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29

in cycle lanes and bike schemes, notably the

Bicing

pick-up and drop-off scheme

(

W

www.bicing.com

), which is touted as

Barcelona’s new public transport system.

You’ll see the red bikes and bike stations all

over the city, but Bicing is aimed at locals

rather than tourists (you need to register as a

user, either online or at the office at Pl. Carles

Pi i Sunyer 8–10, Barri Gòtic, between

c/Canuda and c/Duran i Bas).

In any case, there are plenty of

bike-rental

outfits more geared to tourist requirements.

Rental costs around €15–20 a day with one

of the companies listed below, and many

bike tour companies (see “City tours”) can

also fix you up with a rental bike. For more

on bike paths and cycling, see Chapter 16,

“Sports and outdoor activities”.

Bike rental

Barnabike

Pg. Sota la Murralla 3

o

Barceloneta

T

932 690 204,

W

www.barnabike.com

.

Biciclot

Pg. Marítim 33–35, Port Olímpic,

o

Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica

T

932 219 778,

W

www.biciclot.net

.

Un Coxte Menys/Bicicleta Barcelona

c/Esparteria 3, La Ribera

o

Barceloneta

T

932 682

105,

W

www.bicicletabarcelona.com

.

City tours

The number of available tours grows at a bewildering pace, and you can now see

the city on anything from a Segway to a hot-air balloon. Bike tours in particular

are hugely popular — at times it seems as if every tourist in the city is playing

follow-my-leader down the same old-town alley — while other operators offer

tapas-bar crawls, party nights and out-of-town excursions. Highest profile are the

open-top sightseeing bus tours, whose board-at-will services can drop you

outside every attraction in the city. Otherwise, Barcelona has some particularly

good walking tours, showing you parts of the old town you might not find

otherwise, while sightseeing boats offer a different view of the city.

Bike tours

Bike Tours Barcelona

T

932 682 105,

W

www

.biketoursbarcelona.com.

Find the red-T-shirted

guides in Plaça de Sant Jaume in the Barri Gòtic,

outside the tourist office (top of c/de la Ciutat) – tours

last three hours (daily 11am, plus April–Sept Fri–Mon

4.30pm; €22), no reservations required.

Fat Tire Bike Tours

T

933 013 612,

W

www

.fattirebiketoursbarcelona.com.

Four-hour bike tours

(€22) with genial guides to the old town, Sagrada

Família, port area and beach – where there’s time for a

swim and a drink. Tours meet at the c/de Ferran side of

Plaça de Sant Jaume, Barri Gòtic (twice daily mid-April

to mid-Sept, once daily rest of the year; no tours mid-

Dec to end of Feb). Reservations not required, but you

can check details at the rental shop at c/Escudellers

48. No credit cards.

Bus tours

Barcelona Tours

W

www.barcelonatours.es.

The

orange-coloured rival to Bus Turístic; buses make

twenty stops on a circular three-hour sweep through

the city from Plaça. de Catalunya (daily: 9am–8pm,

May–Sept 9am–9pm; departures every 10–20min).

Tickets available on board and online: one-day €21,

two-day €25 (under-14s €13/16 respectively). No

credit cards.

Bus Turístic

W

www.tmb.net

,

W

www

.barcelonaturisme.com

.

Sightseeing service

(departures every 5–25min) with over forty stops on

three combined routes, linking all the main tourist

sights. Northern (red) and southern (blue) routes

depart from Plaça de Catalunya (daily 9am–7pm,

April–Sept 9am–8pm), and a full circuit on either

route takes two hours. The green Forùm route (daily

BASICS

|

City tours