How to Use Barcelona's Nit Bus

The burgeoning tourist city of Barcelona could truly be called the city that never sleeps. In the heart of its barrio gotic, sight-seers and thrill-seekers roam the main streets literally all hours of the night. Locals or village boys from nearby towns sometimes sleep away the last hours of the night on benches. Most just party until dawn. One precious resource for these night owls is the city's 'Nit Bus' (night bus). Knowing how to use it can be a real safety net.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Get your ticket. Tickets are sold during the day at metro stations and during the night at automated kiosks around the station areas. A single-trip, a ten-trip, and a 24-hour pass are available.

2. Get a bus/metro map. If possible, know where you will be going and where you will be returning to. If the metro has a similar destination, you can use it up until 2 in the morning on weekends. It is faster.

3. Review the zones map. If you travel beyond the downtown area of Barcelona on the night bus, you will have to pay for additional zone travel. A zone map shows how much the fare will be.

4. Get the times of night bus routes. The Nit Bus generally runs its route on the half hour or hour during the dead of night, so either plan your trip, or you will have to wait for interminable minutes at the stop.

5. Get to the station by the time the bus arrives or before it leaves. Enter the bus and stamp your ticket in the machine by the door. Take a seat and relax. The night bus will take you home.

Tips & Warnings

• Stay alert at and around bus stops, in the streets at night, and even on buses. The Nit Bus is convenient but by no means a good on security. Even the drivers are occasionally assaulted by unruly passengers. That's not to say the night bus is particularly dangerous, either. As with any transportation system, each rider must use his best judgement.