If you are visiting Barcelona for the first time, then you must be anxious to see some very interesting sites and also, more importantly, you will want to visit the great camp nou stadium of the Fc Barcelona, and maybe meet some of the world stars like Lionel Messi and the rest of them at the team. As good as all of these may sound, it is very important to know that the city of Barcelona is a unique political city in the world. The city belongs to the Catalans, and in fact, Barcelona is the capital of Cataluña. These people are still within the political boarder of Spain but has for years been fighting for independence as their region is the wealthiest in the whole of Spain. The Spanish government has put up a policy to fairly and equally redistribute the wealth in Cataluña among other regions in Spain and this has never gone down well with the Catalans. Their former parliament leader called for a referendum in 2017 and has since been in exile because the Spanish government frowned at his action. So visiting Barcelona is nice, but choosing your words rightly on political matters is very essential, since you don’t want to get on the wrong side with the locals.
After you have understood the tense political situation there, then you need to arm yourself with good information on how to save money and time in Barcelona. Barcelona is a great city but it is now one of the most expensive cities in the world and moving around the town can take a lot of time unless you have the right information. This article will open your eyes to few ways to save your money and time while in Barcelona. You don’t need to go reading elsewhere, we have enough information here.
1.Grab a free walking tour
If you truly want to get to know Barcelona in the best way, then you need to walk and explore. In Barcelona, there are several groups of tourist that undertake a walking tour of the city and these groups are free to join. It is a great way to get to meet other tourists and even tour the city in a cost less way. Designing a walking tour for your private use is easy and if you don’t want to be a loner, you can look up ‘free walking tour groups in Barcelona’ on Google and several results will pop up.
2.Book all your tickets ahead, especially La Sagrada Familia ticket
Most tourists in Barcelona make it a point of duty to visit La Sagrada Familia. The site is only second to the La Alhambra in Granada in all of Spain. You will tour the church and also get to visit the nativity tower and have guide that will be almost private or private as you may want it if you book ahead online. With a basic entrance ticket of just 15 Euros at the gate which you may not be able to get because it sells out fast, it will take a long time before you get to tour the whole site and most parts may not even be touched. Moreover, lengthy lines take away much time. So save your time and get to see what you are there for by booking ahead online. Try and book ahead, at least 3 days before you visit the site. Audio guide can cost around 22 Euros while a human guide may cost you up to 25 Euros.
For more places to visit in Barcelona, click here for the Barcelona tourist attraction map
3.Save money with the multi-day metro cards
If you are staying for more than 2 days in Barcelona, then you will save money by getting a T-10 multi-trip ticket for yourself. This ticket allows you to use the Metro bus and the train and it is cheaper than buying a ticket for the train and another ticket for the metro bus.
4.Take care of your belonging
The same way you care for your belongings when travelling to anywhere else, so also you should care for your belongings in Barcelona. The city is home to many pick pockets. Take great care the way you flaunt your expensive jewelries and phones, else, it all might get stolen before you even know it. Keep your belongings close to you every time, especially in public and busy places.
5.Museums are free on the first Sunday of every month
In the afternoon and evening of every first Sunday of the month, the Barcelona City History Museum and the Picasso museum are both free to all. Make sure you time your trip to coincide with a first Sunday of the month in Barcelona so you can save some money on museum visitation. Free museum opens 3pm and closes 8pm every Sunday.
For more great sites to visit when you get to Barcelona, you can check them out here at Barcelona travel
6.Take hop on hop off bus tours
Remember that the Spanish government already banned the operation of Uber and other companies like Uber since 2015 and as such you should not think of calling on Uber in Barcelona. That aside, the hop on hop off bus tours is usually cheaper than commercial buses and metros and they are exclusively made available for the use of tourists in Barcelona city. Tourists hop on the bus and when they get to a site to be seen, all hop off the bus. When the sightseeing is over, tourists hop on again and this continues throughout the tour for the day. The hop on hop off bus also allows tourists to walk about in the town, allowing them to have a walking tour of the city of Barcelona. Traveling between attraction sites is also way easy with the hop on hop off bus tour since the buses move very slowly allowing tourists to have their fill. This tour buses are way cheaper and they save time compared to the main city commercial buses and taxis. There are several bus companies offering the service in Barcelona. You can compare bus tour prices by clicking here for Barcelona bus tours comparison
