Barcelona First Full Day - Hop on Hop Off Bus

We both wake well rested around 8 am.  We slept a long time but considering how little sleep we have had in the past 48 hours we needed it.  Another big reason to fly into your embarkation port early so you can adjust to the jet lag and time change. No sense having your first few days on your ship be so exhausting.


After doing a load of wash (which is a combo washer dryer – which we, for the life of me could not figure out how to get the dryer to start – so we are drying the clothes on the balcony rack). A quick breakfast and then shower we are ready to take on the day at 10 am. We know today is going to be an easy day as we adjust to everything.

First stop is our usual one – coffee bar. We enjoy our cappuccino and a croissant and discuss our game plan.

We have decided to do the hop on hop off tour bus today. So we walk down to the Columbus Monument, which is close to the pier and where the shuttle normally drops you off from the cruise terminal.  You can join the bus at any of the stops and tickets can be purchased on the bus.

There are two hop on hop off tour bus companies. We went with the Red bus that has two lines – the orange and the green line.  Here is the company's website.  Note if you are planning on doing this tour, buy your tickets ahead of time at a rate of 26E.  If you buy it on the bus you will pay 29E per person.

We take a seat in the upper section and plug in our headphones. One area they could improve on is that often many of the jacks that you plug in to were either not working well or only provided sound to one ear.

We started on the Orange line and visited numerous spots on the Western side of the city.  After about an hour and a half we arrive at Plaza Catalunya where we jump off this line and join the queue for the Green line that focuses more on the newer areas of the city and then to Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell.

Placa Catalunya

After about an hour on this line we are both starting to wear down and we need to eat something so we get off at the stop for Parc Guell and get a small bite to eat.  It is 2 pm and we don’t want to eat too much because we have the food tour tonight.

After a bit we find a nice little restaurant and we locate a table on the terrace and order a lovely tomato and mozzarella salad (still having a hard time giving up cheese) and a mango ceviche with a plate of fried potatoes.  Of course a glass of wine is also in order.

I had researched Parc Guell prior to arriving and found out that some of the sites are under renovation and so we opted to skip the park this time for another time.

I know I need a nap so we walk a few blocks to the Metro line and it is the L3 line so we don’t have to transfer we just get off at Parallel and we are home.

Oh we purchased a 10 ride pass which is 9.95E – note a singe ride is 2.15E so I know we will get our monies worth.

Once home I quickly settle in for a nap and I was asleep right away.