It depends. The 24-hour ticket costs €29.70 online against €11.25 for a day of unlimited metro and bus, and six of the ten main sights are within seven minutes of a stop.
The numbers behind the verdict
The bus earns its price on Montjuïc and along the seafront, where the metro is thin.
For Gaudí's houses, the Sagrada Família and the old town the metro is faster and a third of the cost.
You want Montjuïc in one go: the Red Route has eight stops on the hill, from Plaça d'Espanya to Miramar.
You plan to see Pedralbes, Sarrià or Tibidabo, which no metro line reaches. You would need FGC trains and local buses.
You are travelling with someone who cannot manage metro stairs and long interchange corridors.
It is your first day and you want a 2-hour overview with commentary before choosing what to visit.
Skip it if
Your list is Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera and the Gothic Quarter. Metro lines L2, L3 and L5 link all of them.
Park Güell is your priority. The bus stop is 900 metres below the gate, mostly uphill.
You have timed tickets back to back. A bus every 10 to 25 minutes and a 2-hour loop make a tight schedule risky.
You are staying four days or more. A T-casual at €13 for 10 rides will cover most of the trip.
Barcelona sightseeing bus: the fact sheet
Routes and timetable
Route
Stops
Frequency
Full loop
First / last bus
Blue Route
14
10–25 min
120 min
09:00 / 19:00
Red Route
24
10–25 min
120 min
09:00 / 19:00
Blue Route
The Blue Route leaves Plaça de Catalunya, runs up Passeig de Gràcia past Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, then loops through Sant Pau, Park Güell, Tibidabo, Sarrià, Pedralbes and the Camp Nou before returning via Francesc Macià and Sant Antoni.
It has 14 stops and takes about 2 hours.
We list 13 of them (Les Corts is left out to keep the map to 30 stops), and the Futbol Club Barcelona stop was out of service on 4 October 2026.
Red Route
The Red Route covers Plaça d'Espanya, eight stops on Montjuïc, the port, the beaches as far as the Fòrum, and comes back through Glòries and the Sagrada Família.
It has 24 stops and takes about 2 hours.
We leave out four minor ones (Estació de Sants, Platja Nova Mar Bella, Parc Diagonal Mar, Poblenou).
Estació de Sants was cancelled on 2 October 2026 and the Torre Glòries stop has been at Carrer de Badajoz 160 since 19 January 2026.
The operator publishes one year-round timetable: 9:00 to 19:00, a bus every 10 to 25 minutes depending on the season.
Audio guide in 16 languages. Wheelchair access: yes, according to the operator.
Ticket prices
Ticket
Adult
Child
24 hoursBarcelona Bus Turístic 24 hours
€29.70
€16.20
48 hoursBarcelona Bus Turístic 48 hours
€39.60
€20.70
72 hours
not sold
One ticket covers both routes, with an audio guide in 16 languages, headphones, on-board Wi-Fi, a paper map and a booklet of discounts for museums and attractions.
Prices here are the online ones from the operator's Hola Barcelona store: €29.70 for 24 hours and €39.60 for 48 hours.
On the bus or at the Plaça de Catalunya metro shop you pay €33 and €44.
Seniors over 65 pay €25.20 and €35.10 online.
There is no 72-hour ticket.
The Night Tour (€22, summer only) and the Christmas Tour (€15) are separate, are not hop-on hop-off, and both were closed for the season on 4 October 2026.
A second company, Barcelona City Tour, runs green and orange routes at the same €33 and €44.
Its tickets are not valid on the Bus Turístic.
The Civitatis product is the Bus Turístic with its Blue and Red routes, sold for 24 or 48 hours.
Child fare: ages 4 to 12.
The same day by public transport
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB)
Adult
Single ride
€2.90
One day, unlimited rides
€11.25
The day cost is the Hola Barcelona Travel Card for 24 hours bought online at €11.25 (€12.50 at a metro machine).
TMB's T-dia day pass costs €12 for one zone.
A single ticket is €2.90 and a T-casual gives 10 rides for €13, so €1.30 a ride.
Children under 4 travel free.
From 4 upwards visitors pay the adult fare.
Do the sum for your trip
Change the numbers to match your group. Fares are adult fares from the tables above.
Sightseeing bus–
Public transport–
Public transport is charged per ride up to the daily maximum. Multi-day passes can be cheaper still.
24, 48 or 72 hours
24 hours€29.70 Barcelona Bus Turístic 24 hours · €29.70 per day · 2.6 times public transport for the same days
48 hoursLowest cost per day€39.60 Barcelona Bus Turístic 48 hours · €19.80 per day · 1.8 times public transport for the same days
There are two tickets, 24 hours at €29.70 and 48 hours at €39.60 online, and no 72-hour option. Each route takes about 2 hours without getting off, so riding both is 4 hours of sitting before you visit anything.
In 24 hours you can do one route with three or four stops properly, or both routes as a ride with one or two stops. If you want to get off on Montjuïc and also reach Park Güell and Pedralbes, buy the 48-hour ticket.
The extra day costs €9.90. The ticket runs for consecutive hours from first use, so a ticket started at 15:00 is still valid the next morning.
A Hola Barcelona card for 24 hours costs €11.25 online and covers metro, TMB buses, trams, the Montjuïc funicular and one airport metro trip each way. Metro L3 does much of the Blue Route's work: Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia for Casa Batlló, Diagonal for La Pedrera, Lesseps for Park Güell and Palau Reial for Pedralbes and the Camp Nou.
