Barcelona Tourist Travel Pass (HolaBCN card)- what it's all about
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Q: Hi, could you tell me what is the Barcelona Tourist Travel Pass and what savings can we make with it? How is it different over other Barcelona transport tickets? How can we buy this pass? There is a bewildering array of tickets and passes, and I'm not sure which is best for us. Can you help throw some light on this subject?
A: The Barcelona Tourist Travel Pass (also known as the HolaBCN card) is a transport pass specifically designed for tourists. Once purchased it enables you to have unlimited journeys on the Barcelona public transport system. The ticket includes the TMB buses from Barcelona Airport to the city centre, the Airport metro from both T1 and T2, the airport train to the city centre. Also, you can use the ticket on the underground metro system in the city centre, the TMB buses that run in the city centre and the local tram system. The key points about this travel pass are that you can take as many rides as you want during its validity period. Unlike the T-Casual ticket which only gives you 10 rides before it expires the Barcelona Travel Pass gives you unlimited journeys at any time of day.
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| Barcelona Airport metro |
Some limitations of this Tourist Travel Pass compared to other transport cards.
1. The travel pass is valid from 05:00 to 23:00 only. Therefore night time travel is not included in the card.
2. You cannot purchase a 1 day card.
Card validity: 2 - 5 days
3. The card is valid per day and not per 24 hours. This means that the card's travel day is defined as ending at 23:00 on the day you use it.
4. The card is valid only for consecutive day use. For example if you buy a 4 day card you can only use it for 4 days one after another. You cannot take a "day out" of not using it and add that day to the end.
5. Unlike the Barcelona card the Tourist Travel Pass does not entitle you to discount entries to Barcelona attractions. It is purely a travel card. However some people prefer that.
6. The card is only activated when you take your first journey. Therefore you can pick up the tourist travel pass and hold onto it until you're ready to start using it. For some people arriving late at Barcelona airport it might be worth not using the card to pay for your transport from the airport because that would then count as the first day of use of the card. If you are arriving on a late night flight it may be worth paying for your transport separately from the airport transport and then start using the card the next day. In this way you will get a full day's worth of use of the card instead.
We have also a page on the difference between the tourist travel pass and the Barcelona card.
Where to buy the Tourist Travel Pass?
You can purchase the tourist travel pass from any Barcelona tourist information office or from a metro ticket vending machine. Alternatively you can buy your card online and pick it up from either the airport tourist information offices or from any tourist information office in Barcelona city centre.