Barcelona airport to the city centre: taking a taxi, bus, or transfer

Flying to Barcelona from the UK for a holiday or a weekend getaway? Read on, as we’ve put together a handy guide on Barcelona airport transfers.

The good news is that Barcelona airport is extremely well-connected, so getting to the city centre should be pretty easy - and affordable too. To help your trip run as smoothly as possible, we’ll run through all of your options for Barcelona airport transfers, including taxi, bus, train and private transfer.

And if you need a convenient, cheap way to spend in EUR from the moment you land in Spain, check out the Wise card. This contactless card automatically converts GBP to EUR at the mid-market rate whenever you spend on shopping, dining, hotels and more. So, there’s no need for a trip to the Bureau de Change.

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What to know before heading to the city centre?

Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport is around 15 km from Barcelona city centre. The journey takes approximately 20 minutes by taxi and 35-40 minutes by public transport.¹

There’s a metro station, train station, bus stops and tax ranks at the airport, so you’ll have a choice of options. This is handy if you just miss a train, or the taxi queue is too long for your liking - as you’ll always have a backup.

If you need to change currency from GBP to EUR for your trip, you’ll find a number of ATMs and currency exchange counters within the airport.

But remember that if you have the Wise multi-currency debit card, you won’t need to bother - you can start spending in EUR right away, at a fair exchange rate.

Taxis from Barcelona airport to city centre

A taxi is a quick, convenient and private way to travel from the airport to the city centre. Unlike public transport, which often involves some walking or other connections, it can also take you door to door. Although if you haven’t pre-booked your Barcelona airport taxi, you may need to queue for a while during busy periods.

Regular city taxis are available at taxi ranks outside each airport terminal. You should be able to pay by card or cash.² You can also pre-book your ride using a taxi-hailing app such as Free Now, Uber (which uses official Barcelona taxis) or Cabify.

How much is the taxi fare to Barcelona?

A taxi between Barcelona airport and the city centre typically costs between €35/£30.66* and €40/£35.04* if travelling during the day (between 8am and 8pm). You should be aware though that the fare increases at night, so will cost roughly €3/£2.63* more.¹

A useful thing to note is that there’s a minimum fare of €20/£17.52* to take a taxi from the airport.¹ So, even if your hotel is mere minutes from the airport, you’ll still pay at least this amount.

How taxis look and where are they parked?

Official Barcelona taxis are black and yellow¹, so they’re easy to recognise. You’ll find them parked outside each airport terminal, at designated taxi ranks. These are at:³

• Terminal T1, Level 0. Arrivals
• Terminal T2 A. Arrivals.
• Terminal T2 B. Arrivals.
• Terminal T2 C. Arrivals.

To find the nearest taxi rank to the terminal you’ll be landing at, you can explore the full Barcelona airport map.

Shuttle buses from Barcelona airport to city centre

There are also regular Barcelona airport bus services running to the city centre, and it’s a pretty cheap way to get there. Here’s a quick look at the buses you can catch from the airport:¹

• Airbus A1 from Terminal 1 or Airbus A2 from Terminal 2 - €5.90/£5.17* one way
• TMB Line 46 - €2.40/£2.10* one way⁴
• N16, N17 or N18 night bus - €2.15/£1.88* one way.

Travelling to Barcelona from the airport train station

Barcelona airport train station (Aeroport Cercanías station) is located in Terminal 2.⁵ If you land at a different terminal, there’s a free 24-hour shuttle service⁵ you can use to get to T2 and the train station.

It takes around 35 minutes to travel by rail from the airport to city centre stations such as Estacio Sants or Passeig de Gràcia. A one-way ticket costs €4/£3.50.¹

There’s also the metro, which has stops in T1 and T2. It takes around 30 minutes to reach the city centre, and an airport ticket costs €5.15/£4.51* one way.⁶

Transfers and chauffeurs

You can also arrange a private transfer to get to the city centre from the airport. It’s convenient, private (unless you book a shared shuttle service) and there’s no need to wait around for a taxi, train or bus.

The easiest way to arrange private Barcelona airport transfers is online before you travel - although you might also be able to do it in the airport when you land.

Popular services include Hoppa, Welcome Pickups, Holiday Extras or Travel Supermarket, although there are lots of companies offering online booking for airport transfers. So, make sure you shop around and compare prices before booking your transfer.

And for the VIP experience, you can also book a chauffeur service to take you directly from the airport to the doorstep of your hotel. This of course is more expensive than other options, but you’ll be getting a super comfortable, luxurious and convenient service.

Cheap transfers from Barcelona airport

The cheapest way to get from Barcelona airport to the city centre is by local bus or train, where you’ll pay just a few euros for a one-way trip.

So if budget is a concern, it could be a good idea to look up public transport timetables before you travel.

After reading this guide, you should be all set to arrange your transfer from Barcelona airport to the city centre. You’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to transport methods, as there are buses, taxis, trains and metro services all running from the airport. So, it’s up to you whether you want to prioritise price, convenience or speed as you have loads of options available.

And for a convenient way to pay for transport and spend in Barcelona or nearby, consider going with Wise. You can get a Wise card for spending abroad that lets you convert GBP to over 40+ currencies using a fair exchange rate, the mid-market rate.

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*1 EUR = 0.8760 GBP (19-09-2022)

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