Barcelona: travel
Barcelona airport
The chances are you will touch down at Barcelona's plush main airport, based some eight miles out of the city centre.
Barcelona El Prat, to give it the full name, is now a major hub with three terminals. EasyJet and Monarch fly into Terminal A, British Airways and Iberia to Terminal B while the third terminal is for domestic hops.
Currently you can fly direct to Barcelona from a staggering 17 British destinations. There's too many to list here so you're better off checking the websites direct:
Click here to check live arrivals and departures
Ryanair flies to Barcelona Girona which, if you haven't guessed, is the way of making the airport close to Girona sound like it's OK for Barcelona. It's 64 miles north east but there are connections in place.
Getting into town
I've tried out the route from Barcelona Airport by train and bus and all things considered I'd give the bus the edge - however the rails are a worthwhile alternative and does have a free option to bear in mind.
Bus: The Aerobus A1 stops at all terminals - from terminal A simply walk out of the main doors and it's just in front and to your right. It makes the 30 minute journey to Placa de Catalunya, with stops along the way including Placa Espana and Universitat, handy if your hotel is in this popular place. It runs every 15 minutes during the day, from 5.30am from the city centre and 6am from the airport through to past midnight. Singles are 3.90 euros bought on the bus, plus there's a discount if you get a Barcelona card.
You can check out further information here
Train: The trains are a little less regular, going half hourly. The station is a five minute walk - on exiting the terminal turn right and take the long covered walkway across the roads direct to the station. If you buy a T10 ticket - basically covering you for ten journeys - this will cover you for the 25 minute run, and you can then use it on the metro without any further faffing around. One other big bonus is that the Barcelona Card gives you a FREE train ride so if you are thinking of using the card during your stay, it may pay to buy one at the airport.
The train goes to Barcelona Sants, the main station, or the slightly more central Passeig de Gracia. Both link to the metro.
For a timetable click here for the Renfe website
Taxis: These are a comfortable if slightly more expensive option but worth considering if there's a few of you - expect to pay around 25 euros into town plus a few extra euros for bags. The official black and yellow cabs are plentiful.
Barcelona Girona Airport
This is the reliable info I have about Barcelona Girona, which I have yet to test out personally. Any tips, do let me know.
A bus - not linked to Ryanair, but tying in with the flights - stops outside the airport and whisks you to Estacio d'Autobusos Barcelona Nord, a ten minute walk to Arc de Triomf metro station (L1) in an hour and ten minutes. It's12 euros for a single, 21 euros return. You can't book in advance but can call (0034) 93 593 1300 for info.
Check the timetable here which gives you a clue as to which bus is best for your flight
You can go by train too - services run at least hourly, take 75 minutes and tickets cost 6.70 euros. This does go to the main Barcelona Sants station, with easy metro connections to the rest of the city. However, you do need to take a bus or cab from Girona station to the airport.
Taxis - expensive, more than 100 euros each way.
Barcelona by train
Yep, I know, Barcelona has become known as the ultimate cheap flights destination and for the vast majority this is the most convenient and viable way of getting there.
But if you are within easy distance of the Eurostar give the train a quick thought.
The route is straight-forward - a late afternoon Eurostar to Paris, then across the capital and on board the sleeper TrenHotel. 
You roll into the the grand, stunning, but little used Estacio de Franca station in Barca at a civilised 8.24am ready to start your break. The return leaves at 9.05pm - and you can be back in Blighty by lunchtime the next day.
The cost of the Paris-Barelona overnight train starts from £67 each way, bookable online. Yes, it's a lot more on paper than the flight, yes it will take longer.
However, bear in mind you get effectively two nights accommodation thrown in - plus you save on airport parking and all the hassle associated with airports these days. No 3am starts to catch early morning flights, and you can be sipping beer in La Ramblas up to an hour before your return train leaves.
I checked out this train on my last journey. Great fun. The basic cabins sleep four - in mine there was an American farmer, a Parisian policeman and a Russian living in Ireland. Bizarre.
The chances of you getting a perfect night's sleep are slim but the bunks are comfortable enough and rattling through French stations at the dead of night all adds to the experience. The train has its own bar and restaurant too.
