Are you coming to Barcelona on budget? With Hola Barcelona travel card you can get unlimited travel for 2, 3, 4 or 5 days in a row. Explore the city and its surroundings without worrying about paying for public transport tickets. Hola Barcelona card truly has the best value/price performance: pay once and then have unlimited rides on metro, buses, trams or trains!
In this article you’ll learn:
- What is Hola Barcelona card?
- For how long is Hola Barcelona card valid?
- How much is Hola Barcelona card?
- What is included in Hola Barcelona card?
- How to buy Hola Barcelona card?
- How to use Hola Barcelona card?
- Is Hola Barcelona Card worth it?
- Frequently asked questions about Hola Barcelona card
Explore the Barcelona with the best budget travel card
Barcelona is the ideal city to travel on foot as you get lost in the winding alleyways of its various neighbourhoods, take in the city’s green spaces, and stroll along the seafront. The greatest mode of transportation to explore the city is by using its top European bus and subway system.
I think everyone knows it: you’re in a new beautiful city but have no idea how to move from one place to another. Ok, you’ll get a map, maybe some app for planning your journey but how much will the ticket cost? I was in this situation many times and I always spent long minutes googling and studying different travel guides to find the best deal possible for me as a traveller. Fortunately, in Barcelona you don’t have to do this if you get Hola Barcelona travel and tourist card.
What is Hola Barcelona card?
It is official city pass you can use for exploring the city of Barcelona. It is offered by TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona), trusted local authority transport operator.
There are 4 options for Hola Barcelona card you can choose from:
- 48 hours pass – 2 days
- 72 hours pass – 3 days
- 96 hours pass – 4 days
- 120 hours pass – 5 days
Hola Barcelona is great for individual travellers families or groups too. Keep in mind every member of the group needs to have his or her own card: you can’t share one card among more people.
Why you should pick Hola Barcelona card – what are the main benefits?
Unlimited rides on the public transport – this is the main selling point for Hola Barcelona card. What does it mean in practise? If you get this card, you can jump on any metro (subway), bus, tram or even train to get where you need and you don’t have to worry about paying for the ticket. That’s right, Hola Barcelona gives your mind the peace of not thinking about paying for public transport tickets. You can find below in frequently asked questions what exact means of transport are available in this travel card.
Hola Barcelona was truly created for those who’re looking for the biggest price/value ratio as it doesn’t contain anything else than free public transport. Meaning: unlike other travel and tourist cards in Barcelona, you’re not paying for things, attractions or sights you don’t want to use, do, or visit.
What is the validity of Hola Barcelona card?
The card is active from the first time you use it. That’s why you can see always mentioned the number of hours for each option. Let me give you an example:
You’re in Barcelona from Monday to Friday. You arrive on Monday afternoon and you leave on Friday morning. If the validity is counted in calendar days, it would mean you should have 5 day Hola Barcelona card. But in reality 4 days / 96 hours option would be sufficient for you because you’ll use the card for the first time at 3pm on Monday and at 7 am on Friday:
- Mon – Tue: 24 hours
- Tue – Wed: 24 hours
- Wed – Thu: 24 hours
- Thu – Fri: 24 hours
As you can see, your stay from Monday to Friday can fit in 96 hours, so 4 days / 96 hours Hola Barcelona card is enough. Think twice about it before you pick how many days you need…
Prices for Hola Barcelona card
- 48 hours: €16,40
- 72 hours: €23,80
- 96 hours: €31,00
- 120 hours: €38,20
How to get 5% discount while purchasing Hola Barcelona card?
If you plan ahead and buy your cards online, you can save a few euros: there’s a discount for Hola Barcelona travel card. The prices with online discount are following:
- 48 hours:
€16,40€15,58 - 72 hours:
€23,80€22,61 - 96 hours:
€31,00€29,45 - 120 hours:
€38,20€36,29
There’s no discount code needed for purchasing Barcelona Card for prices above, just use the button below.
How to use Hola Barcelona card?
It is really simple to use Hola Barcelona card on your journey: anytime you start a trip, you need to validate the card.
Let’s start with the metro (subway) as it will be your most frequent mean of transport in the city: when you enter the metro station area, you have to swipe your Hola Barcelona card through the turnstile that’s blocking the entry. Just put the ticket to the slot, wait for doors to open, grab the ticket and you’re free to go. (If doors not open, you probably have an expired or corrupted card).
With buses or trams it works in a similar way with one slight difference: there’s usually no barrier and you can enter the vehicle straight away. So once you’re onboard, you have to locate the machine for validating tickets and insert the ticket into it in the direction the arrows on the card show. The machine will take your ticket inside of it and a few moments later, it will be returned to you and you can take it and enjoy your ride.
