The Hola Barcelona Travel Card is a transport ticket that you can use in Barcelona for unlimited travel on the public transportation system throughout the duration of the ticket. They can be good value if you plan on taking a lot of trips, but is the Hola Barcelona Card worth it for you? In this article I’ll do a deep dive into the benefits of the Hola Barcelona Card and whether it is a good idea, as well as alternatives that might be better for your needs. Let’s go!
What is the Hola Barcelona Travel Card?
The Hola Barcelona Card is a popular travel card for visitors to Barcelona that gives you unlimited rides on any public transport in the city, including the metro, buses, trams, and suburban trains, within a specified time period (2, 3, 4, or 5 days).
If you plan to visit several museums in Barcelona than you should also check out the Barcelona Card as that includes free entry to over 25 museums and attractions as well as unlimited public transport during the validity period – scroll down for more information about that card!
Where to Buy the Hola Barcelona Travel Card?
You can buy the Hola Barcelona Travel card in advance online here and exchange your voucher at a Tourist Information Office (including the Tourist Information Office at the Airport and Plaça de Catalunya).
BUY YOUR HOLA BARCELONA TRAVEL CARD
Alternatively, you can purchase the card from the ticket machines at any metro station in Barcelona, including at Barcelona Airport, and the train station at Barcelona airport.
How Much Does The Hola Barcelona Card Cost?
The cost of a Hola Barcelona Card depends on how long you want to use the card for. There are several different options depending on how many days you will spend in Barcelona. These are the current Hola Barcelona Travel Card prices for 2024:
48-Hour/2 Day Public Transport Ticket: € 17.50
72-Hour/3 Day Public Transport Ticket: € 25.50
96-Hour/4 Day Public Transport Ticket: € 33.30
120-Hour/5 Day Public Transport Ticket: € 38.20
Children under 4 travel free, but everyone else will need their own Hola Barcelona Travel Card.
What is Included in the Hola Barcelona Travel Card?
Within the validity period of your Barcelona Hola Card, you are allowed an unlimited number of journeys on the following forms of public transport in Barcelona:
- Metro
- Buses (operated by the TMB Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona)
- Trams
- Montjuïc Funicular (not the cable car)
- Urban trains in Zone 1 (operated by the FGC Generalitat city network)
- Regional Railway trains in Zone 1 (operated by Rodalies de Catalunya)
- The metro or train journey to and from the airport is included in your ticket.
BUY YOUR HOLA BARCELONA TRAVEL CARD
The validity of the ticket begins from the first time you use it, it is not based on calendar days – so if first use a 48 hour Hola Barcelona ticket at 6pm on Friday evening, it will be valid until 6pm on Sunday evening.
The Hola Barcelona Card only includes the public transport listed above.
Aerobus Barcelona tickets are not included, nor are the Night buses (NitBus). No other entry tickets to attractions or tours in Barcelona are included in the Hola Barcelona Travel Card.
Is The Hola Barcelona Card Worth It?
This really depends on how many times you are likely to take the metro, bus or tram during your stay in Barcelona.
Before buying your Hola Barcelona Travel Card I recommend planning out your Barcelona itinerary so you have a better idea of your schedule and how many journeys you will take, and so whether the Hola Barcelona Card will be worth it for you.
In most cases, the Hola Barcelona Travel Card will save you money so I would say that yes it is worth it, but keep reading to make sure it will be cheaper for you.
If you plan to visit several museums in Barcelona than you should also check out the Barcelona Card as that includes free entry to over 25 museums and attractions as well as unlimited public transport during the validity period – scroll down for more information about that card!
Is the Hola Barcelona Card Worth it to Save Money?
Yes, if you plan to take enough journeys to make it cheaper than buying individual tickets.
Single transport tickets for one journey on the metro cost €2.55, so if you plan to take more than 7 journeys in 48 hours then the 2 day / 48 hour Hola Barcelona Travel Card will save you money as it only costs €17.50.
If you plan to take the metro or train from Barcelona airport to the city centre, then a single airport transport ticket costs €5.50, making the Hola Barcelona Travel Card even better value as you’d only need to take 2 trips from/to the airport and 3 other journeys on the public transport to save money.
