Barcelona Tours

[CAKER]

We are going on the Millenium Venice-Barcelona cruise 10/17-10/29, and spending 3 extra nights in Barcelona.

 

Any suggestions of tour companies for tours of Barcelona, or from Barcelona, especially visiting Jewish sites of interest. I know that ABC Tours has a 7-day tour of Jewish sites in Spain, and also AzraWorld has jewish tours in Spain. But neither of these will be appropriate for our needs. I think we need a good tour guide or company that is familiar with Jewish sites that provides affordable guided tours in and from Barcelona, rather than our trying it on our own.

 

Also, non-jewish guided tours are also of interest.

[howard6933]

Sorry I cannot help you with Jewish tours in Barcelona. However, there is a good deal on a bus tour that leaves from the main square in Las Ramblas area.

It's one of those double decker buses with an open deck that makes stops at many of the tourist sites. You can get on and off the bus at any of these stops and spend as much time as you wish. We did this a couple of years ago and it was a good way to see many sites for one price. Try it, you'll like it. ;)

[ajpack]

We did the hop on hop off bus in October and really saw a lot. Don't know about Jewish sites. It leaves from the Placa Catalunya.

[GramaFran]

We have booked a private tour with Barcelona Taxi and they will take us to all the sights, you just have to make your list. It is 40 euros per hour for 1-4 persons. they are meeting us a pier taking us to hotel, dropping off luggage and then on to sights. We do this as I can not walk any distance and feel the taxi can get us closer to the sights than a bus would be able to.

Francine

[hajekfam]

If you are staying in Barcelona for more than a day, the two day pass for the tourist bus is great.

Here is a link:

Barcelona tourist bus

[arkcruiser]

There are not, to my knowledge, any or many old, i.e., Jewish sites in Barcelona. There was, of course, a prominent Jewish community in the city. As you face the cathedral, the area of the Gothic Quarter forward and to the left was the old Jewish neighborhood, called the Call. There still is a Carrer de Call, I believe. The large hill overlooking Barcelona harbor and the ship's anchorage is called Montjuich, or Jewish Mountain, for a Jewish cemetery located there ca. 1000 AD. Much of the Gothic Quarter is very walkable with a good guidebook. For an overview of the city, the Bus Touristic, which can be boarded from dozens of locales, is a good way to make the circuit all around the city.

[SheilaNC]

There is one person that I know of that does do tours of the Jewish section. He was quite expensive so I didn't follow up on it. Go to the Barcelona Sephardic Synogogue site and email them and he'll get in touch with you. We did find the very old, small synogogue ourselves and had a wonderful hour looking around and talking to the two young adults who were on duty that day. Excellent place to go (be sure to do the same in Dubrovnik). These sites are real treasures and it's so wonderful that they have been preserved. Also be sure to go to the Ports of Call Forum and ask your questions there. Many of us who have been to Barcelona answer questions there. You'll love your 3 days in Barcelona. We did so much last October that we just returned for a land trip.

[ilovhywd]

I just finished reading "The Last Jew" By Noah Gordon, a wonderful novel about the Spanish Jews and how they were:

 

a. expelled

b. ousted

c. murdered

d. converted

e. all of the above

 

Now I know why there are few Jewish sites in Spain!

 

Barcelona is a fabulous city, but the story of the Spanish Jews is always in the back of my mind!

[Normandie-BCN]

I just finished reading "The Last Jew" By Noah Gordon, a wonderful novel about the Spanish Jews and how they were:

 

a. expelled

b. ousted

c. murdered

d. converted

e. all of the above

 

Now I know why there are few Jewish sites in Spain!

 

Barcelona is a fabulous city, but the story of the Spanish Jews is always in the back of my mind!

 

Spain is plenty of former jews sites as in Gerona, Toledo, etc. and every village is at present recovering the memory of sephard jews.

 

From the political point of view, any sepharad jew can get the spanish passport and citizenship only by requesting it in a very simple procedure. They are considered as spaniards who merely "recover" their "real" citizenship.

 

In any case, the important present jew community in Spain does not lives anymore in the former quartiers called "judería" in Spanish and "call" in Catalonia, Valencia and Balearic Islands but mingled with the rest of the population.

 

At present, Spaniards are very proud of their sepharad jews who continued for centuries talking the old Spanish and keeping the kees of their former houses expecting the day their descendents could get back.

 

That moment arrived years ago (Franco started that policy but it is not politically correct mention it)

[ilovhywd]

Thank you, Normandie, for that wonderful post! It's interesting to learn that the sephardic Jews are being welcomed back and considered important members of the community. I would certainly like to read more about this.

 

I am presently figuring out how we can visit Gerona and Besalu when we are in Barcelona for two days next month. Too much to see, too little time!