Click here for loads of top tips on how to make the journey
Getting around Barca
Barcelona is a sizeable place and you can explore most of it on foot. La Ramblas is your main focus. At the top is Placa de Catalunya, a big pedestrian square where you will find the tourist information underground as well as starting points for many tours. Off the square is Universitat area where many of the hotels are.
From there, La Ramblas is a kilometre long walk right down to the harbour. Walking that direction, the Gothic Quarter is on your left, with the edgier El Raval district to your right.
However, the chances are you will want to hop on public transport at some point, particularly as the Camp Nou is some two miles from the centre.
The metro is one of the most extensive modern systems in Europe. Unlike many others, the majority of this underground is actually, erm, underground. You can reach most destinations with the minimum of time and fuss.
It's new, reasonably clean, safe and modern. Trains run every two or three minutes at peak times, every ten later in the evening and there's a minutes and seconds countdown to your train which is rarely wrong.
To while away the few seconds you do spend on the platform, big screens show advertising but this seems a huge waste when they could surely be showing sport. Just a suggestion...
Services run from 5am to midnight from Sunday to Friday, and through the night on Saturdays.
The only word of warning would be to check out if it's really worth taking the metro if you are only going two or three stops and possibly having to change lines. Some of the walkways underground from street entrance to platform - and when switching lines - are lengthy and it may actually be quicker to walk - check your map.
Bus routes are a little more difficult to suss out but they are worth bearing in mind, in particular places such as Parc Montjuic which is not served directly by the metro. You insert your ticket in the machine towards the front of the bus.
Buying tickets
There are the usual range of tickets to get and trying to suss out the best one is tough.
I've opted for the T10 ticket before. This gives you ten public transport journeys - metro, buses and the airport train - and you may find this pretty much covers your trip. They cost 7.20 euros for a Zone 1 ticket which takes in all your likely destinations including Camp Nou and the Olympic Stadium.
You can actually share these T10 tickets - go through the turnstile, then hand it back to the next person to come through. Each person is a separate journey, and the LCD display on the turnstile shows how many you have left.
If the turnstile isn't letting you through, it may be you are putting your ticket in the wrong side. In the UK you put tickets in on the right and walk through to the left - in many, but not all, Barca stations it's the other way round. I've been caught out more than once. You feel a fool.
Another option is the Barcelona Card with several options depending on how long you're in town (note that they run out at the end of the day, so if you buy a two day ticket on Saturday lunchtime, it will expire at the end of Sunday and won't cover you back to the airport on Monday).
This gives you unlimited travel on public transport, free connection to the airport by train or a discount on the Aerobus - plus discounts or free entry to museums, and money off selected shows and restaurants. You can book yourself a guided walk for free too.
If you are planning to do a couple of attractions, and take a guided walk, it is probably fair value.
You can buy these online in advance and pick them up at the airport tourist offices in Terminals A and B, open daily from 9am to 9pm.
There are various single journey and travel card options. Click here for choices and up to date prices from the official site.
Sightseeing tours
Barcelona Bus Turistic is the major bus for visitors, linked to the city's tourist office, and you will be staggered by the number you see on the roads.
Once you have bought your ticket for one day (20 euros) or two days (26 euros) you are free to hop on and off any of the three routes linking the main attractions the city has to offer. The open top buses come complete with recorded commentary in a stack of languages.
The Red route links Nou Camp, Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. Blue route takes you up the hill to Parc Montjuic whilst the Green route heads into the lesser visited Poble Nou to the east of the centre.
Services kick off at 9am to 9.30am from the tourist information office in Placa de Catalunya, with the final ones departing at 7pm in winter, 8pm in summer.
The buses do a good job in taking you straight to where you want to go but despite the large fleet, they are a victim of Barca's popularity. On a Monday morning in October the buses were packed - queues of people wanting to squeeze on were a common sight despite the fact buses run every ten minutes, although this is subject to busy roads.
That's what encouraged me to check out the smaller rival Barcelona Tours. The big buses leave from the opposite corner of Placa de Catalunya.
The bus has just one route but it is longer, around two and three quarter hours in total. It still takes in all the big tourist spots with headphone commentary - there are fewer buses but there are less passengers too, making your chances of bagging a good seat upstairs a little better than on Bus Turistic.
Click here for more info on Barcelona Tours