Barcelona Hop-On Hop-Off: Bus Turístic vs City Tour – Prices, Routes and Is It Worth It?

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Bus Turístic or City Tour: what is actually different?

Barcelona has two hop-on hop-off bus companies, and both use the word “official” in their marketing. Barcelona Bus Turístic is run by Transports de Barcelona (TMB, the city’s public bus and metro operator) “with the support of Turisme de Barcelona”. Barcelona City Tour is a private service run by Julià Travel and Moventis. Both run double-deck buses, and their tickets are not interchangeable.

Adult prices are the same to the cent. The real differences are where the routes go and a few extras.

All prices checked on the operators’ websites on 22 Oct 2026. On the audio guide, Bus Turístic lists Catalan, Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish. City Tour’s FAQ lists the same set minus Norwegian and Turkish, plus Hindi.

One oddity: the Turisme de Barcelona shop page for the Bus Turístic lists 4 July as a closing day as well as 1 January and 25 December. The operator’s own timetable page does not. If you’re travelling on 4 July, check before buying.

Which route goes to Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Camp Nou and the cruise port?

This is where the choice gets made. Both companies’ routes start at Plaça de Catalunya and pass Casa Batlló and La Pedrera on Passeig de Gràcia.

Bus Turístic also cancelled its Red Route stop at Torre Glòries – 22@ on 19 January 2026; the replacement stop is at Carrer de Badajoz 160. The official route pages are the Blue Route and the Red Route; City Tour’s are on its maps and hours page.

Cruise passengers: the port says the World Trade Center terminals are “a step away from the public transport network”, so you can walk to the World Trade Center bus stop. The Adossat pier terminals are further out. The port runs a Cruise Bus shuttle from there to the city centre at €3.50 one way or €5 for a day ticket, valid all day on the date you choose (checked 23 Oct 2026). Our cruise port guide covers the timing of a short port call.

How often do the buses run, and how long does a loop take?

Both companies start at about 9:00 and send the last bus of the day from Plaça de Catalunya at 19:00. Bus Turístic says its buses come every 10–25 minutes. City Tour says every 7–10 minutes in peak season and 15–20 minutes off-peak, and its route pages say 9–13 minutes. Neither publishes exact dates for “peak” and “off-peak”.

A full loop takes about two hours on either company, without getting off. Doing both routes back to back is roughly four hours of sitting. In practice, if you go inside Sagrada Família, Park Güell or a museum, you’ll use three or four stops a day, not fifteen.

Both companies describe their tickets as valid for 24 or 48 consecutive hours, not calendar days. In principle, a ticket first used after lunch covers the following morning too. Neither site clearly says when the clock starts, so confirm with the staff when you first board. Bus Turístic tickets bought on its Hola Barcelona platform can be used any time within 180 days of purchase.

How much does it cost, and are there discounts?

Prices checked on 22 Oct 2026. “Online” is the 10% discount both companies give for booking on their own website.

City Tour’s site shows the online price for adults (€29.70 for 24 h, €39.60 for 48 h). We couldn’t see its online child and senior prices without starting a booking. City Tour also sells bus + one-hour catamaran combos, from €40 online for 24 hours on its home page.

Discounts that exist:

• Book online: 10% off with both companies. The online price is the cheapest legitimate way to buy we found.
• Barcelona Card: its partner list includes “Barcelona Bus Turístic -10%”. That gives €29.70, the same as the online price, and we couldn’t confirm the two stack. Don’t buy a Barcelona Card for this discount alone.
• Bus Turístic partner discounts (valid until 1 Jan 2027 when you show your ticket or use a code): 15% on Montjuïc Cable Car return tickets, 20% at Poble Espanyol and Mirador de Colom, €2 off at L’Aquàrium, 15% on Catalunya Bus Turístic day trips such as Montserrat.
• City Tour extras: a free walking tour and a discount booklet handed out on board.

Is the hop-on hop-off bus worth it compared with the metro?

Here is our own calculation for the trips most people actually take. Public transport prices: the T-casual (10 journeys, zone 1) costs €13.00 under the 2026 fares, plus €1.00 for the cardboard card if you don’t have one, so €14.00. Each journey allows up to three transfers within 75 minutes, and one T-casual can’t be used by two people at the same time. The Hola Barcelona card gives unlimited travel for 48 hours at €17.76 online, including one airport metro trip each way. Bus prices are Bus Turístic online prices. All checked 22 Oct 2026.

A typical sightseeing day by metro and bus – hotel → Sagrada Família → Park Güell → Passeig de Gràcia → Barceloneta → hotel – is about five journeys (our estimate, not a measured route).

*The Turisme shop lists no child price for the Hola Barcelona card, only that under-4s travel free. We assumed full price for ages 4–12; check before buying.

The bus figure is also not the whole cost. The last hop-on buses leave at 19:00, and unless your hotel is next to a stop, you’ll still need some metro rides. A realistic two-day plan by bus is closer to €39.60 + €14.00 = €53.60 per adult, against €14.00–€17.76 by public transport.

