 Like
all other major cities, Barcelona has
a lot of traffic. However, since the 1992
Olympic Games driving around the city
and the surrounding areas has improved
considerably, especially on the Ronda
Litoral and the Ronda de Dalt ring roads.
On the other hand, the layout of the roads
in Barcelona which form a grid helps your
orientation when driving around the city.
Drivers in Barcelona tend to be more patient
than in other parts of Spain and they
pay more attention to road signs as well.
In general cars don't usually turn into
a street if they are in the middle lane
and they hardly ever park next to someone
who has double parked. There are a lot
of car parks in Barcelona so you shouldn't
have any problems finding a parking. Once
inside the city you can move around on
foot, by bike, bus or underground. What
may strike you is the number of small
mopeds that there are, it often feels
like it is the city with the highest number
of mopeds in the world.
The Ronda de Dalt and the Ronda Litoral:
These two semi ring roads form a circle
around Barcelona with access to most of
the city's suburban neighbourhoods. There
are two important entrances to the city.
One to the south and one to the north.
The Northern entrance is called the Nudo
de la Tinitat and this is where all the
important roads and motorways enter the
city (the Maresme, Girona-Costa Brava-France
Sabadell-Terrasa Manresa routes). The
Southern entrance is where all traffic
travelling up from the Mediterranean coast
enters the city (Castelldefels or from
Tarragona) and it is also where traffic
from the interior of Spain (Lerida-Zaragoza-Madrid
etc) enters the city. Both entrances are
connected the cities two major ring roads.
Once you are near Barcelona you need to
decide whether you want to use the Ronda
de Dalt or the Ronda Litoral to enter
the city regardless of whether you are
entering the city from the North or from
the South.
- Ronda de Dalt or B-20: This
runs around the Northern part of the
city. You get to it from the Nus de
la Trinitat or Avenida. From the Meridiana
or on the A-7 or C-68 (Gerona, Costa
Brava, France) or on the A-19-Badalona-El
Maresme or on the A-58 and C-58 (Sabadell-Terrassa-Manresa).
It has exits to all the city's Northern
neighbourhoods: Horta, Paseo del Valle
Hebrón (Velodrome and Hospital
del Valle Hebrón), la Rovira
tunnel, San Gervasio, calle Balmes/Plaza
Molina, the Esplugas road (Pedralbes-Sarriá-San
Gervasio), Anglí-Paseo Bonanova
street, from exits 8 and 9 you get to
the Vallvidrera tunnel (there are pay
tolls here) this takes you to the Sant
Cugat-Cerdanyola Autonomous University
and the Technology park. You also get
to the Avenida Diagonal, where you enter
or leave from the AP-7 Tarragona-Valencia
or the A-2 to Lerida-Zaragoza or the
AP-7 to Montmeló-El Papiol-Girona-France.
Furthermore, you can get to the Rondas
from the Castelldefels dual carriageway.
For more details see this
map.
- Ronda Litoral or B-10: This
takes you to: Nus de la Trinitat-Plaça
les Glories-Gran Via, Bon Pastor, Sant
Adriá del Besós, Sant
Coloma de Gramanet, Plaça Pau
Vila, Poblanou, (Forum, Avenida Icaria-Villa
Olimpica), Barceloneta /Via Layetana,
Ciutat Vella, the Port, Montjuic-Fira-Gran
Via, the industrial park, (the Castelldefels
dual carriageway,airport), Avenida Diagonal
(AP-7 Tarragona-Valencia or the A- Lerida-Zaragoza-Madrid.
For more details see this
map.
If you enter the Barcelona or on the
Avenida Diagonal coming from the AP-7
Tarragona or the A-2 Lerida-Zaragoza or
the AP-7 Montmeló-El Papiol-Girona-Francie
or roads coming from the South it is quite
easy because all along this central road
that cuts through the middle of the city
you can take one of the roads that run
perpendicular to reach many of Barcelona's
neighbourhoods: to the North of the Diagonal:
Les Corts, Sarriá.San Gervasi,
Gracia, Horta-Guinardó.and to the
South of the Diagonal: Eixample, Ciutat
Vella, Sants-Montjuic, Sant Martí.
