Paulo, Todd, Phillipa and Hvoje share their (primarily optimistic!) experiences attending this yr’s Spanish Grand Prix at a very popular Circuit de Catalunya close to Barcelona.
2026 Barcelona F1 Tickets / F1 Experiences / Barcelona Lodges / Barcelona F1 Fb group
The 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix takes place from June 12-14
Important Picture: Paulo Ferreira
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Paulo from Portugal
I stayed at a lodge to the east of the circuit, and it was an important selection, as I used to be in a position to keep away from the entire visitors between the circuit and Barcelona. It by no means took greater than half-hour between leaving the lodge and parking on the circuit, and vice-versa.
I had grandstand G tickets, proper subsequent to Max Verstappen’s “Orange Military.” What a present they placed on! As all the time once I attend F1 races, I took particular enjoyment wandering round across the normal admission areas, which at Circuit de Catalunya supply loads of implausible monitor views. I usually roam normal admission on Friday and Saturday, then sit in my allotted seat just for the race on Sunday.
Regardless of dwelling in Portugal, it was my first time at this race, and I have to say that I used to be pleasantly shocked with the group and amenities, having learn loads of complaints from the previous few years. There have been loads of shaded areas to eat and relaxation, and even to observe the monitor. The traces to water refill stations, meals and beverage stands, and bathrooms, have been acceptable. No traces in any respect to enter the monitor, and pretty cheap automotive parking group. In fact, nothing is ideal, however for this type of occasion, I believe all of it went very nicely.
My favorite picture spots have been on the skin of Flip 3; at tarmac degree, and fairly near the monitor. The velocity of the automobiles was insane! Additionally by way of the fence (and timber) on the exterior of the quick Flip 9 proper hander, with the spectators within the background and utilizing the vegetation within the foreground made for some aesthetically lovely photographs, in my humble opinion. You too can take good panorama photos from grandstand G. [Paulo’s photos were taken with a Canon R6, with Canon EF 70-200 f4, EF 300 f4 and EF 24-105 f4 lenses.]
Todd from the USA
In the previous few years, I’ve been to 5 F1 races in individual, and I’ve discovered the laborious manner that if I’m going to splurge on something at a race, it’s going to be on my ticket. I’m going to be in that seat for a minimum of 10-12 hours over the course of the weekend. So, I would like my very own seat. I would like an important monitor view, and I would like the flexibility to see the race on a big TV monitor as nicely. So, usually I simply get one of the best grandstand seat that I can, which this yr would have been both within the lined principal grandstand or a lined grandstand at both the primary or remaining corners.
For this race I made a decision to splurge. Fortunately, Barcelona gives among the most reasonably priced hospitality suites on the F1 calendar. I opted for the Backyard Village, overlooking the ultimate flip. The Backyard Village Hospitality Suite tickets have been €1,450 per individual, however included a parking move (which we didn’t use), a seat in Grandstand H, in addition to entry to a trackside non-public lined village space that was totally catered. The Backyard Village tents had three bars serving beer, wine, and non-alcoholic drinks as nicely. On Friday, because it’s simply free follow and the least attended race day, simply the bars have been serving, and some packaged snacks have been out there.
However on Saturday and Sunday, the suite opened at 9am and there have been buffets with three totally different meals setups all through the day for breakfast, lunch and dessert service. The meals was nice and the service was pleasant and tremendous attentive. A whole lot of Spanish tapas type small bites, however additionally they served paella and different dishes throughout lunch service. Actually, I assumed the general worth of the ticket was nicely well worth the upcharge from what a grandstand seat would have price. There’s a little bit of a sticker shock while you first pay for the ticket, however for my three days on the circuit, I didn’t have to purchase any meals or drink or wait in a single line for something.
When buying tickets to any F1 race, the circuit web site ought to be your first selection. For Barcelona, that is circuitcat.com. Usually the circuit web site would be the most reasonably priced and dependable possibility for purchasing your tickets. On this case, it turned out that the hospitality suites have been out there by way of licensed ticket distributors a couple of weeks earlier than happening sale by way of the circuit. I ended up buying the passes from Grand Prix Tickets, and I had no destructive points with them in any respect.
I wished to remain someplace that was accessible for transportation to the circuit, in addition to near the motion within the metropolis, and ended up staying within the Eixample neighborhood of Barcelona. It was a straightforward 10 minute stroll to the Passeig de Gracia prepare station, the place you’re taking the inexperienced R2 prepare within the path of Granollers or Saint Celoni and get off at Montmelo. The roundtrip tickets price €6.20 and it took about half-hour to get there.
A free circuit shuttle bus was out there from the Montmelo prepare station to the circuit, however there was sometimes an enormous queue for this. So long as you’re bodily in a position, you’ll doubtless save time by strolling to the circuit, which takes about half-hour and passes by way of the city. A lot of distributors have been promoting meals, drinks, F1 merchandise and souvenirs alongside the best way.
