What is Barcelona Card?

Barcelona is an amazing city with numerous architectural and historical attractions (for additional information – History of Barcelona and Architecture in Barcelona). Due to the great number of tourists, the city is not a cheap one, therefore it is important to take into consideration all of the opportunities which reduce your expenses (for additional information – Barcelona for Free).

Barcelona Card is one of these opportunities, It can help you to enjoy the different cultural and leisure attractions of Barcelona without paying too much (for additional information – The Benefits of Barcelona Card, List of Discounts Included in Barcelona Card and Barcelona Card – What is Included?). Actually, the card provides free access and discounts to numerous tourist landmarks, restaurants and shops in the city (for additional information – Bars and Restaurants in Barcelona and Shopping in Barcelona). The price of the card also includes the use of public transportation (for additional information – Barcelona Card and Public Transportation, Barcelona Card and the Metro and Public Transportation in Barcelona).

Advantages and Benefits

Barcelona Card has numerous advantages. First of all, it provides discount to more than 90 museums, restaurants, shops and clubs in Barcelona. Besides this, Barcelona Card also helps you to save time by avoiding the long queues at the entrance of the crowded attractions. Bare in mind that skipping the line is possible just in case of those attractions to which free admission is provided by the card. Otherwise, you need to stay in the queue until you get your ticket. Therefore it is not recommended to purchase Barcelona Card just to skip the line (for additional information – Skip the Line with Barcelona Card and How Does Barcelona Card Work?).

The card is also useful for tourists who do not speak Spanish or Catalan; it is easier to buy the card once than purchase tickets at every place you visit. The greatest advantage is that you can enjoy these benefits and still plan your holiday as you wish (for additional information – List of Discounts Included in Barcelona Card and The Benefits of Barcelona Card).

Barcelona Card and Public Transportation

One of the perks offered by Barcelona Card is the free usage of the public transportation (for additional information – Public Transportation in Barcelona). Barcelona Card grants you the option to travel without buying a ticket by all public transport operating inside Barcelona, meaning the buses, tram and metro lines. The card is valid for the entire Zone 1 area which includes the city center and the most popular tourist landmarks.

Besides saving money, Barcelona Card makes the entire travel experience easier, you do not have to spend your time with buying tickets for every journey, you just show the card and get on the vehicle by which you want to travel.

Bare in mind that the card is not valid outside the city, so, it is not recommended to buy it if you want to visit attractions outside the city such as Montserrat or PortAventura. Exception is the train that brings travelers from the El Prat airport (BCN, Terminal 2) to the city. But you can enjoy this benefit just if you purchase the card in advance (for additional information – Purchasing Barcelona Card at the Airport and Barcelona Card and the Aerobus).

Free Entrance and Skipping the Line

Barcelona Card provides free access to more than 25 of the most famous and interesting tourist landmarks of the city. For instance, you can visit free of charge popular museums such as Museu Picasso, Museu De La Xocolata (Chocolate Museum), Fundació Joan Miró, Museum of Contemporary Art (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona), CosmoCaixa (Science Museum), Museu Etnològic, Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch and Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (National Art Museum of Catalonia); to see all the free attractions included in Barcelona Card – take a look at the list (for additional information – Museums in Barcelona).

Besides saving money, you can skip the line at the entrance of these museums, which can be quite long in several cases and mainly in the summer (for additional information – Barcelona for Free, Skip the Line with Barcelona Card and Summer Vacation in Barcelona).

Discounts

Barcelona Card grants discount to many of the most visited attractions of Barcelona, for example: Sagrada Familia, Camp Nou / FC Barcelona Museum, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera – Casa Milà, Gaudí Exhibition Center and Gran Teatre del Liceu (Opera House Liceu). In some cases, like Gaudí Exhibition Center and Gran Teatre del Liceu, the discount is quite significant. In other cases, it is not too high; for instance to Sagrada Familia it is just 1-3 Euros discount.

Besides these attractions, you can enjoy price reduction in many restaurants, tapas bars and shops. Some of the restaurants covered by the card are: Hard Rock Cafe, Antiga Fàbrica Moritz 2×1 Breakfast, Tapas Locas and many others (for additional information – Bars and Restaurants in Barcelona). Regarding the shops, you can get discounts inter alia in the official Barcelona Turisme souvenir shop located in the information office on Plaça de Catalunya (for additional information – Shopping in Barcelona).

Moreover, many bars and nightclubs offers a 20-30% discount for Barcelona Card holders (for additional information – Visit Barcelona at night).