If you enter Barcelona on the Gran
Vía coming from the Castelldefels
dual carriageway (the airport route),
you will cross the city from North to
South. Driving along the Gran Via, you
will get to the A-19 Badalona-El Maresme
exit. You also have the chance of joining
the Rondas from the North. From the Ronda
you have access to the following roads
the A-7 Gerona-France, the C-68 -Granollers-Puigcerda
and the C-58 Sabadell-Terrassa-Manresa...
|
Traffic and Driving in Barcelona
city
|
| The area around
Ensanche or l'Eixample: This is
the most central area in Barcelona,
just below the Diagonal and above
the Gran Vía. From the Plaza
de las Glorias to the Plaza de España
and the Plaza Frances. The streets
form a grid and it is easy to find
your way around them. You shouldn't
encounter many problems finding a
parking space given that there are
car parks on every street in this
part of the city. |
| The main road that crosses the city
from the North to the South diagonally
is the Avenida Diagonal. From
the North you reach the Diagonal from
the Avenida Meridiana and from the
South from the AP-7 Tarragona-Valencia
or the A- Lérida-Zaragoza-Madrid. |
| Calle Aragón
is parallel to the Diagonal and crosses
it in the middle. It is 5 blocks to
the South of the Diagonal. From the
North you get to it from the Avenida
Meridiana and from the South the Plaza
de España, GranVia-autovia
de Castelldefels, the Airport road. |
| The Gran Via, which begins
in the Plaza de las Glorias and the
entrance to the Maresme-Badalona dual
carriageway, crosses the city parallel
to the other 2. Leaving from the South,
like the Calle Aragón, the
Plaza de España, Gran Via,
the Industrial Park, the Castelldefels
dual carriageway, the Airport road... |
| The following
are just some of the perpendicular
streets that cross the city from East
to West: Muntaner, Aribau, Balmes,
Rambla Cataluña, Paseo de Gracia,
Pº San Juan… |
| The Barrio Gótico:
This area is a bit more difficult
to drive around. The streets are irregular
and narrow and it is very difficult
to park in this area. There are car
parks in: Plaza de la Catedral, Moll
de la Fusta, Plaza de Cataluña
and Plaza de Sant Jaume. The Cathedral,
Townhall, Palau de la Generalitat,
The Picasso Museum, the Basílica
de Santa María del Mar, Plaza
Real, Plaza del Pino, The Marés
Museum, Iglesia de la Mercé
are all located within this part of
the city. If you want to visit this
area the best thing is to park your
car in a car park and explore on foot.
There are 2 important streets that
go down from the Plaza de Cataluña
to the sea. They are: Via Layetana
and the Ramblas however there aren't
any car parks here. There is a car
park on Calle Hospital, behind the
Mercado de la Boquería (a large
food market) just off the Ramblas
about halfway down. |
| The Port and
Moll de la Fusta: There is a large
car park below the Moll de la Fusta
and parallel to the Ronda Litoral.
If you are staying in the centre of
the city the best thing to do is to
arrive using the Ronda Litoral
and leave your car in the Moll de
la Fusta or Cathedral car parks, going
up the Vía Layetana. This is
where the Marina, Barceloneta, Statue
of Colón, les Dressanes (Atarazanas),
the Maremagnum and the Aquarium are
located. Nearby you have the Ciudadela
Park with a Zoo, the Museum of Modern
Art, the Zoology Museum located in
the Tres Dragones castle and the Geology
Museum all of which you can get to
easily - there is a large car park
here. |
| The Olympic Port and the surrounding
area: You can get here directly
from the Ronda Litoral. Coming from
the centre of Barcelona, you need
to go down the Via Layetana and take
the Avenida Icaria which takes you
directly to the Olympic Port. You
shouldn't encounter any problems parking
because there is a large car park
here. |
|
The Pedralbes, Bonanova, Sarriá-San
Gervasio areas: These are residential
areas with quite a lot of traffic.
They are easy to get to by car but
once there you may experience problems
finding a place to park. You have
direct access to these areas from
the Ronda de Dalt (click
here for map). You connect with
the Eixample from the Calle Balmes,
going up until you reach the Avenida
del Tibidabo. You also get to the
Plaza Bonanova/Paseo San Gervasio,
Calle Muntaner. You can join
Calle Balmes or Calle Muntaner from
the Gran Viá or Calle Aragón
or the Avendia Diagonal. The Paseo
San Gervasio-Paseo Bonanova-Ctra.de
Esplugas-Av-Pedralbes also goes around
the city parallel to the Ronda. It
is basically the same road but with
different names. The ESADE, Pedralbes
Palace, the Dexeus Clinic, the Planas
Clinic and the Corachán Clinic
are located here. The Via Augusta
takes you from the Diagonal to Sarriá-San
Gervasio and ends in the Vallvidrera
tunnel which takes you to Sant Cugat-Autonomous
University and the Technological Park.
|
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Road
travel in Spain
