Feedback, please, on Barcelona itinerary

I'm trying to pack in as much as possible during our pre-cruise visit to Barcelona. I’m hoping you kind folks can help me fine tune my itinerary. We are a family of four with sons who are 22 and 25 years old. They don’t have any interest in art so no Picasso or Dali sightseeing for us. We do want to see as much Gaudi as possible and would love to squeeze in a trip to Montserrat. We arrive Friday morning and our cruise departs on Sunday (we have to be on-board no later than 4:00 pm). I have spent countless hours on these boards and trip advisor, and below is what I have come up:

Friday: We are scheduled to land at BCN at 8:45 am. We’ll take a cab to the hotel, which is near the Las Ramblas, and drop off our luggage. If we’re lucky, we will make the 11 am Runner Bean Old City tour. If not, we can DIY using the Rick Steves’ guidebook. After that, we’ll wander along the Las Ramblas and then head to the hotel for a brief nap (I doubt I’ll sleep a wink on the plane). I’m thinking about making reservations through Barcelona Day Tours for their dinner and flamenco show at 6:45 pm. I know the flamenco dance is not native to this area but still want to see it.

Saturday: I’m thinking of booking the 8 hour Barcelona & Montserrat combination day tour through Barcelona Day Tours. It includes Park Guell, which is on my must see list. Plus, my husband and I really want to see Montserrat. I’ve already booked a tapas tour through Barcelona Taste at 7:00 pm. Hopefully, we’d be back in time for that.

Sunday: I’m thinking about booking a 3.5 hour Gaudi tour through Barcelona Guide Bureau. It includes entrance into Casa Batlló and Sagrada Familia, which are on my must do list. Hopefully, the hotel will store our luggage while we’re touring. When we get back, we’ll take a taxi to the port.

Is the above itinerary too ambitious? Is there a better way to see everything that I’m trying to pack in? I’m a little nervous about touring before getting on the ship but would rather see Gaudi than sit by the pool. Our first day is a sea day so we’ll be able to re-charge then. Any insights on how I can fine tune or improve this itinerary would be greatly appreciated!Thanks! Michelle

Your plan appears to be workable.

We used Barcelona Day Tours for a four hour tour of Barcelona and it was great. We saw all the Gaudi structures.

We did Montserrat on our own, and saved some bucks, but you are limited by time. Doing Barcelona and Montserrat in one day will be a long day for you.

Don't miss going inside Sagrada Familia and go up the tower.

Also, here are some tapas and restaurant tips:

Regarding our tapas tour, one of the restaurants is located on the corner of a large market about 100 yards east of the Cathedral Square, across the street from the Gothic area. The name of the restaurant was Cuines Santa Caterina.

We had dinner at ATN, which was located close to a Roman excavation of tombs just off Las Ramblas on Canuda Street. The restaurant was open, even though it was about early by Spanish dinner standards. We had a wonderful meal with great service. Separate checks were not a problem with a party of six and credit cards were accepted.

The next day, we had dinner at small tapas restaurant near the Plaza Sant Just on Palma De Sant Just. That restaurant, Bodega LaPalma, was not modern like ATN, but small and rustic. The tapas were excellent, with large servings for very reasonable prices.

Is your cruise round trip Barcelona? Ours was and we were able to Montserrat on the way to the airport. That gave us 2 and a half days in Barcelona pre-cruise. On one day we took the train to Girona.

Is your cruise round trip Barcelona? Ours was and we were able to Montserrat on the way to the airport. That gave us 2 and a half days in Barcelona pre-cruise. On one day we took the train to Girona.

Hi, yes, we are round trip Barcelona. We won't have a ton of time though to get to the airport on the day of our departure. Thanks!

Your plan appears to be workable.

We used Barcelona Day Tours for a four hour tour of Barcelona and it was great. We saw all the Gaudi structures.

 

We did Montserrat on our own, and saved some bucks, but you are limited by time. Doing Barcelona and Montserrat in one day will be a long day for you.

 

Don't miss going inside Sagrada Familia and go up the tower.

 

Also, here are some tapas and restaurant tips:

 

Regarding our tapas tour, one of the restaurants is located on the corner of a large market about 100 yards east of the Cathedral Square, across the street from the Gothic area. The name of the restaurant was Cuines Santa Caterina.

 

We had dinner at ATN, which was located close to a Roman excavation of tombs just off Las Ramblas on Canuda Street. The restaurant was open, even though it was about early by Spanish dinner standards. We had a wonderful meal with great service. Separate checks were not a problem with a party of six and credit cards were accepted.

