HOHO in Barcelona

[cruiserfan007]

Getting in early the day before the cruise...may be a bit tired, but would like to see what we can of Barcelona in a day...thinking of the HOHO for the day just cruising around. Any thoughts? Thanks, Steve

[AmoMondo]

Check that it is not a public holiday that day! We were there on May 1st and paid 23 for the 2 routes and had planned to do both in the time we were in Port. My cousin had been to barcelona twice before and had manged this no problem. However on the day we were there it was awful. To start with it was raining when we bought our tickets at the port stop, so they could not use the upper decks. Only a few people were able to get on at a time and after half an hour of waiting in the rain with still about 20 in front of us in the queue, we gave up and got the metro up to the gaudi house - Casa Mila. By the time we got there, the sun was shining but there was a huge q (estimate 90 minutes) to get in the house, so we decided to skip that, and joined the HOHO q to get the red line up to Parc Guell (you must go there). For some weird reason there were 4 blue routes for every red route that day and we had to wait about 80 minutes to get on a bus. We didn't get off at sagrada Familia 9as we'd both visited it b4). Just as well the qs to get in and for the bus were even worse here. After a great visit to parc Guell we had to wait 30-40 minutes to get back on the bus. We had planned to swap to the blue rout half way round, but soon worked out that with the time we were having to wait to get back on, it just wasn't going to be possible in the time we had left. So went back to Placa catalunya and walked back down Las Ramblas to the Port. It cost us 46 euros for the 2 tickets and ended up spending more time in bus qs than we did anything else. had we known it was going to be like that, we would have used a combination of metro, walking and probably a taxi to Parc Guell.

[as19111]

Getting in early the day before the cruise...may be a bit tired, but would like to see what we can of Barcelona in a day...thinking of the HOHO for the day just cruising around. Any thoughts? Thanks, Steve

 

That is exactly what we did on day 1. Since we knew we would be tired, we chose to ride the HOHO and take it all in. There are two companies and we chose Tourista. This line has 3 runs: red, blue and green. We took the red line in the morning, stopped for lunch and then took the blue line in the afternoon, never getting off. We never got to the green line. The next day, we knew what our top stops would be and took the bus again (we got a 2 day pass) to these stops. It really worked well for us. Just a note, on day one, the line at Sagrada Familia was extraordniarily long (morning). On day two, we did the stop in the afternoon, and there was no line, no waiting. Once you complete the HOHO ride, make sure to take some time to stroll along Las Ramblas. It is full of interesting sights.

[as19111]

Just another thought...if you do the ride non-stop, take an upstairs seat and settle in. If you plan on HOHO, you'll get on faster if you take the bottom enclosed seat. It is very true that lines to get back on the HOHO can get very long at Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, but again, it's all about the time you reach these stops.

[Chelly]

Are taxis available at Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia? Thanks. C.

[as19111]

Are taxis available at Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia? Thanks. C.

 

I think you'll find a taxi easily at Sagrada. I'm not sure about Parc Guell.

[Hlitner]

I would recommend not using the HoHo in Barcelona, unless you are some kind of walking disability. Barcelona is made for walking,,not riding. The major tourist area around the Ramblas is basically like a pedestrian mall. and the Gothic Quarter is only a few shot blocks from the Ramblas. As to Sagrada Familia (spend the money and go inside) you can easily get there by using the Metro, which is a lot cheaper than the HOHO. You will find that by using your feet, the Metro, and perhaps a local bus or taxi you will spend less money than the Hoho, not waste time waiting for the HoHo buses, and you will experience much more of the city than riding in a bus.

 

Hank

[Ajo]

I would recommend not using the HoHo in Barcelona, unless you are some kind of walking disability. Barcelona is made for walking,,not riding. The major tourist area around the Ramblas is basically like a pedestrian mall. and the Gothic Quarter is only a few shot blocks from the Ramblas. As to Sagrada Familia (spend the money and go inside) you can easily get there by using the Metro, which is a lot cheaper than the HOHO. You will find that by using your feet, the Metro, and perhaps a local bus or taxi you will spend less money than the Hoho, not waste time waiting for the HoHo buses, and you will experience much more of the city than riding in a bus.

