Barcelona HoHo - Which Company?

Hi everyone!

I am going on a cruise next week from BCN and would like to use a HoHo bus on the day of my arrival (flight gets in just before 9am and I will have the whole day). My priority is to get from my hotel near Placa Catalunya to Sagrada Familia, and to get an overview of the remainder of the city. I will be doing an organized tour the following day which will include a stop at Park Guell, the Olympic park, etc.

I noticed that there are 2 different companies with HoHo service, both with a couple different routes and an audio guide. One is Barcelona City Tour (Gray Line), and the other is the Barcelona Bus Turistic.

Can anyone provide some insight on which company is better? Any experiences with either?

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We used the Barcelona city tour bus two days ago. Pretty standard hoho bus. Can't comment on the other line. It might be helpful for you to know that it takes approx 1.25 hours from PlacaCatalunya to Sagrada Familia.also it's a good idea to pre book your tickets to Sagrada-lines are very long

We used the Barcelona city tour bus two days ago. Pretty standard hoho bus. Can't comment on the other line. It might be helpful for you to know that it takes approx 1.25 hours from PlacaCatalunya to Sagrada Familia.also it's a good idea to pre book your tickets to Sagrada-lines are very long

Thanks for your reply! I will definitely pre-purchase my tickets online! This is part of the reason I have to figure out which bus company to choose because the Turistic bus goes there much earlier in the route than the Barcelona City Tours bus (although the Turistic bus loop that goes there is apparently "boring" for the rest of that loop).

My flight is scheduled to land at 8:50am and I'll be taking the Aerobus to my hotel near Placa Catalunya and checking in, grabbing a quick bite to eat, then getting on the bus. Assuming all runs according to schedule, any thoughts on what time I should book Sagrada Familia for if I do the Barcelona City Tours bus? I'd still like to be able to catch the second route if there's time (it supposedly runs till 8 - I just don't want to get stranded somewhere...).

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I recently booked Sagrada Familia with Viator in Trip Advisor. I chose the skip the line tour; these start at 10AM. Check Viator for your preferred time. Hope you have a lovely trip!

We used Barcelona Bus Turistic when we were there last month. The blue route will get you to Sagrada Familia in about 15 minutes or so from Placa de Catalunya. I would definitely recommend getting skip the line tickets in advance. You can do this directly through the Sagrada site. Give yourself some extra time to get off the bus and walk around the outside of the basilica before your time to enter. The blue route can be a little boring but you will definitely see a lot of the city as well as the futbol stadium. We did both the red route and the blue route and got a good overview of the city. There were a lot of both hoho company buses. I don't think you can go wrong with either company. Bus Turistic had free wifi. Another option would be to just take a taxi to Sagrada and then either take a taxi back or walk back to Placa de Catalunya since you have a tour scheduled for the next day.

We did the Ho/Ho while in Barcelona, can't remember which one it was. Loved it. It's a great way to see the city, we normally go around once & the second time get off at those stops that looked interesting. There were no lines ups or waits to buy the tickets. Enjoy your stay.

Allan

Hi everyone!

 

I am going on a cruise next week from BCN and would like to use a HoHo bus on the day of my arrival (flight gets in just before 9am and I will have the whole day). My priority is to get from my hotel near Placa Catalunya to Sagrada Familia, and to get an overview of the remainder of the city. I will be doing an organized tour the following day which will include a stop at Park Guell, the Olympic park, etc.

 

I noticed that there are 2 different companies with HoHo service, both with a couple different routes and an audio guide. One is Barcelona City Tour (Gray Line), and the other is the Barcelona Bus Turistic.

 

Can anyone provide some insight on which company is better? Any experiences with either?

 

 

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Since your hotel is near Placa Catalunya you want the Barcelona Bus Turistic since it originates ay Placa Catalunya. The blue route is boarded on the same side of the street where the aeroport bus boards. It will take you to La Sagrada Familia in about 15-20 minutes. The boarding line can be long though. We did both the blue route and the red route last May and enjoyed both.

We preferred the red route simply because it included more of the city sites we were interested in, including several of Gaudi's architecture. (We'd done an interior visit of La Sagrada Familia the previous day.)

We used the Barcelona city tour bus two days ago. Pretty standard hoho bus. Can't comment on the other line. It might be helpful for you to know that it takes approx 1.25 hours from PlacaCatalunya to Sagrada Familia. ...

