Girona Airport to Barcelona: the 'Barcelona' airport that isn't in Barcelona

If you booked a cheap flight to 'Barcelona' and landed at Girona, you're not where you think you are. The two are roughly 100 km apart, and the drive into the city is a solid hour to an hour and fifteen minutes on the AP-7, longer at weekends when it gets busy with traffic heading the same way.

There's no train station at the airport itself, which catches people out. The nearest station is in Girona city, about 15 minutes away by taxi or local bus, and from there it's a further hour or so into Barcelona Sants. It's cheap and it works, but it's three separate legs for what sounds like one short hop on the map.

The straightforward option is the direct bus that runs between the airport and central Barcelona, timed around flight arrivals rather than a fixed timetable. It's the route most people end up taking, and for good reason — one bus, no changes, drops you in the city centre.

Taxis will do the whole 100 km if you want it done in one go, but it's a long, metered fare for a single airport and not something most people choose unless there's a group to split it with.

A pre-booked private transfer is worth comparing here more than on most short-hop routes, simply because of the distance — splitting a fixed price across three or four people competes well against four bus tickets, and you skip the walk from the bus drop-off with bags in tow. Rule of thumb: on your own, the direct bus is hard to beat. Travelling as a group or landing very late, check a transfer price before you assume the bus is cheaper — over 100 km, it isn't always.