L2 and L5 stop at Sagrada Família and L4 at Barceloneta. For Montjuïc, bus 150 leaves Plaça d'Espanya and climbs past the MNAC, the Olympic Stadium and the Fundació Miró to the castle.
Bus 24 from Passeig de Gràcia stops by the upper gate of Park Güell, which saves the climb the tourist bus leaves you with. What public transport does not give you is the commentary, the top-deck view and a seat for the whole loop.
Does it suit your trip?
With children
Children from 4 to 12 pay €16.20 for 24 hours and €20.70 for 48 hours online, and under 4s ride free. On public transport under 4s are also free, but a visiting child of 4 or more pays the adult fare, so the gap between bus and metro is smaller for families than for adults.
Pushchairs must be folded where possible and kept on the lower deck. The top deck is the draw for most children.
Plan on one route a day: two hours is long for a small child, and the Red Route's beach stops (Port Olímpic, Bogatell) make an easy break.
The top deck is open. The operator's pages say nothing about a rain cover, so assume that in a shower everyone moves downstairs, where there are fewer seats and smaller windows.
Barcelona's rain tends to come in short heavy bursts in autumn, and October is one of the wetter months. On a wet day ride the long stretches (Montjuïc, the upper Blue Route) from the lower deck and keep the Eixample stops for when it clears.
Tickets are not tied to a date when bought from the operator: they can be used within 180 days of purchase.
From June to September the open top deck has no shade for most of a 2-hour loop, and the seafront section from the World Trade Center to the Fòrum is fully exposed. Ride before 11:00 or after 17:00, and bring water and a hat.
Queues are longest at Plaça de Catalunya, where both routes start. Boarding at the second or third stop (Casa Batlló, or Plaça d'Espanya on the Red Route) usually means a shorter wait, though the upstairs seats may already be taken.
The operator says frequency varies between 10 and 25 minutes with the season, and summer is the busy end.
If you cannot walk far
Every Barcelona Bus Turístic vehicle has an access ramp and a wheelchair space on the lower deck, according to the operator. The top deck is reached by stairs only.
Passengers with more than 33% disability pay the senior price, €25.20 for 24 hours online. For people who cannot walk far the bus is useful on Montjuïc, where stops sit at the door of the MNAC, the Fundació Miró and the Olympic Stadium.
It is much less useful for Park Güell (900 metres uphill from the stop) and the Gothic Quarter, which is pedestrian and about 8 minutes from Plaça de Catalunya. The metro is step-free at most stations, but not all.
Buy a Hola Barcelona card (€11.25 for 24 hours online) or a T-casual (€13 for 10 rides) and plan the day by district. Do the Eixample on foot: Casa Batlló to La Pedrera is 500 metres along Passeig de Gràcia, and the Sagrada Família is two metro stops from Diagonal on L5.
Join a tip-based walking tour for the Gothic Quarter and the Born, where no bus goes. For the hilltop view, take the Montjuïc funicular from Paral·lel, which is included in TMB tickets, and walk across to the MNAC terrace.
Buy online at the operator's Hola Barcelona store: €29.70 instead of €33 on the bus, and the ticket can be used any time within 180 days of purchase.
The routes cross at three stops: Plaça de Catalunya, Casa Batlló and Eixample. Change there instead of riding back to the start.
For Park Güell, book the park's timed entry first and allow 15 minutes on foot from the bus stop. The road climbs the whole way.
The Sagrada Família is on the Red Route, near the end of the loop. If it is your main stop, board at Arc de Triomf or ride the route in the morning with a late-morning entry slot.
Check the service notices on the operator's site the day before. On 4 October 2026 three stops were affected: Estació de Sants, Torre Glòries and Futbol Club Barcelona.
The last buses leave Plaça de Catalunya at 19:00. After that you need the metro to get back, so keep a few euros for a single (€2.90).
Barcelona hop-on hop-off bus: quick answers
How much is the hop-on hop-off bus in Barcelona?
The Barcelona Bus Turístic costs €29.70 for 24 hours and €39.60 for 48 hours when bought online, or €33 and €44 on board. Children aged 4 to 12 pay €16.20 and €20.70 online. Under 4s are free.
Which company runs the official bus?
Barcelona Bus Turístic is the one backed by TMB and Turisme de Barcelona, with a Blue and a Red route. Barcelona City Tour is a separate company with green and orange routes at the same list price. Tickets are not interchangeable.
How long does each route take?
About 2 hours per route without getting off. Riding both the Blue and the Red route back to back takes around 4 hours.
How often do the buses run?
Every 10 to 25 minutes depending on the season, from 9:00 to 19:00, every day except 1 January and 25 December.
Does the bus stop at Park Güell?
The Blue Route has a Park Güell stop on Travessera de Dalt, but it is about 900 metres from the park gate and most of that is uphill. Allow 11 to 15 minutes on foot and book the park's entry separately.
Is a 48-hour ticket worth the extra?
It costs €9.90 more than the 24-hour ticket. Take it if you want to get off several times on both routes, because the two loops alone add up to 4 hours of riding.
Barcelona Bus Turístic · BarcelonaOn Civitatis · rated 8.6/10 by 1,785 travellers
