Barcelona Travel Tips: Tickets, Transport, Meal Times and Safety

Guard your bag, book the big sights, buy a multi-journey transport card, and eat late. Those are the tips the 19 guides Roam Barcelona read repeat most, in English, Spanish, French and Catalan. Every fare, opening time and date below comes from the operator’s own page or an official body, not from those guides. Every place named is on the map.

The tips are ordered by how many guides name them. A tip named by four or five guides is called a less common pick, and anything named by one or two is left out.

The short list

Watch your bag and phone

Recommended by 15 of 19 guides read.

Pickpockets are the one risk nearly every guide mentions. They work crowded places, and the guides name La Rambla, the metro and the beach. The usual advice is a crossbody bag worn in front, nothing in a back pocket, and valuables left at the hotel when you’re at the beach. For a rundown of the busiest areas, see La Rambla and the Barceloneta beach.

Book Sagrada Família and other big sights

Recommended by 11 of 19 guides read.

The Sagrada Família base ticket is €26 and €36 with the towers, per its prices page. From November to February it’s open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00 and Sunday from 10:30 to 18:00, per its schedule page. Park Güell’s general ticket is €18, and tickets must be bought in advance online, per its site. You get 30 minutes after your slot to enter.

Use a multi-journey transport card

Recommended by 10 of 19 guides read.

The T-casual is a ticket for 10 journeys, and it’s the one most guides name. It costs €13.00 for one zone, and a single ticket is €2.90, per the 2026 fares on TMB’s site. It isn’t valid at the airport stations on the L9 Sud line, per TMB’s T-casual page, so buy a separate ticket for that ride.

The metro runs from 05:00 to midnight Monday to Thursday, from 05:00 to 02:00 on Fridays, and continuously from 05:00 on Saturday through the night into Sunday. On Sundays the service ends at midnight, per TMB’s operating hours. The times are when the last train leaves each line’s terminal.

Eat lunch around 2 and dinner after 9

Recommended by 9 of 19 guides read.

The guides put lunch at about 14:00 and dinner at 20:30 to 21:00 or later. Plan around that. For specific places, see where to eat in Barcelona.

Don’t eat on La Rambla

Recommended by 8 of 19 guides read.

They call the restaurants on the avenue overpriced or tourist traps. Eat a street or two away, at a bar in El Born or Gràcia. The Boqueria market just off La Rambla is open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 to 20:30, per Barcelona City Council.

Learn a few words of Catalan

Recommended by 8 of 19 guides read.

Catalan and Spanish are both used, and signs are in both. A “bon dia” goes down well, and several guides add that the city is Barcelona and not Barça.

Tipping is optional

Recommended by 8 of 19 guides read.

Tipping isn’t expected. The guides that give a number say 5 to 10 percent for good service, and several say locals rarely tip.

Take public transport from the airport

Recommended by 7 of 19 guides read.

Skip the taxi and take the Aerobús, a bus or the metro into the city. Remember that your T-casual won’t work at the airport stations, as above.

Go in spring or autumn

Recommended by 7 of 19 guides read.

Several guides say these seasons are quieter than summer, and a few add that winters are mild.

Use the free museum Sundays

Recommended by 6 of 19 guides read.

Around a dozen paid sights are free every Sunday from 3 pm, and more are free all day on the first Sunday of the month, per the council’s Sunday page. The Museu Picasso is free that Sunday with a booking, and so are the MNAC and Castell de Montjuïc, per the first Sunday page.

Less common picks

Order the menú del día at lunch (5 guides). Don’t try to see everything (4 guides). Many shops close on Sundays (4 guides), and the Boqueria is closed then too. Three guides each say not to hire a car and to see the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau.

What to do first

• Buy a T-casual at a metro machine.
• Book the Sagrada Família and Park Güell before you land.
• Keep your phone in a front pocket or a zipped bag.
• Plan a late lunch and a later dinner.

See things to do in Barcelona, where to stay in Barcelona and the Montserrat day trip for the rest of the trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Barcelona safe for tourists?

Fifteen of the 19 guides read warn about pickpockets, in crowds, on the metro and at the beach. Keep your bag zipped and in front of you.

What’s the best way to get around Barcelona?

The metro, with a T-casual for 10 journeys. A single ticket is €2.90 and a T-casual is €13.00 for one zone.

Does the T-casual work at the airport?

No. It isn’t valid at the airport stations on the L9 Sud line, so buy a separate ticket.

When does the Barcelona metro run?

From 05:00 to midnight Monday to Thursday, to 02:00 on Fridays, and continuously from Saturday morning through the night. Sunday service ends at midnight.

Are museums free in Barcelona?

Some are. Around a dozen paid sights are free every Sunday from 3 pm, and more are free on the first Sunday of the month.

What time do you eat in Barcelona?

Lunch is around 14:00 and dinner after 21:00, per nine of the 19 guides read.

Places in this guide

Photos show the actual places, licensed under Creative Commons and credited to their photographers.

Platja de la Barceloneta Barceloneta Photo: veritatem Park Güell Gràcia Photo: corno.fulgur75 Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya Montjuïc Photo: Albert T M Castell de Montjuïc Montjuïc Photo: Stuart Smith.