In this guide
💡 The Short Version: For most visits, buy a T-casual: 10 journeys for €13 in zone 1, which covers the city, against €2.90 for a single ticket. Each journey can include up to three changes within 75 minutes. It is for one person only, so a couple needs two, or a shared T-familiar (8 journeys, €11.50). Neither works at the airport metro stations, where the airport ticket is €5.90. The Hola Barcelona card gives unlimited travel for 1 to 5 days, from €12.50 (€11.25 online), and includes one airport metro trip each way; with the Aerobús, the 72-hour card is cheaper than T-casuals once you make more than ten journeys in three days. The metro runs from 5:00 to midnight, to 2:00 on Fridays and all night on Saturdays. Buy at the metro machines or the official sites: GetYourGuide resells the Hola card from £16.03, above the official €12.50 (about £10.71).
The tickets, compared
Zone 1 prices from tmb.cat, checked 29 September 2026. Zone 1 covers the city.
The L3 platforms at Passeig de Gràcia. Photo: Agm, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
| Ticket | Price | Who | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single ticket | €2.90 | One person, one journey | Metro, TMB bus and the Montjuïc funicular. Not valid at the airport stations. |
| T-casual | €13 for 10 journeys | One person | The usual choice for a visitor. Not valid at the airport stations. |
| T-familiar | €11.50 for 8 journeys | Shared by several people | Must be used within 30 days of first use. Not valid at the airport stations. |
| T-grup | €91 for 70 journeys | Shared by several people | Within 30 days; for a group or a long family stay. Not valid at the airport stations. |
| T-dia | €12 for 24 hours | One person, unlimited | Includes one trip to and one from the airport metro stations. |
| Hola Barcelona card | From €12.50 for 24 hours; 10% off online | One person, unlimited, 1 to 5 days | Includes one airport metro trip each way. |
| Airport ticket | €5.90 | One person, one journey | The only single ticket valid at Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 on the L9 Sud. |
- Changes are free on the T-casual, T-familiar, T-grup and the passes: up to three changes onto other integrated transport within 75 minutes of the first validation in zone 1. A single ticket covers one journey only.
- Validate at every change, except a change between two metro lines inside the network. On a bus, a green light and a soft beep mean the ticket is valid.
- Cards and phones: the T-casual and the other integrated tickets load onto a contactless card or your phone. The anonymous cardboard card costs €1 at the machines; the phone option costs €1 to activate in the TMB App (tmb.cat, 30 September 2026).
Which ticket to buy
- A few rides a day: one T-casual, at €1.30 a journey.
- Two or more of you: each person needs their own T-casual; the T-familiar is the shared alternative, at €1.44 a journey against €1.30.
- A busy day: the T-dia (€12) and the one-day Hola card (€11.25 online) both give 24 hours of unlimited travel, airport metro included. The Hola card bought online is the cheaper of the two.
- Several busy days: the Hola card. The sums below assume the Aerobús to and from the airport, because Aerobús sells the Hola card and its own return together (aerobusbarcelona.es, 29 September 2026).
| Three days, Aerobús both ways | Cost | Journeys in town |
|---|---|---|
| Aerobús return and one T-casual | €26.30 | 10 |
| Hola Barcelona 72 hours and Aerobús return | €36.95 | Unlimited |
| Aerobús return and two T-casuals | €39.30 | 20 |
Make ten journeys or fewer in three days and the T-casual is cheaper; make more and the Hola card is. The same bundle is €29.65 for 48 hours, €44 for 96 hours and €50.80 for 120 hours, against €13.30 for the Aerobús return on its own.
The Hola Barcelona card
1 to 5 days, from the first validation · from €12.50, 10% off online · one airport metro trip each way included
The Hola Barcelona travel card is TMB’s visitor pass: unlimited journeys for 24, 48, 72, 96 or 120 hours from the moment you first validate it, at any time of day (tmb.cat, 29 September 2026).
- Covers: the metro, TMB buses, the NitBus night buses, the Montjuïc funicular, the tram, and FGC and Rodalies trains in zone 1. Not the Montjuïc cable car.
- Buying online: 10% off at holabarcelona.com, where the one-day card is €11.25. You get a voucher, which you swap for the card at a metro ticket machine; vouchers bought with the Aerobús cannot be swapped at the airport stations.
- Buying in person: metro ticket machines, TMB’s Punt TMB offices, tourist information offices and the Hola Barcelona shop in the L3 hall at Catalunya station.
- One card, one person. It can be topped up at the machines for another trip; an unused card expires on 28 February of the year after purchase.