 

Hank

What is the approximate cost for a taxi from the pier to the gothic quarter? Will a taxi driver at the pier give you the $$ cost upfront?

[2dogcarol]

My mother and I rode the Turista bus on the red and blue line. Yes, lines at Plaza Catalunya were quite long but when we did get on, we sat on top and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We didn't get off. Each line takes about two hours. Barcelona is a beautiful city and it was nice to be able to take it all in without the stress of driving. As for the metro, beware, my brother who is an international airline pilot was pick pocketed in the Placa Espanya. It happened as we were going through the turnstyle. He has been flying weekly to Europe for the past four years and didn't think this would ever happen to him. This was about three weeks ago.

[bluwes]

Whe you get to the queue at Playa Catalunya, inform the stewards organising the crowds you are willing to sit downstairs and you will get on almost straight away.

Then at the first stop when people get off you can move upstairs

[Misty1937]

Hi Steve

All good advise above, so much depends on the weather and crowds. I would just like to add that we were there in June last year, did have some showers but no problem sitting downstairs until the sun came out again. The BIG advantage, in my opinion, on the HOHO is the commentary with all the facts and history which we would otherwise be ignorant about. They point out the numerous buildings by Gaudi which are SO varied in design you would never realise they were by the same architect.

Enjoy, Barcelona is high on my favourite cities list and I would love to go back again.

Cheers, Misty:)

[English_in_Spain]

Another tip to avoid the long queues (lines) at Placa Cataluna is to walk just down the road to where the buses stop just before the main stop. You will be able to see this stop on the bus map you will be given.

 

It is not far and the buses are almost empty there as most people get on at the main stops.

[cruiserfan007]

Understood...Thanks

[Hlitner]

What is the approximate cost for a taxi from the pier to the gothic quarter? Will a taxi driver at the pier give you the $$ cost upfront?

 

The taxis at the pier will take you over to the Gothic Quarter for about 10 Euros. The taxis have meters, but they prefer to quote a price to the Ramblas or Gothic Quarter since they are so close (I can walk from ship to the Gothic Quarter in about 25 min). You can also take the ships shuttle bus over to the Ramblas (they drop you near the Colombus Statute) but those shuttles usually cost more than a taxi (assuming you get 4 to share). Keep in mind that the Gothic Quarter and adjacent Ramblas area is like a large neighborhood loaded with many shops, restaurants, outdoor cafes, the old church in the Gothic Quarter, the Picasso Museum, etc. All of this stuff is best covered on foot.

 

Hank

[debbymark]

It is possible to buy your ticket on the bus if the lines are too long you won't have wasted your money and I can choose to get on or not.

[MisterBill99]

Does anyone have a list of the coupons you get with the HOHO ticket? Someone told me there was one for the FC Barcelona stadium tour and museum and I'm trying to figure out if it would be cheaper than buying online (which seems to be 4e cheaper than normal price).

[Bobal]

Does anyone have a list of the coupons you get with the HOHO ticket? Someone told me there was one for the FC Barcelona stadium tour and museum and I'm trying to figure out if it would be cheaper than buying online (which seems to be 4e cheaper than normal price).

 

This link takes you to a list of all the discounts which you get with the HOHO bus : http://www.tmb.net/en_US/turistes/busturistic/descomptes.jsp

[CruzinFamilyof5]

It is possible to buy your ticket on the bus if the lines are too long you won't have wasted your money and I can choose to get on or not.

 

Yes, you can buy your HoHo ticket at any stop on the bus. :) If you're going to start at Plaza Catalunya, the lines can be long for the wait. We go to the last stop near there and choose the seats we want. The top level gets very hot.

