Barcelona Nord station
Catalonia’s most important bus station, which was once a railway station
The Estació del Nord is one of Barcelona’s bus stations, the most important in terms of passenger numbers and national and international connections. Built in the 19th century as a railway station, its facilities were converted in the 1980s to accommodate bus lines.
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Discover its facilities and surroundings
The Estació del Nord is ideal for planning coach trips to places near Barcelona, such as the excursions offered by the Catalunya Bus Turístic.
Today, Estació del Nord has established itself as a new hub for tourist mobility, concentrating Barcelona's coach arrivals and departures in one space to facilitate proximity tourism around the city. Despite its transformation, the original 19th-century architecture of Estació del Nord retains its charm.
Its inauguration as a railway station took place in 1862. Initially, the station was open-air. The glass roof and the rest of the façades date from 1910 and were designed by Demetri Ribes. This secular pavilion structure has been preserved and is considered of high architectural interest. Its ornamentation stands out for its glass and iron work, characteristic of civil buildings of the time.
The restoration carried out in the 1990s, led by architects Tous and Fargas, repurposed the former railway facilities for various uses: besides the bus station, the space also houses the city's largest municipal sports complex.
Additionally, in the area where the tracks used to be, a park was designed featuring Barcelona’s only examples of land art. In the Estació del Nord Park, this artistic movement is represented by two sculptures by Beverly Peppers: Fallen Sky and Tree-Spiral.
Next to Estació del Nord, you can visit other notable examples of 19th-century architecture, such as the Arc de Triomf. Passeig Lluís Companys, where this monument is located, leads to the Parc de la Ciutadella, which houses the Barcelona Zoo and buildings constructed for the 1888 Universal Exposition, including a restaurant designed by modernist architect Domènech i Montaner. The Parliament of Catalonia is also located within this park.
How to get to Estació del Nord?
From the Arc de Triomf – Estació del Nord stop on the Red Route of the Barcelona Bus Turístic, you’ll arrive directly at the side of Estació del Nord.
For the curious
- Estació del Nord played a role in the 1992 Olympic Games when it hosted table tennis competitions in its gymnasium. Today, these facilities include a municipal sports center.
- The original neoclassical design by Catalan architect Pere Andrès mainly survives in the station’s south façade, which faces the adjacent park.
