Barcelona Guide

We have 2 days in Barcelona (4 of us) and would like to arrange a guide to tour for half a day to get the best overview of the city. Any suggestions?

Beth

We'll be staying in Barcelona for 3 days in October after a Westerdam cruise and plan on getting info from the hotel. I saw this TaxiTour site in one of the posts.

http://www1.dragonet.es/users/d5506/

We were in Barcelona in May. I pre-booked airport/hotel/pier transportation thru Barcelona Taxi Tours. If we had had more time in Barcelona I would have booked this company for tours, also - especially considering how prompt, courteous and friendly our driver, Aurelio was.

Their web site is: barcelonataxi.com, I think.

The e-mail address I find on their e-mails to me is: taxibarcelona@hotmail.com and one e-mail had the "dragonnet" domain mentioned in previous post.

Give them a try - we were very, very pleased.

Barcelona has a hop-on hop-off bus that goes all over the city. I think it's around 18 euro, but don't quote me.

Yes, Bus Turistic is a great way to see the city! The price when purchased at the "main stop" (by that great, fantastic grocery: El Cortes Ingles) cost us 17/euros each. For that 1 day ticket we could ride all three buses. We ended up just riding the (red or blue - can't remember which) around the city 3 times. For the price of the ticket - you can get on and off as often as you like. It was a fun day!

Do they have city "tours" with English speaking guides giving you highlights of the city or is it more a mode of transporation to see the sights?

Here's the website for bus turistic. I believe there are also audio guides available on the bus in various languages.

http://www.barcelona-on-line.es/eng/reserves/bus_turistic_info.htm

Here's the link to the thread I started with a lot of useful Barcelona websites. It covers many of the main tourist sites

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=191543

I think some of the travel books have suggested intineraries for 1, 2 or 3 days in a city. If I can find anything in my notes, I'll post it. From what I've read though, it's pretty easy to do yourself.

Frances

We took the hop on/off bus all around Barcelona, and I HIGHLY recommend it! You see it all, and the audio with headphones is in English (you tune into a certain channel).

Sit on top if the weather is good: lots of trees. It's a beautiful city.

Here's links for threads of people who have done reviews of their cruise and touch on their time in Barcelona

By Steve J. Garrod - http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/splendour/sp_review.htm

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=2391963#post2391963

Jeanfancsy - http://www.cruise-addicts.com/reviews/readreview.php?id=0000003212

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=130319&highlight=Zona+Universitaria

We spent four glorious days in Barcelona before our Med cruise. We used the Tourist Bus and it is only a few euros more to book it for two consecutive days rather than just one day. It was a fabulous way to get around. We do not speak Spanish or Catalon and had no trouble finding people who understood English. Just get a good guidebook and explore. It is helpful to read a little bit about Antoni Gaudi, the architect, who build so many of the fascinating buildings before you go. YOu are in for a real treat!

Diane

Thanks for all the info. Barcelona Taxi was booked for the day we wanted so I am going with the advise to do the Bus Turisto. We had booked a guide for 4 hours on Sat. but the rate was riduculous as he has a 14 passenger bus for the 4 of us. No takers to date on joining us so I have decided to cancel. Sounds like an easy city to navigate and we are now down to a 10 day count down. Can't wait and thanks for all your advice!

Beth

Hi,

Where we can buy tickets for hop on/off bus in Barcelona. Can it be dane directly in the bus? What is the price?

http://www.barcelona-on-line.es/eng/reserves/bus_turistic.htm

Above is the website. You can buy them on board the tourist bus, at the Barcelona tourist information centres, and Sants Station,at TMB customer service centres and you can also buy it Online.

Frances

Frances: Thx for the link -- am I reading this correctly that the busses only run until 5pm?

http://www.tmb.net/en_US/turistes/busturistic/horaris.jsp

I think it's too 7:00 (19:00 hrs) or possibly 8. Here's another site that has more info as to times.

Frances