Was your bus caught in traffic??? From Placa Catalunya to La Sagrada Familia was only about 15 minutes on the Blue route this past May.

Was your bus caught in traffic??? From Placa Catalunya to La Sagrada Familia was only about 15 minutes on the Blue route this past May.

I believe the "blue route" is the other bus company (Turistic). The Barcelona City Tours bus takes a completely different (more scenic) route along the waterfront to La Sagrada Familia, which is one of the last stops (if I'm remembering correctly).

The routes are extremely different which is why I'm having such a dilemma trying to pick one so that I can purchase my ticket for La Sagrada Familia and attempt to time it correctly! Perhaps the Turistic bus would be better since it goes there earlier, and then I might have time to do the second route after that.

The problem is, if I only have time for 1 route, I'd prefer the Barcelona City Tours route as it is WAY more scenic to get to La Sagrada Familia! I just want to make sure I get there before dark while the sun is still shining through the stained glass!

Thoughts?! Help!

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I see a lot of confusion here.

Just to clarify...

There are TWO companies: Bus Turístic, a public-private company run by the City Hall (http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/en/home) and Barcelona City Tour (http://www.barcelonacitytour.cat/en/) run by a local company, one of the biggest private tour operators in Europe. Both are pretty much equal, have similar prices, work the same way and have similar routes. Bus Turístic has three routes: Blue, Red and a shorter Green route -which does not work all year round- and Barcelona City Tour has two routes: East (orange) and West (green). The latter routes are longer than the ones by Bus Turístic. Different routes cover different areas of the city, while it's very much subjective which one is the best, both companies cover pretty much THE SAME sites. A day ticket for company 'A' allows transfer to buses from the same company covering other routes, but not those serviced by company 'B' -they're, in fact, fierce competitors.

Worth mentioning that hoho buses are designed for sightseeing... if you just need to go from A to B is way better to take public transportation -be bus, metro, tramway or taxi- not only is far (far!) cheaper, but also much faster.

One last thing... there are no "skip the line tickets"... what you have is the possibility to pre-book tickets online -for many sites- which allow you not to have to queue for tickets at the booth when arriving at the site being visited. But note also that most -not all!- of the tickets you can pre-book online are time-based, meaning that when purchasing the ticket you have to choose a time-band to enter the premises... and you're expected to enter the premises at that time (15' window for some, 30' window for others) otherwise you loose your chance and your ticket. It's recommended to arrive at the site 10' before your time-band. If arriving at a site there's a queue of people waiting to enter within the same time-band, you have obviously to get in line.

EnricM, thanks for the information. There was absolutely zero confusion. To clarify my thoughts/questions:

I will be using the bus to sightsee, and getting off at the Sagrada Familia stop for sure - the others are time dependent as I am doing a tour of the city and Montserrat the following day. But I do want to spend a good part of my day relaxing on the top deck watching the city go by (hopefully that's not too ambitious a goal as I have read the seats can be hard to come by and often have broken audio jacks on both bus companies' buses!). Also hoping the weather stays as favorable as its forecasted to be right now (sunny and 20 degrees!)

The route on the Turistic bus that goes to Sagrada Familia appears to be much less scenic. It does go there almost immediately after leaving Placa Catalunya though. If I went with that company, I would want to do both routes, although I am unsure that I have the time to do so (depends on my flight's arrival and whatnot). What it WOULD allow me to do though is to get Sagrada Familia out of the way, so I can better judge my timing for the rest of the day and perhaps get off at more stops (although if I get a prime seat on the top deck, I may choose to stay put!).

If I do the Barcelona City Tours route that visits SF, it is almost at the end of that loop from Catalunya. As such, I would have to gauge my time more carefully during the day to ensure that I get there on time for my entry ticket. Having said that, the route that goes that way looks much more scenic and I think I would be happy to just do the single route as I have a city and Montserrat tour booked for the following day anyway.

Re: the tickets to SF - fortunately it appears that they have a 30-day return policy for unused tickets! So if something happens (flight delay, etc), it makes me feel better knowing that I could get a refund (although I assume I would have to then stand in the long line!).

So having said all of that - any thoughts on which would be better with a 9am arrival at BCN and needing to check into my hotel and grab a bite to eat prior to embarking on my daytime journey?

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Indeed, SF in particular has a return policy for non-used tickets. Note thought that most of the other attractions don't.

