Barcelona Pass: the best attraction city card

Barcelona

The Barcelona Pass is a a tourist and cultural passport to help you to discover Barcelona with an all-in package ticket entrance. The great thing about a city card is that it provides you with admission to top visitor attractions, so you’ll be saving money before you know it!

And it also comes with extra benefits, like allowing you priority access to busy attractions or free use of public transport so you can get around with ease.

I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing and analyzing the various Barcelona city passes available to visitors. After a lot of field work, I came to the conclusion that the best one right now is the Barcelona Pass.

I know you have a lot of questions, such as is it the best for me? Or is it worth the money? Well, after doing some math, I’ve found that it’s a bit complicated… So keep reading my Barcelona Pass review to see if this city pass fits your travel style.

1. What is the Barcelona Pass?

The Barcelona Pass is the best tourist card currently available, as it gives you free entry to a wide range of tourist attractions in Barcelona.

Available in 2 and 3 consecutive day formats, the Barcelona Pass includes free entry to 20+ tourist attractions in Barcelona, as well as a one-day ticket to ride the city’s tourist bus.

2. What is the main advantage of the Barcelona Pass?

The main advantage of the Barcelona Pass is the great savings you can achieve by maximizing its use, which can reach up to 180€ in the case of the 2-day tourist pass or up to 270€ in the case of the 3-day city pass.

Moreover, in all attractions, the Barcelona Pass allows you to break through the slow line at the box office, so you can go straight to the fast line for visitors who already have their tickets or a voucher.

Finally, the Barcelona Pass Fast Track Entry lets you exclusively skip the queue at top attractions, saving you time while sightseeing. Simply show your Barcelona Pass at the attraction entrance and walk through without having to wait in line. You can do so at:

FC Barcelona
La Pedrera
Aquàrium
Poble Espanyol

3. What are the attractions included in the Barcelona Pass?

The Barcelona Pass includes free admission (which can be used only once in each attraction) for the following attractions and tourist activities:

Barcelona’s must-see attractions

FC Barcelona Museum (Camp Nou Experience). Normal price of single ticket: 25€.
La Pedrera. Normal price of single ticket: 20.50€.
Casa Batlló. Regular ticket price: 23.50€.
Barcelona Aquarium. Regular ticket price: 20€.
Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Regular ticket price: 14€.
Ticket valid for one day on the official tourist bus of Barcelona. Single ticket price: 28€.

Other attractions in Barcelona

CosmoCaixa (Museum of Science). Normal price of single ticket: 4€
Poble Espanyol. Normal price of single ticket: 14€.
Barcelona Zoo. Regular ticket price: 19.90€.
Gaudi Exhibition Center. Regular ticket price: 15€.
Wax Museum of Barcelona. Regular ticket price: 15€.
Egyptian Museum of Barcelona. Normal price of single ticket: 11€.
Modernisme Català Museum. Normal price of single ticket: 10€.
CaixaForum. Normal price of single ticket: 4€.
Casa de les Punxes. Normal price of single ticket: 12,50€.
MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona). Normal price of single ticket: 10€.
Gaudi Experience 4D. Regular ticket price: 9€.
Ticket to visit the Güell Colony and Güell Colony Crypt. Transportation not included. Regular ticket price: 9€.
40-minute boat ride through the port of Barcelona in Las Golondrinas. See more information here. Normal price of the single tour: 15€.
Bicycle tour with guide. A 3.5-hour tour through the districts of ancient Barcelona. See more information here. Normal price of the single tour: 30€.
Walking tour with a guide. A 3-hour walk through the districts of Ancient Barcelona. See more information here. Normal price of the single tour: 18€.
Round-trip bus to La Roca Village outlets shopping mall. Normal price of single ticket: 20€.

4. How much does the Barcelona Pass cost?

The current Barcelona Pass prices are the following. Nevertheless, you can always check the updated prices of all tourist passes.

2-day Barcelona Pass (2 consecutive days)

Adult: 124.99€
Children (between 4 and 12 years old): 84.99€
Adult + unlimited public transport card valid for 48 hours: 140.19€
Children (between 4 and 12 years old) + unlimited public transport card valid for 48 hours: 100.19€

3-day Barcelona Pass (3 consecutive days)

Adult: 149.99€
Children (between 4 and 12 years old): 99.99€
Adult + unlimited public transport card valid for 72 hours: 172.19€
Children (between 4 and 12 years old) + unlimited public transport card valid for 72 hours: 122.19€

5. How much can you save with the Barcelona Pass?

The Barcelona Pass is subject to a “purse value” of maximum gate prices related to the number of days. Once you have reached your “purse value” for the total duration of your tourist pass, the pass will also expire.

