Which Barcelona card should you buy?
Seven different cards are sold as "the Barcelona card", they cover completely different things, and every page selling one is motivated not to mention the others. Here is the whole picture.
Start here. Sagrada Família and Park Güell are not included in any of the official Barcelona Turisme cards — not the Barcelona Card, not the Barcelona Card Family, not Articket. If those two are the reason you're coming, no official card helps and you should book them direct or look at a third-party pass. If your trip is museums, buy Articket or the Barcelona Card. If it's children, buy the Barcelona Card Family. If you only need to get around, buy transport on its own and skip the cards entirely.
The cards, side by side
| Card | From | Transport | Free entry | Sold by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Card Family | €112 adult · €72 child, 72 h | Unlimited, airport included | 13 attractions, chosen for children | Barcelona Turisme |
| Barcelona Card | ~€39 | Unlimited (the Essential version has none) | 25+ museums and cultural venues | Barcelona Turisme |
| Articket Barcelona | €38 | None | 6 art museums, valid 12 months | Museum consortium |
| Hola Barcelona Travel Card | €27.30, 72 h | Unlimited, airport included | None | TMB |
| T-familiar | €11.50 + €1 card | 8 journeys, zone 1, shareable by a group | None | TMB |
| T-casual | €13 + €1 card | 10 journeys, zone 1, one person at a time | None | TMB |
| Barcelona City Pass / Go City | ~€79–96 | Usually a hop-on-hop-off bus | Includes Sagrada Família and Park Güell | Third-party resellers |
Prices checked 9 September 2026 and quoted per card, not per family. The "from" figures are the cheapest variant — durations and adult/child rates vary, so check the seller for your dates. Barcelona Card Family prices are set out in full on the card's own page.
Pick by what your trip actually is
Travelling with children aged 4–12
Barcelona Card Family. It is the only card whose free-entry list is chosen for children rather than adults: Barcelona Zoo, Tibidabo, CosmoCaixa and L'Aquàrium, plus unlimited transport. It is worth it from about three attractions upward — the arithmetic is here, including the cases where it loses.
Adults, and the trip is museums
Barcelona Card, or Articket if it is specifically art. Articket is €38 for six art museums — Picasso, Miró, MNAC, MACBA, CCCB, Tàpies — and it is valid for a full twelve months, which no other card here comes close to. It includes no transport.
Sagrada Família and Park Güell are the trip
No official card. Book both direct, as far ahead as you can — they sell out. A third-party City Pass bundles them if you want one purchase, but compare its total against the two tickets bought separately before assuming it saves anything.
You just need to get around
Hola Barcelona if you'll travel constantly for 2–5 days: €27.30 buys 72 hours of unlimited travel including the airport connection. T-familiar if you won't: €11.50 for 8 journeys that a group can share is the cheapest way for a family to travel. T-casual (€13, 10 journeys) is single-person — four people travelling together cannot validate one card four times. Neither is valid on the airport metro. Full detail on children and transport.
The three things that catch people out
"Barcelona Card" is two products
The Barcelona Card includes unlimited transport. Barcelona Card Essential is the same card without it, at a lower price. If you buy the cheap one expecting to ride the metro, you have bought the wrong thing.
Family ≠ a family ticket
The Barcelona Card Family is priced per person, not per family. Two adults and two children need four cards. Under-4s need none and go free.
The clock starts on first use
The 72/96/120-hour cards run from the moment you first use them, not from midnight or from purchase. Activate one at 6pm and you have effectively lost that day.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sagrada Família included in the Barcelona Card?
No — Sagrada Família is not included in the Barcelona Card, the Barcelona Card Family or Articket. Neither is Park Güell, and neither is Casa Batlló. All three are booked and priced separately. Some third-party passes, such as the Barcelona City Pass and Go City, do bundle Sagrada Família and Park Güell — that is their main reason to exist.
What is the difference between the Barcelona Card and the Barcelona Card Family?
The Barcelona Card and the Barcelona Card Family are separate products with different free-entry lists. The Barcelona Card covers 25+ museums and cultural venues and is weighted towards art and history — it suits adults. The Barcelona Card Family covers 13 attractions chosen for children: Barcelona Zoo, Tibidabo Amusement Park, CosmoCaixa, L'Aquàrium, the Chocolate Museum and similar. Both include unlimited public transport. Buy whichever matches the itinerary you would plan anyway.
Which Barcelona card is cheapest?
The cheapest Barcelona card is T-familiar, at €11.50 plus a €1 card, but it only buys 8 shared journeys and no entry to anything. Of the cards that include attractions, Articket at €38 is the cheapest — six art museums, valid twelve months, no transport. Cheapest is rarely the question worth asking: the right card is the one whose free-entry list matches what you were going to visit anyway.
Is a Barcelona card worth it at all?
A Barcelona card is worth it only if the attractions it covers are ones you would have paid for regardless. A card is a discount on a fixed list, not a discount on Barcelona. Work out what your actual itinerary costs at the gate, then compare — for the Barcelona Card Family we have published that arithmetic in full, including the cases where the card costs more than paying as you go.
Do children travel free on Barcelona public transport?
Children under 4 travel free on TMB metro and buses and need no ticket or card. From age 4 they pay the full adult fare, and there is no child rate on the Hola Barcelona travel card — which is one reason the Barcelona Card Family, with its reduced child price, works out better for families of four. Full detail here.
Where do you collect these cards?
The Barcelona Turisme cards — Barcelona Card and Barcelona Card Family — are collected at a Turisme de Barcelona information point: the airport terminals, Plaça de Catalunya, Sagrada Família, Plaça Espanya or the Colón Viewpoint. Articket and the transport tickets work differently; check with the seller when you buy.
Travelling with children?
The Barcelona Card Family is the only one of these seven built around what children actually want to do. €112 per adult and €72 per child for 72 hours, with free cancellation.