Chances are you’re coming in through Barcelona’s El Prat Airport.
Far and away the most straightforward way to town for fresh arrivals is by taxi. There are taxi stands outside both terminals, and queues tend to be short. You should get to any hotel in the metro area in around 30 mins. Expect a fare of €30-40. We have yet to experience a dishonest Barcelona taxi driver. We have yet to find one genuinely fluent in English either, but have always managed to find our destination.
Barcelona’s notorious pickpockets are going to find tourists encumbered with all their possessions easy targets – for this reason alone we can’t recommend the taxi service highly enough. Get yourself safely to your hotel first, and then venture forth.
If not…
The Aerobús service connects T1 and T2 to Plaça Catalunya in the centre of town for €5.90. From there you can cab or train to your hotel.
The Barcelona Metro also serves the airport, with a service on L9 Sud from Aeropuerto to Barcelona Sants and Passeig de Gracia every 30 minutes between 6:00 and 23:00.
You may also arrive by train – most commonly at Barcelona Sants (Sants Estació), which connects with the Metro to get you anywhere in town with ease. There is also a busy taxi stand outside. Estació de França is another point of arrival, though much less busy than Sants. This historic station doesn’t have a direct connection to the Metro, though there is a Metro stop five minutes walk away (L4 Barceloneta).