Barcelona Card offers discounts also for different tours and activities, like the walking tour in the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic), the Picasso Walking Tour, the Modernista tour and the eBike tour (for additional information – Attractions and Tours in Barcelona). In the first three cases the reduction is quite high: 50%.

In addition to these, you can get a discount to the following activities and services:

• Sport activities; for example: using bike, sport boat, scooter, Jet Ski, etc (for additional information – Sport in Barcelona)
• Flamenco shows, like Tablao Flamenco Cordobés, Opera y Flamenco, Tablao de Carmen, etc. (for additional information – Flamenco Shows in Barcelona)
• Shows presented at Palau de la Música Catalana (Palace of Catalan Music) and Gran Teatre del Liceu (Opera House Liceu)
• Locker Barcelona
• International Medical Services

In this list you can see all the discounts the Barcelona Card grants you (for additional information – Barcelona Card – What is Included?).

Who is it Recommended for?

Due to the above-mentioned facilities, Barcelona Card is extremely popular with tourists who visit the city. But according to our opinion, it is recommended that before you purchase the card, plan your trip carefully and decide which attractions would like to visit exactly. According to our calculations it will be worth to purchase it only if you visit most of the places where the card provides free admission or a high discount, like Museu Picasso and the different walking tours (for additional information – Attractions and Tours in Barcelona).

Barcelona Card is not cheap and it is not advantageous for everybody and in every case. Maybe, you will save more money if you use another discount card such as Barcelona Pass, Barcelona Card Express, iVenture Card Barcelona, Articket, or maybe you will not need a discount card at all.

Of course, Barcelona Card is not recommended for those who plan to visit only the free attractions of the city (for additional information – Barcelona for Free). Furthermore, for those who plan to rent a car in Barcelona and/or to take a trip outside the city, we suggest not to order the card because discounts included in it do not cover car rental costs and attractions outside Barcelona (for additional information – Barcelona Card and Public Transportation). Actually, we do not recommend to rent a car in Barcelona at all​ (for additional information – Car Rental in Barcelona and Car Rental in Spain).

Regarding the museums, though Barcelona Card provides free access to more than 25 of the most famous and interesting museums in Barcelona, if you are interested just in museums and do not want to visit other landmarks, we suggest not to buy the card. In this case Museum Pass Barcelona will be a more advantageous choice (for additional information – Barcelona Card vs Articket and Barcelona Card for Museums).

Since at most of the attractions children and pensioners are entitled to a discount even without Barcelona Card, in most of the cases it is not worth for them to buy the card. Nevertheless, sometimes it is recommended to buy the card also with children because in some websites children who are between 4 and 12 years old get the card at a reduced price, the discount is almost 50% (for additional information – Barcelona Card for Kids and Families and Kids and Families in Barcelona).

How do You Get the Card?

You can buy Barcelona Card online here, at the airport of the city, or at any collection points in Barcelona. The online booking does not require more money than purchasing the card in the city, moreover online is offered a discount to it and if you order the card in advance, the train that brings travelers from the airport to the city will be covered by it, otherwise you will need to pay for your train ticket (for additional information – Where to Purchase Barcelona Card – online or in the city).

If you decide to pre-book the card online – the process is simple and easy, you book your card and when you arrive to Barcelona just take it at the airport or at any other collection point in the city. In order to get the card you have to show just the printed version of the certificate about the online booking and a photographic identity card.

If you choose to purchase Barcelona Card at the airport or to take it from there, note that the tourist information office is open daily between 09:00-21:00. Therefore if your flight arrives at night it can be problematic to purchase or receive the card. The office is closed on 25th December and on 1st January too (for additional information – Purchasing Barcelona Card at the Airport).

After you get Barcelona Card it is needed to be validated. This means that you have to write on it the exact time when you start to use it. You can do it at any time you want and beginning with the date and hour given the card will be active for the time period mentioned on it (for additional information – How Does Barcelona Card Work?).

Tips and Recommendations

• Barcelona has many discount cards, such as Barcelona Card, Barcelona Pass, Barcelona Card Express, iVenture Card Barcelona. Each tourist will find a different card suitable for him, and in some cases – none of them would fit. It is highly recommended to read and learn about each of the cards separately and individually, you can also do so using the comparison table we have created. It is recommended to consult us prior the booking, just leave us your trip plan and we will advise with the best option according to your plan.

