Barcelona on a Budget

On my recent 12-day trip to Barcelona, I tried to keep my spending below €300. If it hadn’t been for the vending machine that ate my money and the generous presents I bought for my friends, I could have done it. (I went over by about €7.) Despite my financial constraints, I had an amazing time and didn’t skimp on any adventures. 

Here are my tips for doing Barcelona on a budget.

1. T-10 Metro Ticket 

The Barcelona public transit system is phenomenal, but a single journey costs €2.15! Purchase a T-10 metro card which allows for ten journeys within Zone 1 for only €9.95. It can be used by multiple people and is valid on the metro, buses, trams, and funiculars. The card also allows free transfers between lines. (Psst! You can even use the T-10 card to take the number 46 bus from Plaça Espanya to the airport.)

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya free on Saturdays

2. Free Museums on Sundays

A lot of Barcelona’s best museums are free of charge every Sunday after 3pm.  Lines can be long, but in some cases you can get the ticket in advance.  I went to the Picasso Museum and got a free ticket at 1pm for the 3pm entrance that day.  Other free Sunday museums in Barcelona include:

• Museu Marítim de Barcelona
• MNAC: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Saturdays)
• Museu Picasso
• MUHBA Museu d'Història de Barcelona
• Museu d'Història de Catalunya (First Sunday of the month)
• Museu Frederic Marès
• Museu de la Música
• Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

• Jardí Botànic

3. Free Barcelona Audio Guides 

The audio guide at Sagrada Familia costs €7, but you can download an MP3 of the izi.TRAVEL version for free. The website offers a number of other free Barcelona city guide tours in multiple languages. Visit the izi.TRAVEL website for the full list. 

Free Walking Tour through the Mercado de La Boqueria

4. Free Walking Tour

Of course, the free walking tours aren’t necessarily free as the guides do ask for tips.  But they’re almost always entertaining and thorough.  Plus, you can get insider tips from a local on where to eat, what to see, and (most importantly) what to avoid. Free walking tours are also a great way to get a lay of the land when you first arrive in a city.

• Free Walking Tours Barcelona
• Runner Bean Tours
• Travel Bound 
• Feel Free Tours (French, English, and Spanish)

5. Montjuïc Cemetery 

Unquestionably one of the strangest places I’ve ever been, this unique cemetery is free to the public. It was built in the late 19th century to accommodate the population growth caused by Barcelona’s rapid industrialization and it contains more than one million burials and cremation ashes. It’s conveniently located on Montjuïc along with a number of other attractions and is well worth the trek.  

6. Free Accommodation  

I was able to stay in an apartment close to Plaça d'Espanya completely free of charge, on the condition that I fed a loveable cat named Arnie every morning. I found the assignment on the Trusted Housesitters website. You can also find housesitting and petsitting opportunities on Mind My House and House Carers.

7. Dipòsit de les Aigües Library at Pompeu Fabra University 

You can visit a 19th century reservoir that has been converted into a university library. It's a little tricky to find, so ask one of the students on campus for directions. The library is also a great place for digital nomads in Barcelona to get some work done. Heads up, you might have to sweet talk the person at reception in order to get login information for the wifi.

8. Concert at Palau de la Música Catalana 

Touring the exquisite Palau de la Música Catalana costs a whopping €18. Yikes! However, a ticket in the nosebleed section for a weeknight concert starts as low as €10. Visit the official website to purchase tickets and see the full program.

9. Souvenirs 

If you want to bring a nice bottle of cava, traditional Spanish sweets, or vacuum sealed blood sausage, don’t waste your money at the airport duty free stores. You can find all of these things markedly cheaper at any supermarket chain.

10. DIY Bocadillo 

Eating out for every meal in Barcelona gets expensive quickly and cheap restaurants are hard to come by. You can save a ton of money by purchasing food at local supermarkets and preparing it yourself. Bocadillos can cost as much as €5 on the street, but you can make your own for around €1.50. Local produce is also quite affordable and is a great snack between sightseeing.