Best Mediterranean Ports Of Departure - Barcelona, Spain

It takes even an enthusiastic tourist a week to explore Barcelona, so if you have only a day or two, it'll be a rush. Be sure to include famous destinations such as La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's much photographed church, the and medieval Barrio Gothic area, and the Pablo Picasso museum. Finally visit Montjuic for a spectacular view of the whole of the city and the surrounding countryside and ocean.

La Rambla
A magnificent boulevard connecting the sea Port to Placa de Catalunya, the heart of old Barcelona. It's crowded with shops, cafes, flower stalls, street performers, and Boqueria, a colorful food market. You'll pass by the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona's magnificent opera theater. Las Ramblas finishes at the Placa de Catalunya, a huge square filled by shops, cafes and bars.

La Sagrada Familia
Barcelona's funkiest church was designed by the celebrated Antonio Gaudi. Work began in 1883, and the imaginative building is still unfinished. Don't miss features like the nativity theme of the frontage, the towers decorated with mosaic work, and massive doors representing faith, hope and charity.

Barri Gotic
The Gothic Quarter reeks of characterful medieval atmosphere. The cramped streets are packed with art galleries, shops, bars, eateries and cafes. At the center of the Barri Gotic lies the Museu Picasso, featuring the works of Picasso. Another must see is the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, a magnificent example of gothic architecture.

The Museu d'art Contemporani de Barcelona
This bright white geometric building towers over Old Barcelona. The Contemporary Art Museum collection, starting the early 1950s, includes many artworks from Catalan, by local artists such as Antoni Tapies) and also works by International names such as Miguel Barcelo.

Palau Guell
Architect Antoni Gaudi designed Palau Guell, a distinctive late nineteenth century palace.

Parc Guell
Another Gaudi design, Parc Guell is a characterful town park. The plants are imaginative and attractive, but the premier stars are Guadi's buildings, with embelishments like concrete arches and mosaic lizards.

La Pedrera
Gaudí designed a fantastic house with undulating, lifelike forms for the property developer Pere Milà Camps. La Pedrera was Gaudi's last work before spending all his time to the construction of the Sagrada Família.

Cruises leaving from Barcelona offer a wide variety of itineraries. A favorite is a trip around the Western Mediterranean. Other options include the Canary Islands, Morocco, or longer cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean and Greek Islands.

Typical itineraries would be:
Canary Islands & Morocco (NCL) Barcelona, Casablanca, Agadir, Gran Canaria, Funchal, Malaga, Barcelona
Pearls of the Riviera (Oceania) Barcelona, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Marseille, St Tropez, Monaco, Portofino, Livorno, Amalfi, Sorrento, Civitavecchia
Eastern Mediterranean (NCL) Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Piraeus, Izmir, Alexandria, La Valletta, Barcelona
Suez Canal (RCI) Barcelona, Alexandria, Suez Canal, Aqaba, Safaga, Dubai
Spain, Italy, Tunisia (Costa) Barcelona, Marseille, Savona, Naples, Palermo, Tunis, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona
Greek Isles (RCI) Barcelona Villefranche, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Piraeus, Kusadasi, Santorini, Naples, Barcelona
Short Western Med Cruise (RCI) Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Barcelona
Spain, Monaco, Tunisia (Costa) Barcelona, Monaco, Livorno, Olbia, Naples, Tunis, Port Mahon, Barcelona

For an complete overview of cruises from barcelona, for all cruiselines see Cruises From Barcelona Spain

Ships berth at Port Vell. The area has become a tourist attraction by itself with a big Maremàgnum shopping center with a big IMAX cinema, and Europe's biggest aquarium. Port Vell links directly to Las Ramblas, the iconic Barcelona avenue lined with cafes and entertainment that feeds into the heart of the city.

There are 8 cruise terminals at Port Vell, split into 3 quays.
Adossat Quay
Terminals A, B, C and D are situated at the Adossat Quay and are the greatest distance from the city center. Terminal D also has the name Palacruceros. Buses make the quick trip from the cruise terminals to the foot of Las Ramblas.
World Trade Center Quay
There are 2 terminals in the World Trade Center or WTC pier called North, and South. The East berth gives an extra area. From these terminals it is an short stroll to Las Ramblas.
Port Vell Quay
Near to the WTC terminal. This ferry terminal is only occasionally used for cruise ships.
Each terrminal has taxi rank.

From the City to the Port
Walking
The WTC cruise terminals are the nearest to the foot of Las Ramblas, being around a 10 minute walk. However the Adossat dock cruise ship terminals, (A, B, C and D) are a larger distance away and you would need to catch a bus called the Blue bus which collects at the Christopher Columbus memorial and deposits you at Adossat quayside.
Metro
The Drassanes station (Green Line, L3) is about 5 minutes by foot from the Christopher Columbus statue.
Taxi
It's easy to catch a cab from Barcelona's center to the port. This is inexpensive, fare around eight euros, and fast, normally less than 10 minutes. .
Getting from the Airport to the Cruise Terminals
By public transport
Catch the Busline A1 from terminal 1, line A2 from terminal 2 to Placa Catalunya, service approximately every 10 mins, next travel by metro from Catalunya to Drassanes. From Drassanes walk to the Columbus monument at the port entrance. Get on the Blue bus to take you to the cruise ship terminal.
Taxi
The best option for transferring from the airport to the port is a cab. The trip will take you about 25 minutes and costs about 30 Euros in total. This cost will include per-bag supplements plus additional airport and cruise port levies.