Airports in Barcelona - Everything You Need to Know

There are so many Airports in Barcelona that it can be difficult to choose the best one. In my experience, some of the best deals and cheapest flights are found in the airports a little further from Barcelona. Once you found the flat of your dreams, you have to make sure to visit the apartment before paying anything. Thus, you have to get here as soon as possible. If you live in a different country, the easiest way to get to Barcelona is to catch a plane. Flights to Barcelona can be expensive. However, not only the main airport “El Prat” in Barcelona has experienced a lot of changes these last years. Another two airports located outside Barcelona are now very well connected to the city. These airports in Barcelona are a cheap option to travel.

Airports in Barcelona: Choose Your Favourite

"El Prat"

This airport is the main one in Barcelona. It´s just 12 km away from the city center and very well connected. Beside the "aeropuerto" in Madrid, "El Prat" is the largest airport in Spain. It took care of more than 29.2 million passengers in 2010. It is important to know that the airport is divided into two terminals. Terminal 1 is brand new and really mordern. It was inaugurated in 2009 and is mainly used by high-price companies.
As there was a lot of space left once the new terminal was inaugurated, the airport reduced landing fees in order to attract low-cost companies. That being said, nowadays even airlines such as RyanAir are connected with the main airport in Barcelona. When you guys arrive at one of the mentioned terminals, there are various opportunities in order to get to the city center. Since most of you don´t speak a great deal of Spanish, cab drivers easily take advantage of this and charge you way too much. The same thing happened to me when I arrived in Barcelona last week. As I don’t want you to end up in the same situation, I´m gonna list the most common prices :

Taxi:

Barcelona Airport -> City center / Up to 30€ (It depends on where you go exactly and how much luggage you carry with you)

Train:

There will be a brand new station soon which is going to be connected to the metro system. Up to now, you have to take RENFE which runs from Terminal 2 to Plaza . For those who land at Terminal 1, there´s a connection bus which brings you to the station. The most central stop is " Passeig de Gracia" railway station. The ride is about 3€.

Bus:

There are two different types of buses running from the airport to the city center. One of them is public, the other one belongs to a private company. The public one charges you approximately 5€ and takes you to "Placa Espanya". The private one, called "aerobus", takes you to the same place but is a bit more expensive. The duration of the ride totally depends on the traffic. If there´s no traffic at all, you can make it within 15mins. If there´s a lot of traffic, it can take you up to 45mins.

Girona-Costa Brava Airport

This airport is a very common and cheap alternative to the main airports in Barcelona. Though it´s located 91 km north of Barcelona, it is well-connected to BCN city center. In this case it is important to know that Girona is the major base of RyanAir. RyanAir operates 62 routes from Girona all over Europe. Thus, you have to check flights on RyanAir's website or on one of those flight search engines, which I´ll talk about later in this blog.
On one hand you can save a bunch of money, but on the other hand you really need to be flexible. Indeed, the transfer to Barcelona takes way longer! If you are really relaxed and ready to excuse the "service" of RyanAir, I will help you with the transport.

By Bus:

The easiest and cheapest way to get to Barcelona is to take the bus. A great fact about these buses is that there´s always one waiting for you when a plane land. The journey takes 1h15min and costs 12€ for one - and 21€ round trip. Having read a lot of comments on this bus, I can recommend this bus trip to you!

By car:

If you are traveling with friends, you should check prices to rent a car. It's sometimes cheaper to get to Barcelona. There is also a train, but those options are definitely more efficient.

Reus:

In addition to "El Prato" and "Girona", another small airport is located 75km to the north of Barcelona. As the bus transfer to Barcelona is pretty easy too, it is definitely an option. Check the RyanAir site for flights. The transfer to Barcelona is more or less the same as from Girona.

By Bus:

There is a private bus company called "Hispano Igualadina", which offers bus rides from the airport to Barcelona Sants. They charge you 12,50€ for a single ride and 22€ for a round trip. You can buy the tickets at the arrival terminal. The duration of this trip is approximately 90min.

By Car:

Frankly speaking, I wouldn´t recommend to rent a car at this airport. Sure, you can rent a car if you want to share the price. However, since the bus ride is really easy and cheap, you should take the bus.

Cheap flights:

Now that you know every airports in Barcelona, you have to look for a cheap flight. There are many ways to find a great deal. Firstly, you have to choose one of the mentioned airports. If you have decided on one, you can either find a flight on one of those search engines or on the company's website.

Here are the most common ones:

RyanAir: RyanAir flies to every airports in Barcelona. You can find very cheap flights, but you have to be flexible. Most of the time RyanAir offers very good prices during the week early in the morning. That being said, I recently found a flight from Germany to Barcelona for 60€ return. However, you have to be patient to find a really good bargain. Usually, you can find flights for 100€ return. VuelingAir: Vueling is the Spanish RyanAir. It´s a constantly growing company, based in Barcelona. If you are looking for cheap domestic flights, Vueling is the way to go!

Search engines:

Atrapalo.com: This Spanish flight search engine is really good, check it out! Now you know everything about airports in Barcelona! You also have all the information you need to get to Barcelona via plane. However, you always have to be a bit lucky to find a super cheap flight. Just keep on looking on the mentioned sites and you will definetely find one! Do you know of any other place to find cheap flights?  Let us know in the comments below and we'll add it! Have a safe trip! Alex Kolb