PortAventura With Kids: Prices, and the €1 Ticket Mistake

We go to PortAventura at least once a year and have done for years. It’s two hours from Barcelona, it’s the largest resort in southern Europe, and there is one thing about it that almost every visiting family gets wrong before they leave the house.

They buy the cheapest ticket, which is the worst value ticket.

The ticket maths — read this before you book anything

Ticket	Adult (11–59)	Child 4–10 / over 60
1 day, PortAventura Park only	€43	€38
1 day, 2 parks (+ Ferrari Land)	€44	€40
2 days, 2 parks	€45	€41
2 days, PortAventura Park only	€46	€41
3 days, 2 parks	€77	€69
Ferrari Land on its own	€19	€17
Caribe Aquatic Park on its own	€32	€28

A second park costs one euro. A second day and a second park cost two euros. And two days at PortAventura alone costs a euro more than two days at both parks, which makes no sense and is nonetheless the price.

For our family — two adults and children of 7 and 12:

Option	Total
1 day, one park	€167
1 day, two parks	€172
2 days, two parks	€176

Nine euros between the cheapest option and twice as much holiday.

Watch the age bands. The adult rate starts at 11, not 12 or 14. Our twelve-year-old pays the same as we do. The reduced rate is for ages 4 to 10 and for over-60s, and a grandparent coming along pays the child price — worth knowing if you’re travelling as three generations.

What I’d actually buy:

• Staying overnight nearby? Two days, two parks. It’s €2 more than a single day and it turns a forced march into a holiday.
• Driving down for the day? One day, two parks. The extra euro is not a decision. You may not use Ferrari Land, and it still costs a euro.
• Never buy the single-park single-day ticket unless you are certain you will never return and want to save five euros for a family of four.

Caribe Aquatic Park is a separate €32 and only worth adding in real summer heat, when it’s the best thing on the whole site.

⚠️ Check the heights before you queue

This is the thing that ruins days at PortAventura, and no article warns you properly.

Every ride has a minimum height, and some of the big ones have a minimum height to ride alone and a lower one to ride with an adult. A child who is 1.2 m and desperate to go on something can get to the front of a forty-minute queue and be turned away.

What to do: before you go, measure your children — properly, in shoes — and write the number on your phone. Then check each ride’s height on the park map or app before you join the queue, not after.

The heartbreak is entirely avoidable and it happens to somebody in front of us every single visit.

Sesamo Aventura — where the day actually happens with young children

PortAventura is six themed worlds and children under about eight will spend most of their day in one of them.

Sesamo Aventura is built around the Sesame Street characters and it’s where our two were happiest by a long way. The rides that left them breathless, and which I’d send anyone with a small child straight to:

• Coco Piloto
• Magic Fish
• El Huerto Encantado

What works about this area is that the rides are real rides rather than a fenced-off toddler corner — they move, they’re fast enough to be exciting, and nobody is too small for them.

The strategy that works with mixed ages: alternate. One adult rides the big thing with the older child while the other does Sesamo Aventura with the younger one, then swap. Trying to keep everyone together at a park this size means nobody gets what they came for.

When to go — and this is the other half of the article

We learned this the hard way. Our first visit was on a weekend and we spent it in queues. Every visit since has been on a weekday during term time, and it is a completely different park.

The rule: avoid weekends, avoid school holidays, and avoid the weeks when Spanish and Catalan school groups come — which is a good part of June.

Best: a weekday in May, June before schools break up, September or early October.

Halloween runs from 19 September to 15 November 2026 and it’s genuinely well done — the park decorates properly and there’s a separate programme. Worth timing a visit for, with the caveat that some of it is aimed at teenagers rather than seven-year-olds, so check what’s on before you promise anything.

Getting there from Barcelona

Two hours by car, and there’s plenty of parking.

There’s also a direct train, which is the better option if you’d rather not drive after a full day at a theme park — and after a full day at a theme park, you would rather not drive. Check the current timetable before you commit to it, because the service and journey time have changed over the years and it decides what time you have to leave the park.

Salou itself is worth knowing about: the resort is a short distance from the beach, so if you’re staying two nights you can do park, beach, park, which is a much better holiday than two consecutive days of roller coasters.

Should you stay on site?

We’ve always gone for the day, though every year I think harder about it — and with the two-day ticket at €45 it makes more sense than it used to.

What staying buys you: being inside the gates before the day-trippers arrive, which at a park this size is worth an hour of queueing, and not driving home exhausted.

Our review of Hotel El Paso is here.

Is it worth it?

Yes, with the right ticket and the right day.

PortAventura at €43 a head on a packed Saturday in August is an expensive way to stand in a queue. PortAventura on a Tuesday in May, on a two-day two-park ticket, with the heights checked and a plan to split up, is the best family day out in Catalonia.

The park hasn’t changed much in the years we’ve been going. What changes is how well you’ve prepared, and that’s almost entirely about the ticket you bought and the day you picked.

Ferrari Land, and whether the extra euro is worth using · Other day trips from Barcelona

Frequently asked questions

How much are PortAventura tickets?

A one-day PortAventura Park ticket is €43 for ages 11–59 and €38 for ages 4–10 and over-60s. A one-day two-park ticket including Ferrari Land is €44 and €40 — one euro more. Two days at both parks is €45 and €41. Ferrari Land alone is €19, and Caribe Aquatic Park alone is €32.

Which PortAventura ticket is best value?

Two days, two parks at €45. It costs €2 more than a single day at a single park and gives you twice the time and both parks. Two days at PortAventura Park alone actually costs more, at €46. The cheapest ticket on the page — one day, one park at €43 — is the worst value on it.

At what age do children pay full price at PortAventura?

Eleven. The adult band runs from 11 to 59, so a twelve-year-old pays the same €43 as an adult. The reduced rate covers ages 4 to 10 and anyone over 60, which means a grandparent pays the child price.

What is there at PortAventura for young children?

Sesamo Aventura, built around the Sesame Street characters, is where children under about eight will spend most of the day. Coco Piloto, Magic Fish and El Huerto Encantado were the ones ours loved most. The rides are real rides rather than a toddler corner.

When is the best time to visit PortAventura?

A weekday during Spanish term time — a Tuesday in May, June before schools break up, September or early October. We spent our first weekend visit almost entirely in queues and have gone midweek ever since. Halloween runs from 19 September to 15 November 2026 and is well done, though some of it aims at teenagers.

How do you get to PortAventura from Barcelona?

About two hours by car with plenty of parking, or a direct train, which is the better choice if you would rather not drive home after a full day. Check the current timetable before committing, as the service has changed over the years and it decides when you must leave the park.