Location & Accessibility
Barcelona is situated on the Mediterranean coast in the north east of Spain. To the north and south of Barcelona there are major coastal destinations such as Lloret De Mar and Salou.
Barcelona is two hours flying time from London and a little more from UK regional airports.
The main airport of Barcelona is called El Prat and is 12 kilometres from the city centre. A new runway has recently been constructed to cope with the increasing number of flights.
All major airlines including British Airways and Iberia have flights into El Prat. easyJet also has flights into El Prat. Ryanair has many flights from the UK but uses the airports of Girona to the north and Reus to the south. This means that Ryanair passengers have a coach journey of over an hour to get to the city centre.
One of the main reasons why Barcelona is such a popular short – break destination for UK tourists is that flights are available from many UK airports. Many of these flights are with budget airlines and are relatively cheap.
Flights to Barcelona
One reason for the popularity and appeal of Barcelona as a short-break destination is the availability of flights from so many regional airports in the United Kingdom. The city is served by three airports: the main airport at El Prat, just outside the city, Reus, an hour’s drive to the south and Girona, approximately the same distance to the north. The major airlines fly into El Prat, and so do easyJet. Ryanair offers flights to Reus and Girona. The table below illustrates the range of United Kingdom regional airports from which tourists can fly to Barcelona on Ryanair and easyJet, let alone other airlines.
| easyJet – El Prat | Ryanair - Girona | Ryanair - Reus |
|---|---|---|
| Belfast | Glasgow | Glasgow |
| Liverpool | Newcastle | Liverpool |
| Newcastle | Durham Tees Valley | Birmingham |
| East Midlands | Doncaster | London Luton |
| London Luton | Manchester | London Stansted |
| London Stansted | East Midlands | |
| London Gatwick | London Stansted | |
| Bristol | London Gatwick | |
| Bournemouth | ||
| Bristol | ||
| Newquay |
Barcelona is also well served by rail services. It is possible to get to Barcelona from other Spanish cities by rail and there are direct trains to Paris. Also, the European motorway system means that it is easy to drive to Barcelona although this would take considerably longer.
Barcelona has a good public transport system with a metro underground train service that runs throughout the day. A single ticket costs one Euro. There are 11,000 registered taxis and tourist buses are a good way of sightseeing in and around the city.
Activity 2
Identify Barcelona, Girona, Montserrat, Reus, Salou Lloret De Mar, Andorra, French border