Day tickets for the Barcelona metro, buses and other public transport cost €11.20 so the price of a 48 hour/ 2-day Hola Barcelona Travel Card is cheaper than buying two separate standard day tickets for the Barcelona public transport system.
However,
If you know that you won’t need more than 10 journeys on the bus, metro or local train, including the journey to and from the airport, then the 10-journey ticket called a T-Casual (previously called a T-10 ticket) is better value as long as you don’t go over your 10 trips.
If you plan on spending 3 days or more in Barcelona and using public transport more than 10 times, then the T-Usual ticket is excellent value and cheaper than the Hola Barcelona card. The T-Usual ticket lasts for 30 days and gives you unlimited journeys on all operators in the Integrated Fare System, including the night buses and the R2 train to the airport.
Is the Hola Barcelona Card Worth it for Convenience?
The Hola Barcelona card is one of the easiest ways to take care of your public transport in Barcelona if you plan on taking more than a couple of journeys over a period of 2 days.
If you only need to take a couple of public transport journeys it may not be worth it, but another benefit of the Hola Barcelona Travel Card is knowing that all of your public transport is taken care of (including the trip to and from the airport) so you don’t have to worry about buying other tickets every time you want to take the metro or bus.
The 10-journey ticket called a T-Casual (previously called a T-10 ticket) is great if you know you won’t need more than 10 journeys on the metro or local train, including the journey to and from the airport, but then you have to make sure you don’t go over the 10 trips or you’ll need to buy another ticket.
If you are spending 3 days or more in Barcelona then I’d say that the T-Usual ticket is the best value and super convenient as it has unlimited journeys. If you plan on visiting several museums that are included in the Barcelona Card, this might be more convenient still as you’ll only have one card that takes care of your transport and museum entry.
Extra Things to Know
If you buy your Barcelona Travel Card in advance online you will need to exchange your voucher at one of the following tourist information offices, so check your flight arrival times match up with these, otherwise you can just buy it when you arrive:
- Barcelona Airport Terminal 1, 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM Monday-Saturday, 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM Sunday & Bank Holidays
- Barcelona Airport – Terminal 2 Daily. From 8 AM to 2:30 PM
- Barcelona Airport – Metro Terminal 1 Monday to Sunday, from 9 AM to 2:30 PM
- Plaça de Catalunya Main Office Daily. From 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM
- Plaça de Catalunya Nord Monday to Sunday, from 9 AM to 8 PM
- Cabina Sagrada Família Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday, from 9 AM to 2:30 PM Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 9 AM to 8 PM
The opening times are correct at the time of publishing but may change without notice. Opening times may vary on January 6 and December 26, and in most cases, are closed on January 1 and December 25.
Alternatives to The Hola Barcelona Card
The Barcelona Card: 25+ Museums and Free Public Transportation
The Barcelona Card is an alternative to the Hola Barcelona Travel Card and is great value for money if you plan to visit several of the top museums in Barcelona. You can read my full review of The Barcelona Card here to see if it is worth it for you. Overall I think it is great value – if you are planning to visit the museums and attractions it includes.
As well as including unlimited public transport like the Hola Barcelona Travel, the Barcelona Card also includes free entry to over 25 Barcelona museums, as well as discounts to additional attractions and activities, and a free guidebook in 6 languages with a map of Barcelona.
Some of the entry tickets you get for free include:
- a skip the line ticket to the Picasso Museum,
- a skip the line ticket to the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC),
- free entry to the CaixaForum, Moco Museum, Montjuic Castle
- a skip the line ticket to the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) and the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB)
- and many more.
You can see the full list of included museums and attractions here.
Similar to the Hola Barcelona Travel Card, the Barcelona Card validity period begins from the first time you use it and lasts for 72, 96, or 120 hours after the first use.
Barcelona Card Prices
72-Hour/3 Day Barcelona Card: € 55
96-Hour/4 Day Barcelona Card: € 65
120-Hour/5 Day Barcelona Card: € 77
Children under 4 travel on public transport for free and don’t need the Barcelona Card for discounted entry. Everyone else will need their own card.
