If you’ll be staying in the main Barcelona city centre, with its reliable Metro system and abundance of taxis, buses, and trains, you probably won’t find it necessary to rent a car. For non-locals, navigating the busy streets of the city centre can be a daunting prospect.

Securing a temporary car may be a necessity, however, if you’re staying outside of the city centre in a location that is not serviced by the Metro. Renting your own vehicle can also be convenient if you’re traveling on business or need to venture out of the city to the outlying areas (i.e. Girona, Penedes, the Dali museum in Figueres, or the surrounding beach resorts outside of Barcelona). If you intend to visit the surrounding beaches outside of It may also be a requirement for those with handicaps or special needs.

You’ll find that there are many different services offering car rentals in the Barcelona area. Inside Terminal B and Terminal C of the Barcelona Airport, you’ll find several of the main car rental companies, including Avis, Atesa, Europcar, Hertz, and Solmar. Ancillary rental companies can be found outside the airport.

Driving Directions to the Barcelona Airport

When driving your own rented car, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with directions from the city centre back to the airport. You’ll want to take the Barcelona ring road, with the airport exit via the Pata Sur. The airport access road is the Barcelona-Castelldefels C-31 motorway, which connects with the Barcelona-Stiges C-32 motorway.

Below, we have compiled a list of distances (in both kilometers and miles) from various locations within the city centre to the Barcelona Airport: