to Parc Guell. The bus gave us some rest as we travelled to Mont Juic. We did have a two day ticket as it was not much more than a one day ticket.

[senorbanda]

We took the red one (CitySightseeing) in 2014. It was a good tour until it started to rain. :(

[NMLady]

I think there are two HOHO busses in Barcelona that are relatively similar...

 

Red ones - Barcelona City Tour

 

Turquoise Blue - Barcelona Bus Turistic

 

Looking for feedback if you've used either.

 

Was planning on using the red one, but heard from a friend that there are more blue ones that were less crowded. And was reading that the audio on the red busses weren't always working.

 

Our plan is to ride the entire route to get a general overview and then decide if we want to go back to certain places...we have a few days in Barcelona.

 

We rode both the red bus and then the blue bus of the same line, both of which originate in plaza Catalunya. We had no trouble with audio on either bus. We much preferred the city route of the red bus, but you really need to do both routes and if you have time do the green route as well which connects from the red route.

Your plan to ride the entire route and then decide what to see in depth is a good idea. You also might want to read Rick Steves' Guidebook on Barcelona for more ideas.

Edited September 21, 2016 by NMLady

[EnricM]

I'm afraid it doesn't quite work like some posters have expressed above. The city has two companies offering these services: http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/en/home (cyan buses) and http://www.barcelonacitytour.cat/en/ (red buses). Each one has several routes -named after colours: blue, red, orange.... When you get a ticket for one of the companies, you can use the buses (routes) in that company, but not the other -they're fierce competitors!

 

I personally like the red and blue routes from the first company.

 

Note though that hohos are not the best nor more efficient way to travel in Barcelona, hohos are for sightseeing but for moving about -say you want to go from A to B- public transportation is a far better option, not only it's faster and have more choice (metro/bus/tramway/train), but also it's far cheaper. A hoho ticket is around 30€ p.p. (one day pass), while say a T-10 travelcard for the public transportation (which offers 10 journeys, more than you're likely to need), it's just 10€ and it's valid until the end of February the following year.

 

Also, for those not knowing how a hoho works, please check http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/barcelona-bus-turistic.html

Edited September 21, 2016 by EnricM

[mskaufman]

Also, taxi is a very good option to go from place to place. For four of us it was faster and sometimes even less expensive than public transportation.

Edited September 21, 2016 by mskaufman

[sunfan03]

Thanks everyone!

 

I'm afraid it doesn't quite work like some posters have expressed above. The city has two companies offering these services: http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/en/home (cyan buses) and http://www.barcelonacitytour.cat/en/ (red buses). Each one has several routes -named after colours: blue, red, orange.... When you get a ticket for one of the companies, you can use the buses (routes) in that company, but not the other -they're fierce competitors!

 

I personally like the red and blue routes from the first company.

 

Note though that hohos are not the best nor more efficient way to travel in Barcelona, hohos are for sightseeing but for moving about -say you want to go from A to B- public transportation is a far better option, not only it's faster and have more choice (metro/bus/tramway/train), but also it's far cheaper. A hoho ticket is around 30€ p.p. (one day pass), while say a T-10 travelcard for the public transportation (which offers 10 journeys, more than you're likely to need), it's just 10€ and it's valid until the end of February the following year.

 

Also, for those not knowing how a hoho works, please check http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/barcelona-bus-turistic.html

 

And thanks EnricM. We were going to use HOHO for a general overview of city. We have a large group, so bought T-70 card to use public transportation to get around to see specific sites.

[EnricM]

Smart move sunfan03. For those not knowing... https://www.tmb.cat/en/barcelona/fares-metro-bus/travel-cards

 

Also note that if you have a large group, taking hohos during certain times of they year -and not just in summer- might be a challenge as they're quite busy. Do consider that too.

[Mr. Click]

We used the blue/turquiose company to get an over view of the city. We rode the whole red route and then figured out where we wanted to go. There seemed to be lots of buses, we never had to leave people behind. Once we started hopping on and off it was pretty easy and quick. Doing the whole circuit helped us see where we wanted to get off the bus, where we wanted to walk in between stops. They offer multi day passes too but we found the Metro a better way to get around once we had a feel for the city. Oh, the blue company has 3 routes, the red company has 2 routes.