Getting Around Barcelona - How to Make the Most of Barcelona's Excellent Transport Infrastructure By Mark Hazard At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

There can be few countries in Europe that have a public transport system as comprehensive and easy to use as that of Barcelona – which is just as well because it's certainly not the easiest place to drive around.

Indeed, unless you plan to spend a lot of time visiting other places, and in a hotel outside the city centre, hiring a car to navigate your way around Barcelona is probably not a good idea; the roads are crowded, the one-way system is, at its best, idiosyncratic, the drivers are impatient and the parking is a nightmare!

So, that's eliminated that particular option for most people, so what instead are the best ways to journey around this wonderfully scenic and energetic city in the Catalunya region of Spain.

First of all, there is an excellent and comprehensive Metro system with enough stations to get you within easy reach of almost any place you'll want to visit in your time here. With the six separate lines also colour-coded to make route planning easier, and plenty of air-conditioned trains operating, especially at peak times, the Metro is, for most people, the easiest way to move around the city quickly. There are also many different outlets from which you can purchase your tickets as well as at the stations themselves. For example, you can buy Metro tickets at Tourist Information Offices, Metro vending machines, cash machines at branches of La Caixa Bank – even at Newsagents' kiosks. There are also several types of ticket available, ranging from a single use one to multi-use tickets and even tickets that are integrated with the rest of the Barcelona transport system.

This integration is made possible mainly because the same company, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, TMB, is responsible for all the transport services – the Metro, the Roadalies train network, the tram system and the buses. The bus system has over 80 different lines in service – the stops are easily recognised by the red signs over the brown benches. A single journey ticket will cost you just €1.35 but, again, the facility is available to buy multiple tickets in advance which can save a good deal of money. Tourist and Leisure Cards, which can be bought all over the city, cost, for instance, €10.70 for a two-day ticket and €14.30 for a three-day ticket and, with them, you have unlimited access to all the various TMB services. A great deal. You might find you could get even better value by purchasing a Barcelona Card, which not only gives you free travel on all the transport systems but also offers discounts of up to 50% on all kinds of activities and places of interest – museums, restaurants, the zoo and many more.

Incidentally, the Nitbus service covers 16 of the major bus routes – twelve of them passing through Plaça Catalunya and also past many of the city's most popular night time venues. Most of the buses now have excellent wheelchair access.

The excellent TMB website, www.tmb.net ,will give you all the details about routes and ticket prices.

Of course, Barcelona also has its very own taxi cabs, with their easily noticeable black and yellow markings. At the beginning of 2009 the prices were established as €0.82 per kilometre (€1.04 at nights and weekends) with a minimum fare of €1.80. Although many of the drivers won't speak English – to the irritation of locals, most don't speak Catalan either – the system is generally quite efficient and you'll find plenty of cabs at the airport if you want to get into the city that way. Expect to pay around €25 to €30 euros. A far more economical way to get into Barcelona centre from the airport is either to take the Airport bus, the Aerobus, at €4.25 for a single journey or the RENFE train which costs €2.80. There is no direct Metro link, though.

Finally, a word about the tourist bus in Barcelona, the Bus Turistic. This really is one of the best of its kind and offers a fabulous opportunity of getting to know your way around this cosmopolitan, stylish and utterly compelling city.

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