In exploring its streets you'll discover medieval romance in its Gothic quarter and the awe-inspiring delights of the fantastic and sometimes outrageous Art Nouveau architecture of Gaudi and his contemporaries.

Terminal B is used by Spanish carriers (Iberia, Spanair, Air Europa, Vueling) and their partners (eg British Airways), terminal C is for the Puente Aereo (Air shuttle) to Madrid and terminal A for all other flights. A giant new south terminal is expected to open in 2009 or so.

The airport is only about 10 km away from the city center. Taxis are supposed to use a zone chart for trips into the city, but rarely do, and you can expect to pay up to €25.

A cheaper and often faster option is the half-hourly RENFE suburban train calling at Sants (20 minutes), Passeig de Gràcia (25 minutes) and Estació de França (30 minutes) in the city centre. A single ticket is about €2.20, but an under-advertised fact is that you can use the T-10 ticket (€6.90 for ten trips, including all bus and metro transfers made within 75 minutes) instead. You can buy a T-10 from the ticket vending machine at the airport station.

Alternatively, the Aerobús A1 line stops outside all terminal buildings and travels along Gran Via to Plaça Catalunya. Buses depart every 6-9 minutes, the published journey time is 35 minutes (although can take considerably longer during rush hour) and costs €3.90 one-way. Aerobuses stop running at midnight, but you can catch a Nit Bus night bus service instead.

Duty-free shops are open from 6:00/6:30 to 21:30 (few to 22:00)--for late-night departures.

Nearby airports
Some low-cost carriers, notably Ryanair, use the airports in Girona, nearly 100km to the north, or Reus, around the same distance to the south, instead. The Barcelona Bus service runs a shuttle bus from Estació del Nord in Barcelona to Girona Airport and this ties in with various flight times. A one-way ticket costs €12 and a return ticket costs €21. The journey takes approximately one hour and ten minutes.

By rail Several trains per day (including overnight hotel trains) from other parts of Europe (via France) are regular & reliable. Main train stations: Barcelona-Sants (to the south west of the centre)

The long-delayed AVE high-speed train line is finally expected to reach Barcelona Sants station on 22nd December 2007. Travel time from Madrid will be 2 hours 35 minutes non-stop (10 times a day) and 3 hours 15 minutes with intermediate stops (15 times a day)

By sea You can arrive to Barcelona by boat from the Balearic Islands, from Genoa and from Rome.