Barcelona City Tour Bus- Why I didn’t take it for sightseeing?

Barcelona city tour bus provides an excellent option for sightseeing around the city. The hop on hop off tour covers all major attractions of Barcelona. The bus service offers many services to the tourists, trying to discover the city on their own pace. However, I didn’t find this bus service good enough. If you are deciding to use them or not, you should read my reasons for not doing so. I am sure the pros and cons listed here would be helpful on your next Barcelona trip. Please note that this is not a review of the hop on hop off (HOHO) tour bus as I did not take these services while in Barcelona. Let me list the good points of Barcelona hop on hop off tour bus first.

Barcelona City Tour Bus

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Barcelona City Tour Bus – Good Points

1. Affordable – Its not a costly affair at all at 23 Euros per person for one day. For slow travelers, you can use the service for two consecutive days at 29 Euros only.
2. Easy – You can enjoy Barcelona at your own pace by hopping off at one point and hopping on at other.
3. Dual Approach – The best part is that they do not have one single route to cover the entire Barcelona. There are green and orange route for east and west side respectively.
4. Flexibility – Three stops are common between the two routes so you have flexibility for changing the route at convenience.
5. Accessibility – They have ramps for wheelchair access.
6. Cool – Barcelona get hot at day time. The buses have air conditioning.
7. Guide – Audio guides is available in Buses in multiple languages.
8. Stay Connected – Free wifi on board buses. So, you can Google all the information of attractions and plan your itinerary on the go. Use social media and stay connected.
9. Quick – Both red and green routes take around two hours each.
10. Open Deck – While the lower deck has wide glass windows for unobstructed views. The upper deck has sliding roof which is usually open.

We did not take the tour bus ourselves and found the aforementioned details through the pamphlets of Barcelona City Tour buses and their information desk. The details are valid at the time of writing (04 Mar 2015). You may check more more details of services offered, ticket prices, route map and tour information on their official website.

Barcelona Bus Touristic

Another Option – Barcelona Bus Touristic

Barcelona city tour is not the only operator of hop on hop off bus. Barcelona Bus Touristic also operates this tour. Their good points are more or less same as the ones listed above. They have three routes Red, Blue and Green. The price is 27 Euros and 38 Euros for one and two day tour respectively. Both operators offer discounts at certain time on their website. You may check details of Barcelona Bus Touristic at their official site.

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Choosing Barcelona City Tour v/s Barcelona Bus Turistic

Though I did not chose either of them, you may consider these factors to choose between both of them.

1. Attractions remain same. You can’t go very wrong with either one.
2. I am not sure if Barcelona Bus Turistic offers free wifi. It is important to me as a blogger.
3. Barcelona City Tour is cheaper than Barcelona Bus Turistic.
4. If you are going from Placa Catalunya to Sagrada Familia or Parc Guell, the blue route of Barcelona Bus Turistic will take lesser time. But then, the fastest you can reach is by metro. I mean you have taken bus tour to go around the city as such.

Why I didn’t take Bus tour at Barcelona?

OK, the tour sounded easy, affordable, better and everything else. But I still didn’t take it. Why? Here are my reasons:-

1. A hop on hop off tour of Barcelona is ideal for tourists. Those who wish to see all the sights within one or two days. I had five days in Barcelona.
2. I have never taken city tours by bus. I normally spend much time at a place to soak it in.
3. There are tourists with hats, camcorders and all fancy stuff aboard the buses. I do not like the touristic feel with these tours. I am a traveler, not a tourist.
4. I love to get lost and find my own way. I love to go at my pace. “My Pace” is not bounded by two or three circles around Barcelona.
5. I love to walk around the city, meet the locales, use the public transport. Doing all this, I get my bearings straight around the city. I get confused when I go in one circuitous route.
6. Bus Tour was affordable but not cheaper. I covered all major attractions with one T 10 ticket of 10 Euros. That amounts to 2 Euros per day for my five day stay at Barcelona.
7. I love sleeping after lunch so I can’t spare an entire day for a Bus Tour. Normally, I go out after breakfast and cover one or two attraction. I come back to my hostel/ hotel at 2 Pm for lunch and take 2-3 hour nap. I start again in the evening around 5 Pm and go around till 10-11 Pm. No bus can be as cool and relaxing as the comforting bed in my room.

My Suite at Toc Hostel Barcelona

Was this post helpful in taking decision for you regarding Barcelona City Tour? Have you taken hop on hop off tour at Barcelona or any other city? How was your experience? Would you chose Barcelona City Turistic or Barcelona City tour? Do you want to know how I covered all attractions in less than Ten Euros with just one T10 card? Well, that will be my next post. I look forward to know your opinion and views through comments.