Best Tickets for Las Golondrinas Barcelona
Head out past the breakwater for nine miles of coast, with the city standing up behind the Barceloneta beaches. This is the only run that leaves the harbour, and the only boat fitted out for wheelchairs.
Forty minutes on a wooden double-decker through the working docks and out to the cruise terminals. The audio guide app comes with the ticket.
L’Aquàrium + Port and Coast 60′
Two Port Vell attractions on one ticket, a footbridge apart.
Gets you a reduced ticket on either Golondrinas route, and carries unlimited metro and buses plus free entry to more than 25 museums for the length of the pass.
Highlights
Tickets & Prices
Two runs leave the same Port Vell dock:
- Port and Coast 60′ leaves the harbour and turns east along the coast, on a catamaran with two open decks.
- Barcelona Port 40′ stays inside the harbour on a traditional wooden boat, and its ticket includes the audio guide app.
- L’Aquàrium and the hour-long cruise sit either side of the Rambla de Mar footbridge.
- The Montjuïc cable car and the hour-long cruise cover the same water twice. Sail the coast, then ride the gondola up to the castle terrace above it.
Both runs carry a reduced fare and a child fare, the child fare covering ages five to ten. SUPER3 cardholders bring up to four children free per adult, and Club Natació Barcelona and La Vanguardia members get two for one. Those are ticket-office deals, so ask at the kiosk.
If you want the skyline, take the hour. The short run stays inside the port.
Barcelona Card holders get a reduced ticket on either Golondrinas route.
Outside high summer the 40-minute run often does not sail on weekdays at all. If a booking site only offers you weekend slots, that is why.
Weather changes the sailings too. Check the day you want before you build an afternoon around it.
The kiosk sits at the foot of the Columbus Monument, and L’Aquàrium is over the footbridge from it. For the transport and the museum entries that come with the card, see the Barcelona Card.
Plan Your Visit
- Port and Coast 60′: 11:30, 13:00, 15:00, 16:30, 18:00, 19:30
- Barcelona Port 40′: 11:15, 12:15, 13:15, 14:30, 16:15, 17:15, 18:15, 19:15
These are high-summer times. The list shortens outside summer.
No boats sail on 1 and 6 January or 25 and 26 December.
- Metro L3 to Drassanes, then walk to the bottom of La Rambla. The kiosk is on the water at the base of the Columbus Monument.
- Buses 59, 120, D20, H14 and V13 all stop nearby.
- Coming from Maremàgnum or L’Aquàrium, cross the Rambla de Mar footbridge and the kiosk is in front of you.
- Be at the dock fifteen minutes before your departure.
Portal de la Pau, Moll de les Drassanes, 08039 Barcelona. On the water directly behind the Columbus Monument, at the seaward end of La Rambla.
Las Golondrinas Barcelona
Moll de les Drassanes, s/n, Ciutat Vella, 08039 Barcelona, Spain · Google Maps
- The hour-long catamaran is the adapted boat: a steep ramp with crew assistance, an adapted toilet, reserved space inside and a disability rate.
- The wooden boats on the 40-minute run are not adapted for reduced mobility.
- The audio guide runs with subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers.
- The operator lists the trip as unsuitable for anyone prone to seasickness.
What to See & Do
The boats started running in 1888, the year of the Universal Exhibition and of the Columbus Monument they still leave from. The port they crossed then was a working dock with the city turned away from it.
The 1992 Olympics rebuilt the waterfront and put Barcelona back in front of the sea. That coast is what the hour-long run sails along.
Port and Coast 60′
drserg/DepositphotosThe catamaran works its way out through the commercial port, slips under the Porta d’Europa drawbridge and rounds the northern breakwater. Then it turns.
From open water the city arranges itself. The Barceloneta beaches open out towards the W Hotel at the far end.
Behind them Sagrada Família and Torre Glòries stand clear of the rooftops, with the Collserola ridge closing the view. Further along comes Port Olímpic, which held the sailing events in 1992. Then Port Fòrum, where the superyachts run to eighty metres.
EnginKorkmaz/DepositphotosOn the way back in, the marina at Port Vell.
Two open decks, and the upper one is the one to aim for. Seats there go first, and it is full sun the whole way.
In February the water goes flat and the hour turns into a quiet sit.
When the sea is rough the coast leg gets dropped, the boat spends the hour inside the harbour instead, and nobody warns you at the kiosk.
Barcelona Port 40′
The short run is the wooden one. Nineteen to twenty metres long, five wide, 150 passengers, built for sheltered water. It stays inside the harbour.
It passes Maremàgnum and ducks under the Porta d’Europa. Then comes the Clock Tower that once worked as a lighthouse, the Sideroploide sculpture, the 1906 light still doing its job, and the W Hotel. Montjuïc and its castle sit above all of it. Then it runs out to the commercial wharves and the cruise terminals.
Whether that is forty good minutes depends on how you feel about ships. If freight hulls and liners at close range are the point, this is the better ticket, and you can watch them without commentary.
If you came for Barcelona, you will spend forty minutes looking at container stacks with the city over your shoulder.
Insider Tips
- Buy the audio guide at the ticket counter. It costs €3, runs in nine languages, and it names what you are passing. Bring your own headphones.
- Turn up 45 minutes before departure if you want an upper-deck seat.
- Save it for an arrival day, when walking the city is beyond you. Small children take to it too.
- Dress for the open deck. A hat and sun cream in summer, since the top deck sits open to the sky, and a layer the rest of the year. A mild 22 degrees on land is a cold wind on open water.
- Bring a bottle of water. The bar on board charges what a captive audience will pay.
- The last departures of the day double as a sunset run.
FAQs
How long is the Las Golondrinas Barcelona boat trip?
Forty minutes inside the port, or an hour for the port and the coast.
Do you need to book Las Golondrinas Barcelona tickets in advance?
No. Tickets go right up to departure. Book ahead when you need a particular weekday run.
Is there commentary on the Las Golondrinas boat cruise?
No live guide. The operator sells a mobile audio guide in nine languages at the counter for €3, and the 40-minute ticket includes an audio guide app.
Which Las Golondrinas Barcelona route is better for the skyline?
The hour. The 40-minute run never gets past the breakwater.
Does the Barcelona Card cover Las Golondrinas Barcelona?
A reduced ticket on either of the two routes, issued at the kiosk rather than online.
Is Las Golondrinas Barcelona wheelchair accessible?
Only on the hour-long catamaran, and boarding needs a crew hand up the ramp. The short run’s wooden boats have no wheelchair access.
Is there a Christmas run on Las Golondrinas Barcelona?
A separate evening run with lights and music sails from late November to early January, skipping 24 and 31 December. It is non-refundable.