With a 2-day adult pass you can visit up to €180 worth of attractions (100€ in the case of the children’s pass).
With a 3-day adult pass you can visit up to €270 worth of attractions (150€ in the case of the children’s pass).

Imagine you plan to visit the FC Barcelona Museum, La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, Aquàrium, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Casa de les Puntxes and take the open top tour bus, you would pay 150€. However, if you buy a 2-day city pass for 124.99€, you would be saving 25.01€ and would still have a large number of attractions that you could visit to reach the maximum “purse value”.

In the case of the 3-day tourist pass, the savings are even higher greater, and you have 3 full days to visit the attractions included in the pass before reaching the maximum “purse value”.

6. Where can you buy the Barcelona Pass?

The easiest way is to buy it online.

7. Where can you pick up your Barcelona Pass?

When you order the Barcelona Pass online, there is the option to either have the order shipped to an address of your choosing. But that option has an extra cost.

The easiest option is to pick up your tourist passes at our Barcelona collection desk, which is free.

To collect your pass in Barcelona, print off your Barcelona Pass email confirmation voucher sent to you upon purchase and head to the Redemption Centre in the city to redeem your passes:

Address: Palau Moja, located on Carrer Portaferrissa, 1 in Barcelona (a side street on Las Ramblas)
Opening Times: Monday to Sunday from 9:30 to 21.30
Metro: Liceu on L3 (green), Plaça de Catalunya on L1 (red), L3 (green), L6 (violet), L7 (brown)

8. Tips to make the most out of your Barcelona Pass

You activate your pass the moment it is first used. Therefore, you can withdraw the pass at Palau Moja (see section 7) before you start using it, at any time of the day. The pass will only be activated at the time you enter the first attraction.
The pass is valid per calendar day. Therefore, it’s best to activate it right at the beginning of the first day to make your investment as profitable as possible.
To maximize the use of the pass, choose the attractions that are more expensive. The CosmoCaixa (Museum of Science), for example, is a great attraction. But the entrance fee is relatively cheap ticket, and you will need a lot of time to visit it. So it’s actually not worthy to use your Barcelona Pass here.
To use the hop on hop off tourist bus, you will receive a voucher when you pick up the pass at Palau Moja. Exchange this pass for the tourist bus ticket at any point on the three bus routes.

9. A 2-day itinerary with your Barcelona Pass

This is an example of a 2-day itinerary taking full advantage of your Barcelona Pass.

Day 1

If possible, pick up your pass the day before.
Start the day visiting Casa Batlló.
Continue your visit to La Pedrera.
Go down the Passeig de Gràcia until the end of Las Ramblas and enter the Museu de Cera de Barcelona.
Continue towards the seaside for a boat ride through the port of Barcelona in Las Golondrinas.
End your day at the Aquàrium de Barcelona.

Day 2

Take the blue line of the open top tour bus at Plaça Catalunya and get off at the Sagrada Familia stop to see the basilica from the outside. The Sagrada Familia is not included in the pass, but if you want to visit it, you can do so now.
Walk to the Hospital de Sant Pau to visit this incredible sight.
Return to the Sagrada Familia to take the blue line of the tourist bus again to go to Park Güell.
On the way to Park Güell, enter the Gaudi Experience 4D.
Catch the tourist bus again and continue to Park Güell to visit the free admission area of the park (the ticket to visit the monumental area is not included in the Barcelona Pass).
Return to the bus stop and travel on the blue line to Camp Nou. Visit the FC Barcelona stadium.
Take the blue line of the open top tour bus again. Get off at the Francesc Maciá-Diagonal stop, and walk towards to the Francesc Maciá-Diagonal stop on red line, which is very close. Yes, both stops have the same name but they are not exactly in the same location.
The red line follows the Montjuïc mountain, continuing through the old port of Barcelona before returning to Plaça Catalunya. The last departure of the tourist bus is at 19:00 during winter time, and 20:00 during summer time. But check it with the driver when boarding the bus.

The 2-day city pass costs 124.99€ and a maximum “purse value” of 180€. With my 2-day itinerary, which you are free to follow or adapt according to your interests and need, you will save 51.71€!

10. A 3-day itinerary with your Barcelona Pass

This is an example of a 3-day itinerary taking full advantage of your Barcelona Pass.

Day 1

Have a look at my suggestions included in the 2-day itinerary (section 9).

Day 2

Have a look at my suggestions included in the 2-day itinerary (section 9).

Day 3

Have a look at the list of the remaining attractions (those you haven’t visited yet) and choose the ones that you like best. Remember that, in the case of the 3-day tourist pass, the maximum “purse value” is 270€.