 

The next day, we had dinner at small tapas restaurant near the Plaza Sant Just on Palma De Sant Just. That restaurant, Bodega LaPalma, was not modern like ATN, but small and rustic. The tapas were excellent, with large servings for very reasonable prices.

Thanks for the feedback and the restaurant information! I'm also glad to hear that you had a good experience with BDT.

We spent several days in Barcelona on our own five years ago pre-cruise, but this fall we had a port day there and wanted to visit Montserrat and Parc Guell (neither of which we had visited on our first trip) as well as go back to La Sagrada Familia. So I had Barcelona Day Tours customize their one-day Barcelona/Montserrat tour for us (and got folks from our Roll Call to join). BDT was terrific. Very easy to deal with to set things up, and our guide was one of the best guides we've ever had, anywhere.

In terms of your planned itinerary, you will certainly have jam-packed days and nights. I hope all the scheduling works out well for you.

Have a great trip!

Sunday: I’m thinking about booking a 3.5 hour Gaudi tour through Barcelona Guide Bureau. It includes entrance into Casa Batlló and Sagrada Familia, which are on my must do list. Hopefully, the hotel will store our luggage while we’re touring. When we get back, we’ll take a taxi to the port.

Hi Michelle,

Not the voice of experience here but your itinerary is very similar to what I am planning in July.

On your embarkation day, if you are doing the tour with BDT, ask them if you will be in a vehicle that can take your luggage as well. We are doing this and BDT will take our luggage with us and drop us off at the port. Gives us a little more time and saves the cost of a taxi to the port.

Cheers

Steve O

Hi, yes, we are round trip Barcelona. We won't have a ton of time though to get to the airport on the day of our departure. Thanks!

We had an afternoon flight and the trip to Montserrat on the way to the airport was a great use of time. We were at Montserrat pretty early in the morning, beating the crowds. You might think of a morning trip that would have you back in Barcelona by early to mid afternoon, leaving the rest of the day to do other things on your list.

Hi Michelle,

Not the voice of experience here but your itinerary is very similar to what I am planning in July.

 

On your embarkation day, if you are doing the tour with BDT, ask them if you will be in a vehicle that can take your luggage as well. We are doing this and BDT will take our luggage with us and drop us off at the port. Gives us a little more time and saves the cost of a taxi to the port.

 

Cheers

Steve O

Steve, That's a great idea! I have sent BDT an email to see if they can do the tour and then drop us off at the port. Thanks!

I am so glad to hear BDT was good. I am arranging for a group tour when I do a TA in October 2016. We are planning the full day Montserrat and Barcelona. Can someone tell me tipping protocol for European port tours.

Hi Michelle,

Not the voice of experience here but your itinerary is very similar to what I am planning in July.

 

On your embarkation day, if you are doing the tour with BDT, ask them if you will be in a vehicle that can take your luggage as well. We are doing this and BDT will take our luggage with us and drop us off at the port. Gives us a little more time and saves the cost of a taxi to the port.

 

Cheers

Steve O

I think Steve makes a good suggestion. My two girlfriends ( I already did it) used Barcelona Day Tours for a full day of Montserrat and Barcelona city tour and loved it. :)

good luck with your planning, and hope everything falls into place for you. You will find that wandering Las Ramblas will be quite interesting, and may take more time than you imagined. One suggestion while wandering Las Ramblas. Look for La Boqueria market , and stop in there. It is quite large, and impressive.

We spent 3 days in Barcelona pre-cruise in 2013.

Montserrat is amazing and we wound up spending a bit more than half a day there. It is easy (and cheap) to do on your own and that gives you a bit more flexibility with your time. There is so much to see there you may feel shortchanged it you rush it.

Same thing with Parc Guell, easy to get to via cab (don't try to walk that steep hill!) and a place you may want to spend some time.

Sagrada Familia is beautiful, but an hour or so will do it there. Book tickets online to avoid the lines and will go right in.

Visit La Rambla during the day so that all of the vendors are open! La Boqueira is an attraction unto itself!

We only did one Gaudi house - La Pedrera - and that was good for us. We did; however, make a point of walking down Passeig de Gracia at night so we could photograph the houses all lit up.

Barcelona is such a walkable city we never felt the need for a tour. We found everyone very friendly and cabs were plentiful and not expensive. Lots of English speakers as well.

I had also purchased a map from MapEasy which made locating attractions ridiculously easy.

I believe our days were:

Day 1 - arrive, check into hotel, walk La Rambla, tour La Pedrera.