A middle option: take the 24-hour bus on your first day for orientation and use a T-casual for the rest of the trip. That costs €29.70 + €14.00 = €43.70, and you only spend one day on the bus.

What the extra money buys: a guaranteed seat (on the upper deck if you’re lucky), commentary in your language, no stairs or transfers, and a view of the city instead of a tunnel. For some people that’s worth €15–€25 a day. For most people on a budget, it isn’t.

Who should take the hop-on hop-off bus, and who shouldn’t?

It makes sense if you:

• Have limited mobility. Both companies’ buses have a ramp and a wheelchair space on the lower deck; City Tour allows one wheelchair per bus.
• Travel with small children or grandparents and value a seat over speed. Under-4s ride free on both.
• Arrive on a cruise ship and want an easy loop from the World Trade Center without working out the metro.
• Want a two-hour overview on day one before deciding where to spend your time.
• Want Tibidabo and Pedralbes in one day (Bus Turístic Blue Route).

Skip it if you:

• Have booked timed entries at Sagrada Família and Park Güell. Waiting 10–25 minutes for a bus that loops the long way round is a poor fit for a fixed entry slot; the metro is more predictable. See our Sagrada Família and Park Güell ticket guides.
• Are comfortable on the metro and mainly want to get from A to B. You’ll pay double or more for slower trips.
• Are going mainly for Camp Nou with Bus Turístic. Its FC Barcelona stop was out of service when we checked.
• Need to carry large suitcases. City Tour says large suitcases are not allowed. Bus Turístic allows suitcases only if you keep them with you in the central area, and has no large luggage racks.

How to buy (and which “official” sites are really resellers)

Bus Turístic:

1. Online through the operator’s Hola Barcelona platform, or the Turisme de Barcelona shop, at €29.70 for 24 hours (checked 22 Oct 2026). Show the ticket on your phone to the guide on board.
2. At the Hola Barcelona Store in the L3 lobby of Catalunya metro station, at the standard price.
3. On board, at the standard price, while seats are available.

City Tour: online on barcelona.city-tour.com (10% off), in its app, or on any of its buses. The Barcelona City Tour ticket online costs €29.70 for 24 hours (checked 22 Oct 2026). Show the emailed voucher when you board.

Watch out for lookalike sites. Several sites with “hop on hop off Barcelona” in the name present themselves as the official bus but are resellers. On 22 Oct 2026, hoponhopoffbarcelona.org (titled “Official Bus Tour 2026”) was selling the Bus Turístic through Tiqets “from 30.50€”. That is more than the €29.70 you pay on the operator’s own platform. City Sightseeing’s Barcelona product is the same TMB bus, resold by a third party. None of this is a scam, but buying direct is cheaper and avoids a middleman if you need a refund.

Are there night and Christmas bus tours?

Both companies run seasonal panoramic tours. These are not hop-on hop-off; you stay on the bus for the whole loop.

Bus Turístic’s Christmas Tour needs a seat reservation for a specific departure time. City Tour’s own pages disagree on its Christmas start date (28 or 29 November) and departure times, so check the times on the booking screen.

What are the alternatives?

• Metro and city buses with a T-casual or Hola Barcelona card – cheapest and fastest for most people (see the maths above and our Hola Barcelona card guide).
• Barcelona Card – worth it only if you’ll use the free museums; it includes public transport but not the hop-on bus. See our Barcelona Card guide.
• One day by bus, the rest by metro – €43.70 per adult for a two-day trip, as calculated above.
• Walking – the Gothic Quarter and El Born are best explored on foot whichever option you choose.

For more passes and transport tickets, see the bus and passes hub.

How we checked this page

All facts were checked online on 22 Oct 2026:

• Bus Turístic (TMB): home, fares and prices with FAQ, Blue Route, Red Route, timetables, discounts, Christmas Tour and Night Tour pages on barcelonabusturistic.cat.
• Turisme de Barcelona shop: Bus Turístic, Hola Barcelona Travel Card and Barcelona Card product pages on thisisbarcelona.com.
• Barcelona City Tour: home, rates, maps and hours, FAQ, Green Route and Orange Route pages on barcelona.city-tour.com, plus its 2026 route map PDF.
• Public transport: the 2026 T-casual fare on atm.cat (Autoritat del Transport Metropolità).
• Cruise port: the cruise transport page on portdebarcelona.cat.
• Resellers: hoponhopoffbarcelona.org and city-sightseeing.com, only to compare their pricing and branding.

Effort standard met: prices checked at the official source with dates; our own comparison table; our own cost calculation; link to the official source for each rule.

Not first-hand yet: nobody from our team has ridden either bus for this version of the page. We have no photos of our own, no measured loop times or waiting times, and no check of how far the Park Güell and Sagrada Família stops are from the entrances. Frequency and loop times are the operators’ own figures. The “five journeys a day” count is our estimate, not a measured route.