Barcelona, Spain

Getting around Barcelona

How to travel around Barcelona — 5 options, what they cost, and which booking apps fix the fare before you go.

Last updated 2026-08-08

1. Metro

Fast, cheap and covering everywhere a visitor needs except Park Güell's hill.

Cost: T-casual 10-trip ticket is far better value than singles
Tip: The T-casual is shareable between people; a single ticket is not.

2. Walking the Eixample grid

The chamfered grid is genuinely pleasant to walk and how you find the modernista buildings.

3. Aerobús

Express coach from El Prat to Plaça de Catalunya in about 35 minutes.

Cost: EUR 7.25

4. Bicing and bike lanes

An extensive protected-lane network, though Bicing itself is residents-only.

Tip: Visitors need a private hire operator rather than the municipal scheme.

5. Taxi

Black and yellow, metered, and regulated.

Watch outPickpocketing on the metro and around La Rambla is the real transport risk here, not the taxis.

Booking apps in Spain

Agreeing the fare in an app before you travel removes the argument at the end of the journey, which is where most transport scams happen. Links go to each app's official page — lookalike apps are themselves a scam.

Cabify

Spanish-founded ride-hailing operating across Spain and Latin America.

Coverage: Madrid, Barcelona and most large cities.
Why it helps: Fare is agreed in the app before the trip, and the route is recorded — which removes the refused meter, the tampered meter and the fixed 'foreigner price' in one move.

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Hails licensed metered taxis, widely used in Spanish cities.

Coverage: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville.
Why it helps: Fare is agreed in the app before the trip, and the route is recorded — which removes the refused meter, the tampered meter and the fixed 'foreigner price' in one move.

Renfe

Official Spanish rail booking including AVE high-speed.

Coverage: Nationwide.