I didn’t get into Barcelona till Friday morning, however I used to be in a position to get to the circuit in time for Free Follow 2. Being the least busy day of the race weekend, Friday offered a very good alternative to discover and to take a look at the fan zone.
On Sunday, we arrived on the circuit at 10:30am, and the bag and ticket test was quick. We frolicked within the Backyard Village after which went as much as our seats in Grandstand H, which have been within the shade and had a view of a giant TV display screen. The race itself was nice. Between the stunning climate circumstances, giant variety of overtakes, different pit methods, the late security automotive, and nice seats, I actually loved it.
When the race was about ten laps from being completed, I went right down to the closest gate so I may be a part of the post-race monitor invasion. I received there early sufficient so I used to be towards the entrance when the gate opened and I sprinted with the group to get near the rostrum. I completely suggest doing the post-race monitor invasion. Nonetheless, if you wish to really be wherever close to the rostrum, you need to get to a gate shut by earlier than the race ends.
This yr, over 300,000 spectators attended the Spanish Grand Prix over three days. That’s lots of people to cram right into a small city. Since many attendees take the prepare to the circuit, there are large traces across the station following qualifying and the race. My recommendation is to take your time leaving the circuit on the finish of the day. Do the monitor invasion and chill out a bit in Montmeló earlier than heading to the station. There’s dwell music and DJs taking part in to a dancing crowd within the city sq.. Loads of meals and beverage choices have been additionally out there to maintain the celebration going. If you happen to wait 2-3 hours after the race, there will likely be hardly any traces for the prepare in any respect.
Wrapping up, attending this race was an exquisite expertise. The circuit, crowd, facilities, and Catalan and Spanish hosts have been wonderful. I cherished it.
Philippa from the UK
We attended the fan discussion board and fan zone in Plaça de Catalunya, Thursday pit stroll and sat in grandstand E from Friday to Sunday. We stayed in a lodge a brief stroll from Estacio del Nord and the Arc de Triomf.
The fan zone in Plaça de Catalunya was good with a automotive show and different interactive displays. I had tickets to the fan discussion board but it surely was difficult for an English speaker as a result of all of the interviews have been performed in Spanish. Had I identified upfront, I most likely wouldn’t have gotten tickets for the fan discussion board.
For getting across the metropolis, we purchased a T acquainted card which offered us with eight journeys for €11.90. We purchased two of those as we wanted sixteen journeys. We maybe may’ve used a T informal every which for a bit extra money permits ten journeys for a single individual, however that may’ve meant one every, and as we didn’t know simply how a lot we’d use public transport, it simply labored out simpler for us with the T acquainted.
On Thursday there have been no buses operating to the monitor, so we caught the prepare from Passeig de Gràcia to Montmeló after which walked 1.8km to the monitor. There have been no indicators so we relied closely on Apple Maps directing us at this level. I’ve by no means seen so many distributors promoting merchandise exterior of a circuit! It took round half-hour on the prepare and an additional half-hour to stroll from the station to the monitor. It was difficult within the warmth!
From Friday to Sunday, we took the Sagales shuttle bus, which we had purchased upfront. It was straightforward to make use of, the buses have been frequent and also you have been assured a seat for the entire journey. The journey to the circuit took round 90 minutes on Friday, however we did go away afterward at the present time (round 10:30am). We left earlier on Saturday and Sunday and the journey took simply over half-hour. On Sunday, there have been tons of of buses ready for followers after the race. The one draw back was the shortage of structured queues, so there have been plenty of queue jumpers.
The expertise on the circuit was nicely managed. There was minimal queuing to truly get in. Thursday was worse as everybody attending the pit lane stroll needed to undergo one gate and the bag checks have been very thorough. It took round forty-five minutes to get in on Thursday. The opposite days felt a lot faster, taking round ten minutes to get by way of bag checks and safety.
We had tickets for grandstand E, which had nice views of the primary straight from the beginning line by way of Turns 1-3 and the opposite half of the circuit too. The grandstands had open areas beneath which housed two small rest room blocks, a water fountain and loads of house to cover from the Spanish solar in between on-track occasions.
Navigating across the monitor was pretty tiresome and we didn’t make it spherical the entire manner. Among the steps have been difficult on account of wobbly railway sleepers (see image right here), and unmarked tough to identify kerbs in odd locations. I’m undecided if the circuit could be very wheelchair pleasant.
