Travel Information

How to get to Barcelona

You can get to Barcelona in the following ways:

• By train: Barcelona is connected with high-speed trains with France and Madrid as well as other cities in Spain. The main railway station where high-speed trains arrive is Barcelona-Sants. Barcelona is also the hub of the regional and metropolitan train network of Catalonia; see Rodalies de Catalunya and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat.

• By plane: The main international airport of Barcelona is Josep Tarradellas (BCN), formerly known as “El Prat Airport”, located about 16 Km away from the south of the city. You can reach the city by a shuttle bus, subway (L9 South) or taxi. The regional airports of Girona Costa-Brava (GRO) and Reus (REU) are located about one hour away from the city.

• By bus: The main bus station with national and international services is the Barcelona Nord Bus Station, but there are also bus services arriving to Barcelona-Sants and other parts of the city.

• By boat: There are national and international connections by ferry to some of the most important cities in the Meditarranean at the The Port of Barcelona.

• By car: Barcelona is connected by different motor highways, but bear in mind that access is restricted for polluting vehicles; see the Barcelona Ring Roads Low Emission Zone and traffic jams are common during rush hours. There is a Car Park Network of the city, as well as many other private parking facilities, but in general parking is expensive.

Conference venue

The European Bioconductor Conference 2025 will take place at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).

The PRBB can be reached by:

• Subway, where the closest stop is “Ciutadella - Vila Olímpica” of the L4 (yellow) line.

• Tram, where the closest stop is also called “Ciutadella - Vila Olímpica” of the T6 tram line.

• Bus, where the closest stops are “Trelawny - Av Litoral” (D20) and “Hospital del Mar” (47, 59 and D20).

Breastfeeding

The PRBB has a room for breastfeeding. Please contact the organisation upon registration during the conference for more information.

Accommodation

Participants are responsible for their accommodation arrangements. While Barcelona offers a wide range of possibilities for accommodation in terms of standards and rates, it also receives many visitors for tourism and business, which makes accommodation in Barcelona increasingly expensive every year. For this reason, we recommend to explore different options and book as early as possible. The following is a list of hotels located within 30 minutes walking of the conference venue (in alphabetic order):

• Hotel Acta Voraport (directions)

• Hotel Catalonia Born (directions)

• Hotel H10 Marina Barcelona (directions)

• Hotel Motel One Barcelona-Ciutadella (directions)

• Hotel NH Barcelona Diagonal Center (directions)

• Hotel SB Icaria Barcelona (directions)

Barcelona has an extensive subway and bus network, and to a less extent tram, which allows one to quicky reach the conference venue from the other side of the city in about 30 to 40 minutes, where you may be able to find cheaper accommodation rates. Some of the city districts and quarters away from the conference venue where you may enjoy your stay are:

• Barri de Sants

• Barri de Sant Antoni

• Eixample Esquerra

• Eixample Dreta

• Gràcia

• Poble Sec

• Poble Nou

The Resa Inn network of university residence halls may offer daily rates in some of their student dorms in Barcelona (the one called “Campus del Mar” is very close to the conference venue).

Barcelona also has quite a few youth hostels, which may offer some of the lowest accommodation rates:

• Hostelling International affiliated youth hostels

• HostelWorld affiliated youth hostels

Traveling with children

The official website of the tourist office of Barcelona, BarcelonaTurisme has information on activities to do with children. The conference venue is only 10 minutes walking from the Barcelona Zoo, and 20 minutes from the Barcelona Aquarium.

Childcare services

The kindergarten Chiqui La Vila is also about 10 minutes walking from the conference venue, and offers babysitting services during the conference at the participant’s expense. While they accept children from all ages, their premises are more suitable for children under 7 years of age. You may find more information in the following document. If you are interested, please contact them at info@chiquilavila.org before September 11th, 2025.

The following childcare services work on hourly basis and can give service at the hotel or appartment where you are staying: https://nanniesbarcelona.com and https://nanniesmannies.com.

Please note that while all these childcare services are reputable businesses in Barcelona, the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Bioconductor cannot be held responsible for any agreements that the participants of the conference reach directly with them.