Barcelona - same guide for several days?

[Kramer995]

Hello!

 

Do you think it would be foolish to use the same guide for a few days in Barcelona? This is our first time in the city. I want to book a few half day city guides, tapa tour and at least one day trip out of the city. I've always had good luck with guides, thanks to Cruise Critic. My fear is this will be the one time I will be disappointed and I don't want to be stuck.

 

We will be in Barcelona for five days before a cruise. We want to see the city at a leisurely, yet efficient pace. We won't need a guide every day, as wandering is good too. We like to have local guides to make the trip more memorable and to learn about the city.

 

Thanks for your input.

Heather

[LondonTowner]

I really don't think you need a guide in Barcelona. Book things you want to see online with official websites. Places like Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell etc. The joy of tapas is walking around and popping into somewhere that looks good. Why would you need a guide.

 

You can get to Montserrat by public transport. Somewhere else you may wish to visit is the Dali museum in Figueras. You can also get there by public transport.

 

By organising things yourself there is no time restraints. Most museums have audio guides these days, anyway.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[kgm0612]

A great way to see Barcelona is on the Hop on Hop off tour buses. We spent three days in the city prior to our Mediterranean cruise and found the bus to be quite informative.

 

Karen

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We used a tour guide that did two tours over two days for four hours each. Much better than spending 8 hours in tours and being exhausted. We really enjoyed it.

 

We get so much more information than just doing it ourselves. They get into so much more detail that we can interact with.

[Spree75]

If you get a good guide then having the same one over the entire trip is great. Good guides will get to know you and make modifications once they understand what you're interests are. In our 5 days in Barcelona we had one guide spread over three days. First day was Colonia Guell and Montserrat. This was probably our shakiest day as our guide was getting to know us and we had just gotten off the cruise ship. Next was a really long day doing a morning Gaudi trek and an afternoon of walking the old city. Finally the last day was a tour around the museums on Montjuic. Day 2 and 3 were fantastic as our guide understood that we loved both food and architecture and would divert here and there to look at some interesting feature on an out of the way alley or a tapas place for lunch that only locals really know.

 

However, the guide we had was a generalist for Barcelona. You mentioned a tapas tour and a trip outside the city. Those I might try and book with another guide that has a specialty in those areas.

[Kramer995]

Thanks for the replies. I may shake it up a bit - DIY train out of the city and a half day guide. I like to have a guide at busy areas. I've read Barcelona Day Trips is a good company.

 

Thank you!!!!