Foods and drinks costs on the monitor have been extortionate, and meals was mediocre at finest. It price €11th of September for a burger/ ham roll. €5.50 for a small bag of chips. €5 for a 500ml bottle of sentimental drink and €4 for a Calippo iceblock! It’s tough while you’re restricted within the quantity of meals/ drink you’ll be able to soak up although, mixed with the excessive temperatures. I used to be making an attempt to reasonable how a lot I drank, which left me feeling unwell. There have been large queues for water fountains. That they had some water followers round, together with within the pedestrian tunnels, however there may have been extra given the excessive temperatures!
It was good to have F2, F3 and Porsche Supercup on monitor, though we didn’t see the entire assist classes and races because it was simply too scorching within the grandstand. Some extra demos of historic automobiles would possibly’ve been good, given the very fact it was F1’s seventy fifth yr.
The fan stage behind the primary grandstand had plenty of appearances however they positioned a big gazebo in entrance of it. As a result of it was so busy, many followers have been pressured to face on the fallacious facet of the gazebo, that means you would hear the primary stage however not see something! Colapinto followers have been very loudly chanting away throughout the entire essential stage occasions too, which made listening to issues much more tough, even when different drivers have been on stage.
The opposite fan zone space with an F1 outlet retailer was actually far-off from the primary stage. We walked over there on Friday, however they’d barely any inventory so I used to be fairly upset. It appears individuals who went on Saturday had higher choices.
I cherished the very fact they have been making a gift of Amex radios. It’s tough to listen to the trackside audio system in any other case when the automobiles are close by. The commentary was in Spanish, French and English which made it straightforward to maintain up with monitor motion.
Hrvoje from Croatia
I’ve already been to Barcelona 3 times, every time for motorsport. I attended the F1 race (2008), the WRC (2017) and F1 winter testing (2020). Since I all the time had a good time, I made a decision to e-book one other journey. My buddy Dino determined to affix as nicely, and we booked Vueling flights from Dubrovnik to Barcelona in September of final yr. We booked a two-room residence by way of AirBNB, which was positioned between Plaça d’Espanya and the primary Sants prepare station.
Tickets for the race went on sale by way of the official web site in October. I waited a bit, hoping for a Black Friday low cost. This didn’t occur, so I purchased a three-day normal admission ticket. Sadly, there have been no one-day tickets out there on the time, and I didn’t need to spend an excessive amount of cash contemplating that I’m going to a few races this yr. To analysis the journey, I used the Barcelona Grand Prix Journey Information and Fb Group from f1destinations.com, in addition to the Grand Prix Journey subreddit.
We flew in on Saturday afternoon, packed in like sardines on the Vueling airplane, our baggage underneath the seat in entrance of us. Dino carried two baggage, one among which carried his digital camera with two lenses. We landed on time and took the Aerobus to our residence. After checking in, visiting the grocery store and having a beer on the balcony, we visited Placa de Catalunya, the place the F1 Competition was being held that week. Sadly, we arrived half an hour after it closed!
Our choices for attending to the monitor on Sunday have been to take the prepare (most cost-effective), Sagales bus (dearer) or taxi (most costly). In fact, we selected the prepare, which takes half an hour to Montmeló. The crowds have been bearable. We met an American couple on the prepare who joined us for the stroll to the monitor. There’s additionally a free bus from the station to the monitor, however strolling was a better option for us. We arrived in Montmeló at round 10:30am and loved a leisurely stroll by way of the city. There are many stands with merch, meals and drinks alongside the best way. We tried to stroll within the shade as a lot as doable as a result of the solar was brutal.
We entered at Gate 6 (close to Flip 3), as a result of our new American pals had tickets for grandstand N. In entrance of the doorway is a big, costly restaurant that we bypassed in a large circle. We didn’t smuggle something in like in Imola, and alcohol is prohibited contained in the monitor. It wasn’t like that in 2008… rattling! We arrived for the beginning of the Porsche Supercup race and every thing was good, aside from the warmth.
Round 2pm, we began on the lookout for a spot within the shade to observe the race. We discovered it between Turns 8-9 (earlier than grandstand S). There was already an enormous crowd, most of whom had been there all day already, however we discovered some house, and we may additionally comply with the motion on an enormous display screen. The race began and the environment was good! Alonso was combating and making an attempt to overhaul in unattainable locations.
I instructed Dino that I used to be going off for a wander, and that he shouldn’t comply with me as a result of I didn’t know the place I used to be going. We agreed to be in contact by way of textual content, and off I went, exploring, taking photos and having fun with the excitement. Barcelona is all the time good for normal admission views. I discovered a spot close to the fence at Flip 5. A couple of seconds later, I reached for my telephone in my pocket and it’s not there! Possibly I’ve fallen sufferer to pickpockets, which everybody warns you about in Barcelona. I retraced my steps and located my telephone on the bottom about 20 meters away. It had fallen out of my pocket. After that stress, every thing else was straightforward.