[AmoMondo]

Be careful that the day you are going to be there is not a public holiday. We were then on 1st May which was a holiday and the HOHO bus was a nightmare. if we'd known it was going to be so mad, we'd have justed saved the 46 euros we spent on the tickets got a taxi to parc Guell and done the rest by metor and on foot. The queues at the stops were so long and for some reason there was only one red route bus for every 5 blue. We waited for about half an hour at the prot but gave up and got the metro up to Casa Mila as the buses were nearly all full and they were only able to take a few people at a time. We soon worked out we were going to be there a long time before we could get on and it was raining at the time. We waited over an hour at Casa Mila to get on a bus. Fortunately as we'd both been to the Sagrad Familia before, did not need to get off there as the qs were even worse at that stop. Had to wait about 40 minutes at Parc Guell to get back on. We;d planned as alos getting off at Montjuic and doing the blue route too but simply did not have time since it weas taking so long to get on a bus. We discovered that the problem was that in addition to the 5 large cruise ships in port, it was a public holiday with loads of Spanish visitors to the city for the holiday weekend. My cousin used it on 2 previous visits and had no problems whatsoever.

[itsjb1]

Depending when you go, the HOHO bus can be awful. Top level gets hot with the sun beating down and the lower level was like an oven in late July. Buses waited forever at soem points, stuck in traffic.Lines at the transfer points were VERY long. We gave up and either walked where feasible or took cabs to the places that were further awaythat we wanted to see. Cabs were plentiful, relatively cheap and gave a nice air conditioning break in the 40C plus weather.

[tom_uk]

Depending when you go, the HOHO bus can be awful. Top level gets hot with the sun beating down and the lower level was like an oven in late July. Buses waited forever at soem points, stuck in traffic.Lines at the transfer points were VERY long. We gave up and either walked where feasible or took cabs to the places that were further awaythat we wanted to see. Cabs were plentiful, relatively cheap and gave a nice air conditioning break in the 40C plus weather.

 

I'd agree with this, except for a recommendation to use the metro rather than taxis. We found the HOHO buses very hot - there's no shade on the op of the buses along Barcelona's wide-open roads. Also there were big queues of stressed-out, hot & tired people at all of the route interchange points. And some of the scenery isn't great. For example, the run over to Sagrada Familia is along ordinary roads, because it's a bit out of the way. Nothing unpleasant, just nothing to see.

 

The metro, by contrast, is fast, cheap, and cool. It was either modernised or extended for the Barcelona Olympics. They have electronic ticket machines with touch screens that work in multiple languages. Just tap the British flag symbol to get instructions in English - very easy indeed.

[Coolcruise02]

The metro, by contrast, is fast, cheap, and cool. It was either modernised or extended for the Barcelona Olympics. They have electronic ticket machines with touch screens that work in multiple languages. Just tap the British flag symbol to get instructions in English - very easy indeed.

 

 

Do you use cash or credit card? Do you have to have exact change?

 

Thanks

[CruzinFamilyof5]

We did the HOHO in mid June and the pick up Plaza Catalunya was packed so we walked to one of the last stops thinking the top level would be empty by then. It was and it was hot, so wear a hat and sunscreen. The bench seat all the way in the back provided protection from the sun. We stayed on the bus and did the whole route and then decided where to get off when we took the route again in the afternoon, etc.

 

You don't have to have exact anything if you purchase the bus passes or Barcelona card, etc, compare all options. I heard that the Europeans do their vacations in July and August, so you may not be able to get on the HOHO at all during that time. :eek:

[MisterBill99]

So we leaving for Barcelona in the morning and now I see there is more than one company that runs the HOHO bus. Which is better? Barcelona Bus offers a 10% discount if I order online. I think someone said in another thread (a year old) that their busses were not as busy as the company mentioned here. Are they all basically the same in terms of stops and frequency?

[cruisemom42]

My feeling about the Barcelona HOHO is similar to some others -- it's crowded (and I was there off-season in late March/early April), and the traffic in town makes it unpredictable as to how often buses will come by. Some were so crowded that there was no seating upstairs OR down, and people were standing in the aisles.

 

I don't get much out of just sitting and watching the sights go by. I wanted to use the bus in the true sense of hopping off and on to see things. After my day trying to accomplish this, I used the metro and found it to be MUCH easier.