"The route on the Turistic bus that goes to Sagrada Familia appears to be much less scenic" Who says? Barcelona has literally hundreds of Modernist buildings all over the city, many of which are located in L'Eixample -which you'll be crossing to get to Sagrada Família.

Anyhow, I insist that to me it's far better to simply take the metro, it's easier and faster to gauge the time: https://maps.tmb.cat/en/vullanar/planner/from_address/41.364401/2.1823636000000306/Moll%2520Adossat%252C%2520Barcelona%252C%2520Spain/to_address/41.40223040000001/2.172620400000028/Pla%25C3%25A7a%2520de%2520la%2520Sagrada%2520Fam%25C3%25ADlia%252C%2520Barcelona%252C%2520Spain/TRANSIT,WALK/10-20-2016/09:25/false//2000/false/0

Btw, those comparing this to a hoho, note that first you need to get to Plaça Catalunya from Moll Adossat -where your cruise is moored-, queue to purchase the ticket and then ride to Sagrada Família... that's far more time than the above.

Thanks for the advice. I will be visiting from my hotel during my precruise stay, not from the cruise port during a port stop, so I'll already be in the Catalunya area.

I'd still like to do the HoHo for the sightseeing for the day. Thanks for affirming that both routes are scenic!

Having said that - as an "insider", do you recommend one bus company over the other?

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I wouldn't really know, sorry... used them only twice in many years, when a friend visits I tend do take her/him on a scooter ride instead :))

But as far as I know, they're both pretty much the same in all aspects.

Thanks so much EnricM for your help! Much appreciated! If you have any other tips, please share! :)

Just a side question about taxis to the ship. I heard that if I ask my hotel to call a taxi, the meter will run from that point, so it's best to find one outside on my own. I am staying at Hotel Jazz which looks (from google street view) to be on a busy street (Pelai). Should it be relatively easy to find one on my own? If so, since I don't speak Spanish, would it help to have a photo of the ship and the name of the terminal printed out on a small piece of paper to show the driver? I've heard stories of people ending up halfway to the airport instead of the cruise port! :)

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Hi Newbcruiser1

First of all, not that it changes anything for you, but the local language in Catalonia is not Spanish, it's Catalan -a language on its own belonging as well to the family of Romance languages such as French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian or Spanish, all of them derived from Latin. Having said that, Spanish is co-official too in Catalonia. But when it comes to taxis, though, like it's happening in many other big cities around the world, you encounter drivers from many different origins, including locals of course. While many were once Spanish migrants to Catalonia, some are from countries where French or English are spoken (ie. Pakistanies or Nigerians, Moroccans...). In any case, though, a large chunk of taxi drivers do speak (mumble at least!) English.

You're in the heart of the city, not only you have several taxi ranks a short walk away but you can always catch any taxi on the street just by waving your hand when it passes by -the green pilot light on the roof needs to be on to show that's accepting passengers. But again, ask the hotel, they'll point you to the nearest taxi rank, which is literally less than a hundred yards away or, if you're carrying heavy luggage, simply ask them to call you one. The extra cost is negligible (it does not start counting when you call them, but they turn on the meter 300 metres before reaching destination, and when boarding -if you didn't make him wait!- the fare is just a few extra euros)

Carrying the address of your destination written on a piece of paper is always a good help if anything just to make sure there's no "lost in translation" effect, especially noting that the words 'airport' and 'port' sound far too close to each other. Note however that your destination (Moll Adossat I guess, right? which btw, it just means 'attached pier' in the Catalan language) is very common these days. Barcelona is the most important vacational port in the Europe (fourth in the World), and nearly 2.8 million cruise passengers use the premises every year. Still, there are three piers where cruises depart from, so having yours written on a piece of paper so the taxi driver takes you to the right one is always a good idea. Furthermore, should you get a newbie driver, this day and age, many will simply use the GPS to drive to the destination... so fewer chances to get lost :))

Have a nice trip.

Thank you! :) Yes I know it's Catalan there. Interestingly, the address on the NCL documents is in Spanish, not Catalan! :)

Thanks once again for your help!

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Just wanted to post a quick update - I shuffled my schedule around so that I will visit Sagrada Familia on a different day than the day I do the HoHo tour!

So I'm doing Sagrada Familia via metro from Universitat (L2 to Sagrada Familia from my research?) on Sunday morning, then will return to hotel to pick up luggage and taxi to the ship!

That will free up my whole day on Friday for doing the HoHo bus and I'll have maximal flexibility! :)

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