FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND TOWN

The main point of reference for pedestrians are the mountains in the West and the sea in the East. A lot of main traffic routes such as the Ramblas, Muntaner and Balmes run (virtually) parallel. In the Eixample disrict, the streets are laid out like a chess board and are easy to negotiate. A map is very useful in the old town with its winding narrow streets and may be obtained free of charge from Corte Inglés in Plaça Catalunya.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

A one-way ticket including line changes for all urban lines is available for €1.25. A bus or metro ticket also entitles you to use FGC trains and vice versa. Tip: The 10-journey ticket T10 for €6.90 covers the whole city + surrounding towns such as Badalona and Gavà, and can be transferred to another person.

Metro (underground): The metro network consists of 8 lines, L1-L8 (L6, L7 and L8 had different names until recently), running every 3-8 minutes according to the time of the day. Running times are Mon-Thu, Sundays & bank holidays 5am-midnight. Fridays and days before bank holidays 5am-2pm. Saturdays, there's a 24 h service, which City Hall announced to extend to Friday nights at any point in the near future, as well. (Tip: Refer to the Metro map in the miniguide*. Or download the Metro Map from the Barcelona TMB transit authority.)

Buses: Apart from regular and night buses, there is also the Aerobus (to the airport) and the Tomb bus (1st class bus between Pl. Catalunya and Diagonal, Pl. Pius XII). TMB issues a free guide for all bus lines at four of their service stations: Metro-stations Universitat, Diagonal, Sagrada Familia and Sants Estaçió.

FGC (underground) The FGC network in Barcelona consists of a total of 6 lines (U6, U7, S1, S55, S5, S2). Their operating times are almost identical to those of the metro (For more information & time schedules, please consult FGC.) For more info: TMB (Barcelona transit authority) or EMT (Barcelona municipal bus system).

Taxis are available at the city's many taxi ranks (e.g. Plaça Catalunya) and via taxi service lines (e.g. Barna Taxi: +34 93 357 77 55 or +34 93 300 23 14). Yellow-black taxis can also be stopped directly on the street. A green light on the roof signals that the taxi is available. The prices are a lot cheaper than in England, France or Germany (journeys within the city cost from €2.50, plus additional charges for luggage). Expect long queues on Saturday nights.

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