Day 2 - up early and train to Montserrat, Aquarium, dinner and then the Moll

Day 3 - Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Columbus Monument, Parc de la Ciutadella

If you can, get to Font Majic at night for the dancing waters! We plan to in 2016!

We spent 3 days in Barcelona pre-cruise in 2013.

 

Montserrat is amazing and we wound up spending a bit more than half a day there. It is easy (and cheap) to do on your own and that gives you a bit more flexibility with your time. There is so much to see there you may feel shortchanged it you rush it.

 

Same thing with Parc Guell, easy to get to via cab (don't try to walk that steep hill!) and a place you may want to spend some time.

 

Sagrada Familia is beautiful, but an hour or so will do it there. Book tickets online to avoid the lines and will go right in.

 

Visit La Rambla during the day so that all of the vendors are open! La Boqueira is an attraction unto itself!

 

We only did one Gaudi house - La Pedrera - and that was good for us. We did; however, make a point of walking down Passeig de Gracia at night so we could photograph the houses all lit up.

 

Barcelona is such a walkable city we never felt the need for a tour. We found everyone very friendly and cabs were plentiful and not expensive. Lots of English speakers as well.

 

I had also purchased a map from MapEasy which made locating attractions ridiculously easy.

 

I believe our days were:

 

Day 1 - arrive, check into hotel, walk La Rambla, tour La Pedrera.

Day 2 - up early and train to Montserrat, Aquarium, dinner and then the Moll

Day 3 - Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Columbus Monument, Parc de la Ciutadella

 

If you can, get to Font Majic at night for the dancing waters! We plan to in 2016!

This sounds like a great plan. We did a 3 night pre-cruise stay in Barcelona in October, 2014 for 4 people. Instead of getting 2 rooms at a hotel, we booked a fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment a block off La Rambla (near La Boqueria) for the 3 nights. Cost was around $700 Canadian for the entire stay. Easy walking in the area, lots of places to eat, stores etc and cabs drove by the apartment all the time, so was really easy to flag one.

Just another option for spending time in Barcelona. Consider renting an apartment, condo or house ... :)

This sounds like a great plan. We did a 3 night pre-cruise stay in Barcelona in October, 2014 for 4 people. Instead of getting 2 rooms at a hotel, we booked a fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment a block off La Rambla (near La Boqueria) for the 3 nights. Cost was around $700 Canadian for the entire stay. Easy walking in the area, lots of places to eat, stores etc and cabs drove by the apartment all the time, so was really easy to flag one.

 

Just another option for spending time in Barcelona. Consider renting an apartment, condo or house ... :)

Yes! We did the same thing. It was me and my 3 sons so we rented an apartment through Tendency Group. It was fantastic! Two bedroom, bath and a half, full kitchen AND a washing machine! We got on the ship with all clean clothes.

We were supposed to be right on Passeig de Gracia, but they moved us to an upgraded apartment because there were "issues" with the property we initially rented. We were on Dr. Letemendi square and it was only a couple of blocks from Passeig de Gracia and very central for walking to many attractions!

We were on Dr. Letemendi square and it was only a couple of blocks from Passeig de Gracia and very central for walking to many attractions!

we rented off AirBnB and the apartment was on Carrer del Carme just off La Ramblas ... short walk to the Columbus monument, Guell palace, and tons of other things ... we really liked Barcelona ... there were so many interesting side streets with hidden gems ... we hope to be going back, possibly in the fall of 2016 before boarding a transAtlantic sailing out of Barcelona ...

Hey Michelle,

Sorry but I just have to chime in. I'm sure your sick of hearing from me on the roll call. When I was in Barcelona in 2013, we arrived at the same time you are 2 days prior to the cruise.

The day we arrived we did NOT go to sleep and spent the day touring Las Ramblas, La Bouqueria and had an appointment with pre purchased tickets to La Sagrada Familia. We then went to dinner and fell in bed at 7:30 and slept all night.

The next day we used Barcelona Day Tours for a tour of Monsterrat and the city including Parc Guell. They were AWESOME!!! They took us around to all the Gaudi sites.

Now this year I am arriving on Saturday morning at 8:55 AM and we are spending the day at La Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas and La Bouqueria. I am coming this time with my mom, stepmom and a friend and they haven't seen any of it.

Then on Sunday (the day the ship leaves) I booked BDT again for a 4 hour tour to see Parc Guell and other Gaudi stuff and then they are taking us to the ship!!!

Anyway just wanted to weigh in. Can't wait and we are only 16 days away!!!

Kellie