Tickets and passes for the metro, bus and tram in Barcelona

Barcelona’s integrated fare system – managed by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) – allows you, with a single transport ticket, to make any journey involving the different means of transport, both local and regional, namely: metro, buses (urban, metropolitan and interurban), trams and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya and Rodalies de Catalunya railway networks.

Types of tickets and subscriptions

In addition to the single ticket, there are a number of other tickets and subscriptions. All tickets or passes issued by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) are valid and can be used on board the Barcelona Metro. They are:

• Hola Barcelona Travel Card: designed for tourists, it offers unlimited travel and comes in different formats from 2 to 5 consecutive days from the first validation. It is possible to purchase it online before leaving. It includes the round trip by metro from the airport to the centre of Barcelona.
• Barcelona Card and Barcelona Card Express: like the Hola Barcelona Travel Card, both offer free travel on public transport, but both have several extra advantages for tourists.
• Single 1-trip ticket: an individual ticket, valid for one trip on the metro (except Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 metro stations on line L9 South), bus or Montjuïc funicular
• AirportTicket: is a one-way ticket to or from the airport: valid for a journey between Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 stations on line L9 Sud and the rest of the metro network
• T-usual: individual ticket, allows unlimited travel within 30 consecutive days of first use
• T-casual: individual ticket, allows ten trips at a discounted price, with no expiry date
• T-grup: group/family ticket, allows a total of 70 journeys to be made within 30 consecutive days of first use
• T-jove: individual tickets for young people under the age of 25 for an unlimited number of journeys in 90 consecutive days from the first use. Valid for Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 underground stations on line L9 Sud
• T-familiar: group/family ticket, allows 8 trips in total to be made in 30 consecutive days from the first use. Not valid for Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 underground stations on line L9 Sud
• T-dia: individual ticket, allows unlimited travel within a single day. Includes one round trip to or from Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 underground stations on line L9 Sud

T-casual and T-family tickets

T-casual and T-familiar tickets have taken the place of the old T10 ticket.

The T-casual ticket allows you to make a total of 10 trips between the metro, FGC, trams, buses (note, excludingAerbus, the bus connecting to the airport), and Renfe within zone 1 (the central zone, within which most of Barcelona’s attractions are located).

It is very convenient if you make more than 5 trips during your journey and, besides the economic advantages, you will also save the time of buying a new ticket each time.

However, it is an individual ticket, so it cannot be shared with your fellow travellers.

Unlike the T-familiar ticket, which is valid for 8 trips but is not named, and can therefore be shared with your friends or family. In practice, you only need to stamp the ticket as many times as there are travellers. For example, a T-family ticket can be used for 8 different journeys by only 1 person, for 4 journeys by 2 people or, paradoxically, even for 1 journey by 8 people at the same time. You can see how such a solution is really good for every need.

For both types, just pay attention to the fact that once the ticket is stamped, the single ride is valid for 75 minutes.

How to save money on public transport: city cards

To save money on public transport tickets, buy a discount card before you travel to Barcelona: the main ones are the Hola BCN Card, the Barcelona Card and the Barcelona Card Express. Buy one and you will have unlimited travel on the metro, bus and tram for the duration of the card.

Zones of Barcelona

The travel card you use must cover as many zones as you travel through, up to a maximum of 6 zones. The centre of Barcelona falls largely within Zone 1. For example, to go from Barcelona (Zone 1) to Sitges (Zone 3A) you need to buy a ticket valid for three zones.