Barcelona Card Benefits
If you love museums and plan to visit several while you are in Barcelona, this card is great value. Even if you only visit one of these museums on each day of your visit you will still save money compared to the Hola Barcelona Travel Card:
Picasso Museum: online ticket price €15
Moco Museum: ticket price from €14.95 to €17.95
National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC): price €12
Even if you just visit one of these on each day that is at least €52 of entry ticket prices, and with the Barcelona costing just €55 for 3 days it is worth getting, and better value than the Hola Barcelona Travel card, as long as you are definitely going to visit the museums and attractions that are included.
Standard Barcelona Transport Tickets
Instead of buying a ticket that lasts for the whole duration of your trip, you could just buy the transport tickets as and when you need them. The most common types of metro tickets for visitors to Barcelona are:
Single Ticket (Bitllet senzil)
A single ticket is one journey on the public transport system in Barcelona. It includes transfers within the city limits for journeys on multiple metros, buses, trams and trains for up to 1 hour 45 minutes. It is not valid for the metro stations Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 on line L9 Sud, but you can use it for a bus journey or the Montjuïc funicular. Cost: €2.55
Single Airport ticket (Bitllet aeroport)
Trips to the airport on line L9 are not included in the standard metro tickets, so if you travel to or from the airport on the metro you will need one of these airport tickets. It is valid for a single metro journey to or from the airport on the metro network. Cost: €5.50
INSIDER TIP: The train (not the metro) from Barcelona Airport Terminal Two to Barcelona is included in the following metro ticket types:
T-dia Card
The T-Dia is an individual travel card allowing an unlimited number of journeys to be made in one day on all operators in the integrated transport system, including buses, metro, trams and trains (including the airport train from Terminal 2). Cost: €11.20 for 1 zone.
T Casual
This is a single-person, multi-journey card that allows for ten separate trips on the metro, buses, trams, and suburban trains within Zone 1 of the Barcelona transport network. There is no expiration time for the tickets, so you can use it across several days.
The only time you need to check the expiration date is if you are visiting Barcelona over New Year, as prices often change on 1st January and tickets bought in the previous year are not valid for the New Year.
Cost: €12.15 for 1 zone.
NB: The T-Casual replaced the popular T-10 which could be shared between multiple people – the T-Casual cannot be shared, each person must purchase their own ticket.
T-usual card
A month-long travel card for unlimited journeys on all operators in the Integrated Fare System, including the night buses and the R2 train to the airport. It is great value if you are spending several days or weeks in Barcelona on a Workation or as a Digital Nomad.
Cost: from €21.35 for 1 zone
T-familiar Card
The T-familiar card is a multi-person travel card allowing 8 journeys in 30 consecutive days from the first validation, so it could be useful for families who only want to take one or two journeys on the metro. Cost: €10.70 for 1 zone.
I hope this has helped you to decide if the Hola Barcelona Travel Card is worth it for your trip to Barcelona. If you love visiting museums then the Barcelona Card could be a better option for you, or if you think you’ll only take a few journeys on public transport then you can just get the basic transport tickets either in a 10 journey ticket or as and when you need it.
Happy travels!
I noticed you didn’t discuss the T-usual as an option. It seem like a the T-usual is the best option for 4+ day stays. The T-usual (€21.35) plus the two airport transfers (€11) costs less than the 96 hour Hola Barcelona Card (€33.90). T-usual also includes the nitbus. What am I missing?
Hi Ryan, the T-Usual is a great deal but you can only access it by registering with the tmb app in advance so it isn’t the most convenient option. If you live in Spain you can get a physical card delivered to you, but they won’t deliver outside of Spain so the only option is to use the app and it didn’t work for me at all! That said I will add a section to the article about the T-Usual card in case you or anyone else can get the app to work. Thanks for your comment and I hope you have a great time in Barcelona! *ADDITION* actually it looks like you can buy it from the ticket machines, I’m not in Barcelona right now so I can’t test this out but if you manage to get one please let me know! Thanks, Claire