Our review: Is Hola Barcelona travel card worth it?
If you’re travelling to Barcelona for a few days and you’re on the budget, it makes a lot of sense to get Hola Barcelona travel card. With this card, you don’t have to think about public transport at all, you don’t have to buy single tickets or any other travel tickets. It’s a great deal especially if you get it online, before your travel. You can save a few extra euros for this and all your travelling needs around the city will be covered.
A big plus is that you can pick up the card directly at the airport. So once your plane lands and you collect your baggage, you can easily locate the collection point on the terminal, get Hola Barcelona card and use it even for your journey from the airport to the city.
Hola Barcelona wouldn’t be worth for you in one situation: you stay in the city center (in quarters like Barri Gòtic or El Raval) and you do like to walk everywhere. It’s because in the city center everything is quite close! Then you’d use Hola Barcelona only for attractions that are little far like Sagrada Familia or park Güell. Then it would make more sense to get a single ticket or integrated card like T-casual.
But if you’re not on budget and want to have more benefits while stying in Barcelona, I recommend to check some other cards available in the city, like Barcelona Card or Go City Barcelona pass. Aside from free public transport, they contain a lot more things like free admissions to the city’s most favourite attractions or skip-the-line option so you’ll save not only money, but also time.
Where to buy Hola Barcelona card?
There’s several ways how to buy Hola Barcelona card for tourists:
- get the card in person at any metro station
- get it at the airport or any Barcelona Turisme office (see below)
- get it online with a discount – that’s what we recommend!
Can I buy Hola Barcelona card at the airport?
Yes, you can. There’s Barcelona Turisme office located on both terminals where you can purchase your Hola Barcelona card.
See more details about the buying the card at the airport.
Where to pick up Hola Barcelona Card?
We strongly recommend to pick up Hola Barcelona tourist card after your arrival at the Barcelona Airport (BCN). There are two collection points available:
- Barcelona Airport, Terminal T1
Open from Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Saturday and Sunday: from 8:30am to 8:30pm. - Barcelona Airport, Terminal T2:
Open from Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 8:30pm. Sunday, from 8:30 to 8pm.
You can also pick up your Hola Barcelona travel card in any Barcelona Turisme office in the city. See the list of all available collection points:
- Pl. Catalunya – Plaça de Catalunya, 17-basement. Daily from 8:30am to 8:30pm.
- Pl. Catalunya – Information booth in front of El Corte Inglés department store. From Monday to Sunday, from 8:30am to 2:30pm.
- Sagrada Familia: Tourist information booth – From Monday to Saturday, from 8:30am to 8pm. Sunday, from 8:30am to 2:30pm.
- Mirador de Colom (Columbus Monument): Plaça Portal de la Pau, s/n. Daily from 8.30am to 2.30pm. Closed: 1/1 and 25/12.
What is included in Hola Barcelona card?
The main benefit of Hola Barcelona card is to offer you unlimited number of journeys on public transport within the Zone 1. This includes:
- metro (including from/to airport)
- trains (including from/to airport)
- buses
- trams
- Funicular de Montjuïc from Para-lel station and Vallvidrera funicular to Tibidabo
Basically it includes all means of public transport operated by either Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) or Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC).
What is NOT included in Hola Barcelona card?
You CAN’T use following means of transport with Hola Barcelona:
- Barcelona tourist hop on/ hop off bus (there’s another card for it)
- Aerobus from/to Barcelona Airport (the blue shuttle bus)
- Night Bus (NitBus) are not included
- Montjuic cable car
- Funicular to Tibidabo
- Port cable car (Aeri del Port, Port Vell Aerial Tramway)
For each of them you need to purchase a separate ticket as they’re not a part of integrated public transport system in Barcelona!
Can you use Hola Barcelona card for trips outside of the city?
No! Hola Barcelona travel card is valid only in Zone 1 which covers city center and area around the airport. If you’d like to visit Montserrat or any other locations outside of the city of Barcelona, you need to have another card or ticket for it.
Is there Hola Barcelona card for kids?
No! You should purchase the same card for your kids as you’ll get for yourself. If your children are below 4 years, they can use public transport in Barcelona for free. Anyone older has to have normal Hola Barcelona card.
What available options are there?
- Hola Barcelona for 2 days (48 hours)
- Hola Barcelona for 3 days (72 hours)
- Hola Barcelona for 4 days (96 hours)
- Hola Barcelona for 5 days (120 hours)
Compare Hola Barcelona to other cards
- Hola Barcelona versus Barcelona Card
- Hola Barcelona versus Barcelona Card Express
- Hola Barcelona versus T-casual (formerly T-10 card)
What does Hola Barcelona mean?
Hola means hello in Spanish. So you could translate the name of this card as “Hello Barcelona”.