• There is a difference between Barcelona Card and Museum Pass Barcelona; the latter one provides discount only to museums (for additional information – Barcelona Card for Museums and Museums in Barcelona).
• There is a difference between Barcelona Card and iVenture Card Barcelona; the latter one is recommended mainly for those who plan to spend a longer period in Barcelona and are interested mainly in the attractions of the city (for additional information – Attractions and Tours in Barcelona and Barcelona vs iVenture Card).
• It is not worth to purchase Barcelona Card just in order to enjoy free transport. In that case you will do a better deal, if you choose between the regular discount cards related to the public transportation of Barcelona. There are offered for example, free daily or three day cards or you can buy the T10 Transport Ticket. The latter one can be obtained at all of the metro stations in Barcelona and in contrast with Barcelona Card, it is not personalized, so it can be used by more person (for additional information – Does Barcelona Card Provide Free Travel by Public Transportation?, Barcelona Card Vs T-10 and Public Transportation in Barcelona).
• When you reserve your Barcelona Card, be aware that it does not cover the Cable Car (for additional information – Barcelona Card and the Cable Car).
• When you reserve your Barcelona Card, be aware that it does not cover the Hop-on Hop-off Bus (for additional information – Barcelona Card and Hop-on Hop-off bus).
• According to our calculations it will be worth to purchase Barcelona Card only if you visit most of the places where the card provides free admission or a high discount, like Museu Picasso and the different walking tours (for additional information – Attractions and Tours in Barcelona). We also suggest to buy the card at least for 3 or 4 days.
• The price of Barcelona Card increases together with the number of the days for which it is valid. But the daily price will be lower if you buy the card for a longer period. That is why it could be advantageous to purchase it for more days, but you need to think carefully if you want to see so many attractions included in the card that fill all of the days of the validity-time (for additional information – Barcelona Card for 5 days).
• The online booking does not require extra cost than purchasing the card in the city, actually it is cheaper and it will also cover the train that leave from the airport (Terminal 2) to the city (for additional information – Where to Purchase Barcelona Card – online or in the city, Purchasing Barcelona Card at the Airport and Public Transportation in Barcelona).
• Barcelona Card is easy to use – you just need to put the card to the card reader machine or to show it at the entrance of the landmarks you want to visit (for additional information – How Does Barcelona Card Work?).
• Barcelona Card helps you save time by avoiding the long queues at the entrance of the crowded attractions. Bare in mind that skipping the line is possible just in case of those attractions to which free admission is provided by the card. Otherwise, you need to stay in the queue until you get your ticket. Therefore it is not recommended to purchase Barcelona Card just to skip the line (for additional information – Skip the Line with Barcelona Card).
• For those who plan to rent a car in Barcelona and/or to take a trip outside the city (for instance to Montserrat or PortAventura), we suggest not to order Barcelona Card because discounts included in it do not cover car rental costs and attractions and travel outside Barcelona). Actually, we do not recommend to rent a car in Barcelona at all​ (for additional information – Barcelona Card and Public Transportation, Car Rental in Barcelona and Car Rental in Spain).
• Since at most of the attractions children and pensioners are entitled to a discount even without Barcelona Card, in most cases it is not worth for them to buy the card. Nevertheless, sometimes it is recommended to buy the card also for children because in some websites children who are between 4 and 12 years old get the card at a reduced price, the discount is almost 50%.
• If you visit the city with your kids and want to order Barcelona Card – take into consideration the fact that there is no option to purchase a child ticket for 2 days (for additional information – Barcelona Card for Kids and Families and Kids and Families in Barcelona).
• Due to the marketing trick used by the issuers of Barcelona Card, the exact conditions of the validity of the card are not always clear. Though the validity is given in hours and not in days, the use of the card cannot be interrupted. That is why we suggest to validate your card in the morning (for additional information – How Does Barcelona Card Work?).
• Barcelona Card includes also a map of the city and a tourist guide book in which you can find information in six different languages. Though both the book and the map contains just basic information, they can help you to navigate in Barcelona.
• Barcelona Card is a personal card which means that it is not transferable and you cannot share it with other people (for additional information – Barcelona Card – a Personal Card).
• Since the discounts provided by Barcelona Card are frequently changing, it is recommended that before you purchase the card, take a look at the latest offer (for additional information – Barcelona Card – What is Included? and List of Discounts Included in Barcelona Card).
• The discounts offered by Barcelona Card cannot be combined with other discounts.
• Note that if you lose your Barcelona Card, you are not entitled to any replacement or refund.
• Usually, Barcelona Card is valid just for the permanent exhibitions of the museums (for additional information – Museums in Barcelona).
• In all of the museums and attractions included in Barcelona Card, the card provides just one admission per person.
• The discounts offered by Barcelona Card in the different restaurants are not valid for the daily menu (for additional information – Bars and Restaurants in Barcelona).