When the metro runs
Hours from tmb.cat, read on 30 September 2026. The closing time is when the last train leaves the end of each line.
| Day | Metro hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday, and Sundays | 5:00 to midnight |
| Fridays and the nights before public holidays | 5:00 to 2:00 |
| Saturdays | From 5:00, then all night into Sunday |
| The nights of 23 June (Sant Joan) and 23 September (La Mercè) | All night, into the 24th |
| 24 December | 5:00 to 23:00 |
| 31 December | All night |
The Montjuïc funicular, from Paral·lel metro up the hill, runs 7:30 to 22:00 on weekdays and 9:00 to 22:00 at weekends until 25 October 2026, then to 20:00 until 28 March 2027. It takes the metro tickets.
Beyond the metro
The Park Güell shuttle
Included in the Park Güell ticket · from Alfons X metro (L4) · 15 minutes
The Bus Güell runs from Alfons X station to the park and back, and is included in the park’s ticket. The alternative is a 20-minute uphill walk from Lesseps (L3). Park Güell tickets has the slots.
The Montjuïc cable car
€19.00 return, €17.10 online · not included in any travel card
The cable car runs over the top of Montjuïc to the castle. Buy it at holabarcelona.com for €17.10 (€19.00 at the station); GetYourGuide resells it from £16.28. The Montjuïc cable car guide covers the funicular, the stations and the castle.
The upper station of the Montjuïc funicular. Photo: Enric, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hop-on hop-off buses
24 hours €33.00, €29.70 online at Hola Barcelona · about 9:00 to 19:00 · two routes on one ticket
Two companies run hop-on hop-off buses on two routes each, and neither is on a metro ticket. The Barcelona Bus Turístic, run by TMB, has a Blue route from Plaça de Catalunya to FC Barcelona’s stadium by way of Passeig de Gràcia, Park Güell, Tibidabo and Pedralbes, and a Red route to the Arc de Triomf by way of Plaça d’Espanya, the Montjuïc Olympic Ring, the Forum and the Sagrada Família. Each route takes about 2 hours and the buses pass every 10 or 25 minutes by season; 48 hours is €44.00, or €39.60 online (barcelonabusturistic.cat, 30 September 2026). GetYourGuide’s Barcelona City Tour Hop-On Hop-Offad is the other company’s ticket, from £28.28 (4.4 stars from 24,587 reviews, valid 1 or 2 days): the Green route runs from Plaça de Catalunya to Park Güell and the Sagrada Família, and the Orange route to the Camp Nou and the MNAC, with services from 9:00 and the last departure at 18:00 from November to March and 19:00 from April to October, and an audio guide in 16 languages.
A T-dia is €12 for 24 hours of metro and bus travel, so a bus ticket is about €20 more, and the extra pays for the commentary and the route, not the transport.
A Barcelona Bus Turístic open-top bus. Photo: Matti Blume, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Taxis
Metered · black and yellow · €1.35 a km on weekdays 8:00–20:00; €1.66 at night, on Saturdays and on public holidays
Fares are set by the metropolitan taxi authority, 2026 rates. From the airport there is a €4.60 supplement and a €21 minimum; Barcelona airport to the city centre has the full fares and the Aerobús.
Trains out of the city
Rodalies from Sants and Passeig de Gràcia · FGC from Plaça Espanya
Day trips leave zone 1, so a zone-1 T-casual and the Hola card do not cover them: Sitges, Tarragona, Girona and the cava towns are on Rodalies trains, and Montserrat on the FGC from Plaça Espanya, whose rack railway takes no travel card. Day trips from Barcelona has the fares and times.
From a cruise ship, the Cruise Bus and the metro from the World Trade Center are in Barcelona cruise port to the city centre. For what to book before you fly, see what to book before you go in Barcelona; for an area with a metro station at the door, where to stay in Barcelona.
Common questions
How much is a metro ticket in Barcelona?
A single ticket is €2.90, valid for one journey on the metro, the TMB buses or the Montjuïc funicular. The T-casual gives one person 10 journeys for €13 in zone 1, which covers the city. Neither is valid at the airport metro stations, where the airport ticket is €5.90 (TMB, checked 29 September 2026).
Is the Hola Barcelona card worth it?
Only if you make more than about ten journeys. With the Aerobús both ways, three days cost €26.30 on a T-casual (10 journeys) and €36.95 on the Hola Barcelona 72-hour card, which is unlimited. A second T-casual makes €39.30, so once you pass ten journeys in three days, the Hola card is cheaper.
Can two people share a T-casual?
No. The T-casual is a single-person ticket. A couple or family can share the T-familiar (8 journeys in 30 days, €11.50) or the T-grup (70 journeys in 30 days, €91).
What time does the Barcelona metro close?
At midnight from Sunday to Thursday, at 2:00 on Friday nights and the nights before public holidays, and not at all on Saturday night: it runs straight through from Saturday morning to Sunday night. It opens at 5:00.
