We flew to Barcelona ergo we landed at Barcelona airport, and it was quite nice. Not very nice, mind you. But nice enough.

There are 3 terminals here, imaginatively named A, B and C. Typically speaking, terminal A is for long haul and European destinations, terminal B for EU flights and Terminal C for domestic services although there is a little overlap. We were terminal A people for our stay and while not struck down by its impressiveness, it was quite adequate.

I would say airside, but it wasn’t really – that came later. Here there were tons of shops selling everything from chocolate to wine to newspapers and magazines. The prices weren’t that high – I paid €2.50 for a German magazine which would have only been €1.50 in Germany, but is still not expensive as magazines go. They also had a couple of cafes for grabbing a snack in, seats for sitting on and toilets for, erm, think you know that bit.

Once we’d done the passport control / boarding pass check bit (which they actually do here, unlike at Hahn) we were allowed to our gate area where there was a closed shop (probably because by this point it was 9pm) and another café offering hot and cold food, drinks and fantastic looking pastries.

Barcelona airport is a mere 8 miles from the city center making the trip into town one of the shortest post flight ones I’ve ever experienced. We took a taxi at a cost of about £13. Other alternatives are to take the train (every 30 minutes from Clot-Arago, Arc de Triomf, Placa Catalunya and Barcelona Sants stations) for about £3 or the bus from outside the Corte Ingles department store for £1.50. These both run from 6am to midnight 6 days a week, and during more limited times on Sundays. No matter how you travel, the trip never takes more than half an hour. If you end up at the wrong terminal, there are also regular shuttle busses to the other 2.

The airport was incredibly easy to navigate, and the whole place was spotlessly clean and shiny. There were lots of staff on hand to answer questions and they seemed nice and friendly – even pointing out to the homeless people hanging around where they could fill up their water bottles (in England one look at their scruffy clothing would usually result in security being called and them being kicked out).

When we landed and went to collect our luggage, people were lighting up already because most of the airport is not a no-smoking zone which was a bit of a pain. This bugged me a bit since there was no way you could avoid this smoking area unless you didn’t want to pick up your luggage, but it’s a minor point really, and wouldn’t put me off using this place again.

www.barcelona-airport.com/