A message got here by way of from Dino that he was in grandstand J on the start-finish straight. Possibly I may sneak right into a grandstand as nicely? It was simpler than I assumed, perhaps as a result of the safety guards had already gone to assist with the post-race monitor invasion. I checked out the views from the lined grandstands L and M. The previous had distinctive views of two sections of the monitor and I used to be glad to be within the shade.
I sat on the steps of grandstand L and watched the race unfold. There was a security automotive interval on account of Kimi’s retirement. After the restart, Alonso labored wonders once more, Max was having a blast, and Hulk overtook Hamilton to the whole delight of the viewers. The race was over.
The monitor invasion was nicely organized. A map confirmed the doorway factors to the monitor. Reminiscences of the craziness of the monitor invasions at Imola and Monza flashed earlier than me, however I needn’t have frightened. It was all fairly orderly. I didn’t make it in time for the rostrum ceremony, however that’s OK. The warmth and solar have been overwhelming and it was at this level I wanted I had worn my sun shades in addition to my hat.
I discovered Dino within the fan zone behind the primary grandstand, then we walked again collectively to Montmeló. There was a band and DJ taking turns to play in the primary sq., and the environment was actually energetic. We had a couple of drinks and loved seafood paella for dinner whereas ready for the prepare queues to die down. We lastly boarded a prepare certain for Barcelona at round 10pm.
We discovered that grocery store, cafe and restaurant costs have been cheaper than in Croatia. On the monitor, it price round € 11th of September for a burger, €5 for fries, €5 for half a liter of soda. It was costly and the meals wasn’t nice high quality. Merch was costly, the most affordable you would discover was an previous cap for €20 or a T-shirt for €30. In any other case, all the present yr merch was promoting for over €50. Subsequent to the monitor (Gate 6), there was an enormous restaurant with an enormous outside grill, which was additionally horrible. A half liter of (actual) beer price €10.
However in Montmeló, every thing was extra fairly priced, even when the costs had been elevated a bit for race weekend; €4-5 for half a liter of beer, €3-4 for juice and €6-8 for a sandwich. At an area restaurant, we paid €18.50 for a big paella and €11 for a bottle of wine. Our meals in Barcelona price round €25-30 per head for a multi-course meal with a bottle of wine.
Value Abstract
Return flights: Dubrovnik-Barcelona with Vueling (keep on baggage solely) = €85
3-Day Common Admission race ticket with charges = €189.50
Three nights in a very good two-room residence for 2 folks by way of airBNB = €250 per individual (€500 whole)
Aerobus return ticket = €12.85
Metro card with 10 rides = €12
Return ticket to Sitges = €10
Prepare to the monitor = €6 (return free)
Whole = fastened prices of approx. €565 per individual.
We have been very glad with the journey (9/10)! If in case you have the chance to attend, I extremely suggest doing so. Positives have been the superb normal admission areas (grandstands even higher), reasonably priced costs in Montmeló and the strong group. On the draw back, it was too scorching on the monitor, no alcohol was out there, and there was some overcrowding within the normal admission areas.
That is an edited & shortened translation of Hrvoje’s unique article in Croatian, which you’ll be able to learn right here.
In Temporary (The Good & Unhealthy)
The Good
Bella: Every little thing was simply good. And let me inform you, the Sagales buses, simply excellent. I’ve by no means skilled higher group of any occasion I’ve attended. Implausible!
Gregory: What an important weekend! A lot improved organisation from the circuit and transport in comparison with final yr, made it even higher. Final yr we queued three hours for a prepare – this yr it was 45 minutes to at least one hour, with the shuttle buses dependable too and much more workers to assist every thing run easily. Obtained to see plenty of nice battles on monitor and thanks to Kimi for his service for that late security automotive.
John: Race Nice seats in Grandstand J… extremely scorching weekend, particularly race day. An incredible weekend for our first ever F1 Grand Prix after following Formulation 1 for 40 years.
The Unhealthy
Saffron: I don’t suggest driving, we employed a automotive for this yr and it took us 1.5 hours to get out on the Saturday and a pair of.5 hours to get out on the Sunday. Genuinely one of the unorganised occasion parking I’ve ever been to. Not one single workers member there to assist with visitors management.
Stevie: 1 hour 50 minutes to get out of the automotive park. No marshalls wherever till about 1 hour 45 minutes of going nowhere!
Claire: Suffered from pickpockets. Guarantee your valuables are nicely buried in your baggage and nothing simply accessible or straightforward to take away from you.
Karen: Watch out for the BBQ stall close to Gate 6. It price €95 for sausage and chips, ribs and chips and two beers (just one liter beers have been out there, apparently). My husband didn’t ask in regards to the costs earlier than ordering!
The above quotes have been taken from readers in our Barcelona F1 Fb group, which has over 4,000 members and is filled with ideas and recommendation for these contemplating attending the race in Barcelona.
