Barcelona Metro (Underground / Tube / Subway)

Barcelona’s metro (underground / tube / subway), opened in 1924 with one small section of the current Line 3 between Plaça de Catalunya and Lesseps, has continued to develop since, both in terms of the number of stops and indeed the number of lines that serve Barcelona. It is now one of the fastest and most reliable ways of getting across the city.

More information about Barcelona’s Metro

Now Barcelona’s metro lines, which are run by the TMB, cover the vast majority of the city, which means that they are used by both residents of Barcelona and tourists visiting the city.

Where to buy Metro tickets?

There are many places where you can buy the different metro tickets, and most people buy them in the automatic ticket machines that can be found in every metro station. Other locations include the TMB information points, kiosks, estancos (tobacconists shops that also sell stamps), and the stands in the streets that sell lottery tickets. The 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-day Hola Barcelona travel card metro tickets can also be bought online. You can buy your Barcelona Card in Barcelona’s Tourist Information Centres or online.

€ Buy your tickets online

Hola Barcelona travel card (2, 3, 4 and 5 days)

Buy

Getting around with public transport

Barcelona Card 3, 4 and 5 days

Buy

Public transportation included and free admission to various museums

-10% online

Barcelona Card Express (2 days)

Buy

Public transport included and discount in museums

-10% online

Once you’ve bought your ticket or pass, you need to keep in mind that you will need to insert it when you enter each metro station. If you have bought a pass that allows integrated travel, you can use it on all of Barcelona’s public transport for 1 hour and 15 minutes from the first time you validated your ticket. It will count as one journey, but you still need to validate it on each method of transport that you use (bus, tram, FGC or Renfe).

Price of metro tickets in 2020

Although much more reasonably priced than the service in many other the European cities, during the past few years the price of metro tickets has risen significantly. It’s therefore important to buy the right ticket for your journey, and you may find that with the discounts available through the Hola Barcelona travel card (Hola BCN!) or Barcelona Card you could save quite a lot of money.

The Barcelona Metro lines

Barcelona’s Metro has a total of 11 lines that run underground across much of the city. Below we have included a map that shows the different lines, and a chart that shows more information about each line. We should point out that Lines 6, 7 and 8 actually form part of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), and not of the Metro, but the tickets and transport passes are the same as for the Metro.

LINE	COLOR	ORIG. – DEST.	OPERATOR
Line 1	Red line	Hospital de Bellvitge – Fondo	TMB
Line 2	Lilac line	Paral·lel – Badalona Pompeu Fabra	TMB
Line 3	Green line	Zona Universitària – Trinitat Nova	TMB
Line 4	Yellow line	Trinitat Nova – La Pau	TMB
Line 5	Dark blue line	Cornellà Centre – Vall d’Hebron	TMB
Line 6	Violet line	Barcelona Pl. Catalunya – Reina Elisenda	FGC
Line 7	Brown line	Barcelona Pl. Catalunya – Av. Tibidabo	FGC
Line 8	Pink line	Barcelona Pl. Catalunya – Molí Nou Ciutat Cooperativa	FGC
Line 9 North	Orange line	La Sagrera – Can Zam	TMB
Line 9 South	Orange line	Zona Universitaria – Aeroport T1	TMB
Line 10	Light blue line	La Sagrera – Gorg	TMB
Line 11	Light green line	Trinitat Nova – Can Cuiàs	TMB

Timetables

Barcelona’s metro timetable varies according to the day of the week, with the service being extended over the weekends, so that people can get around easily late at night.