Barcelona Walking Tours

Spending a week pre-cruise in Barcelona in mid-September and thinking about doing a walking tour to get oriented with the city and learn about the history.

 

Any recommendations? Given the size of my group (7 adults, 4 kids), I think a tip-based tour will work better for us.

 

And do you think it's necessary to do a tapas walking tour or just pick a few places and order away?

We did the Runner Bean Old City tour on our turnaround day on our B2B. It is free but you tip as you see fit. I think we gave her 25 Euro for the two of us. It was on a Sunday which is the day they dance the Saldana, a typical Spanish dance, outside the cathedral. I made sure to ask our guide to go there. It was amazing to watch. The tour was fantastic. With such a large group you have to make sure to schedule ahead of time. Enjoy Barcelona.

We did a free walking tour in Berlin with Sandemans. The guide was excellent and I think they also operate in Barcelona. We left 10 euros each as a tip, which is plenty in any European city.

 

A tapas tour is certainly not needed. The fun is finding places you like. There are plenty of recommendations on Tripadvisor.

We did the Runner Bean Old City tour on our turnaround day on our B2B. It is free but you tip as you see fit. I think we gave her 25 Euro for the two of us. It was on a Sunday which is the day they dance the Saldana, a typical Spanish dance, outside the cathedral. I made sure to ask our guide to go there. It was amazing to watch. The tour was fantastic. With such a large group you have to make sure to schedule ahead of time. Enjoy Barcelona.

 

Thanks for the tip on the Saldana, mom4mom! Is there a timeframe that they do that?

We did a free walking tour in Berlin with Sandemans. The guide was excellent and I think they also operate in Barcelona. We left 10 euros each as a tip, which is plenty in any European city.

 

A tapas tour is certainly not needed. The fun is finding places you like. There are plenty of recommendations on Tripadvisor.

 

Thanks LondonTowner. I appreciate hearing that...Going around and just eating was what DH and I were leaning towards. It's my DS that wants to do a tour, so we may sit out on that portion.

One of the places we went to for tapas was La Bodegueta de Provenza. It was good, we were the only foreigners in there and had been recommended by a Catalan friend of mine. It is in Carrer Provenza which is off Passeo de Gracia going up on the left hand side. You can find it on a Google map.

 

We also had lunch in Chiringuito de Escriva, famous for paella. It is along on the promenade towards the Olympic Village, but there are hundreds of bars and restaurants.

La Bodegueta de Provenza - Thanks LondonTowner!

 

That's just two blocks from where we're staying so we'll definitely eat there.

 

And we'll add Chiringuito de Escriva to our list for when we're down by the Olympic Village.

 

On a sidenote - did you visit the beach when you were there? Is one access point better than another?

sunfan

 

No, we didn't go the beach as it was January. However, we are not beach fans at all. You can get to the beach all along the promenade.

 

BTW, the two restaurants I recommended are very popular, so you may want to make a reservation.

 

Barcelona is a great destination, lots to see and do. I think these days it has become expensive and I live in central London!

 

Enjoy.

sunfan

 

No, we didn't go the beach as it was January. However, we are not beach fans at all. You can get to the beach all along the promenade.

 

BTW, the two restaurants I recommended are very popular, so you may want to make a reservation.

 

Barcelona is a great destination, lots to see and do. I think these days it has become expensive and I live in central London!

 

Enjoy.

 

Thank you - I will look into making reservations. Appreciate the advice!

Thanks for the tip on the Saldana, mom4mom! Is there a timeframe that they do that?

 

I went on their website and the tour starts at 11. I think it was about 2.5-3 hours long. There are several tours to choose from. Ours was the Old City and I had to ask them to include the Saldana dance which they didn't have a problem doing. I think that was because they were planning to show us the cathedral where the dance takes place. But the dance only happens on a Sun. We were on a B2B and we were able to stop for lunch (paella) before taking a taxi back to the ship. BTW the ship made paella one day which was even better.

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a small old nation now ruled by Spain. The quintessential folk music in Catalonia is indeed the SARDANA as well as the HAVANERA, and also RUMBA. Unfortunately, there aren't many regular performances as these are mostly played during festivals and town celebrations.

 

The Catalan National dance and music is the SARDANA. See post by Enric 14/10/15 09:29pm at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/next-week-in-barcelona-on-very-short-notice for a short introduction to the sardana. Impromptu sardanes can be seen every Saturday at 6ish and Sunday at 11ish in front of the Cathedral in the Old City, in the EL Gòtic neighbourhood -schedules might vary throughout the year and there are no sardanes in August: http://guia.barcelona.cat/en/detall/sardanes-al-pla-de-la-seu-els-caps-de-setmana_96330202439.html Note that these are not "shows" but sardana bands playing sardana music and regular folks dancing their tunes: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/yHeV8

 

If you have the chance, I also recommend a RUMBA performance, contrary to flamenco, rumba is also genuinely Catalan, developed by the Catalan gipsy community established in these shores for many decades. In some styles of rumba you might indeed find certain 'traits' similar to flamenco as well as with other folk dances in North African and Middle Eastern cultures. The main reason is due to the nomad character of the gipsy community throughout History. Their music drew early influences from Greek and Roman and later from Indian, Moorish, and Jewish cultures. How does Rumba Catalana sound like? This is a summary video from 2013's Day of the Rumba

you can listen to different rumbes in the background, just keep advancing forward. Rumba is indistinctively sung either in Catalan or in Spanish and to some, it might remind a bit to some South American and Caribbean rhythms. One of the places in town to listen to rumbas is http://www.larumbeta.com/en

 

Another genre that defines Catalans and Catalonia are the HAVANERES (plural form of Havanera, a Catalan word): sea shanties brought back from Cuba -hence the name, from Havana- by Catalan sailors in the 19th Century, which tell of lost loves and far away ancestors. These lovely sing-songs are usually accompanied by guitar and accordion, and sometimes bass. The lyrics are normally sung in Catalan but also there are some in Spanish. Among the most popular Havaneres there are: "El meu avi" ("My Grandpa") and "La Bella Lola" ("Beautiful Lola") When the first one is sung, the audience often sings along and hold each others' arms and sway and swing. It's a very patriotic song for Catalans. The second one is about saying goodbye to a beautiful girl and everybody waves their hand or a (clean) handkerchief. A popular drink called "cremat" -or 'burnt' in English- (a mixture of hot coffee, dark rum, brandy, cinnamon, coffee beans and a peel of lemon on a shallow earthenware casserole dish which is then set alight) is often given away on Havanera nights. Every year, there's a big festival in one of the small quaint towns in Costa Brava, in Calella de Palafrugell. With its picturesque white houses, Calella retains all the charm of an old fishing village. Crowds flock to the town for the concert and in the cove of Portbò (where the stage is set up) you can't see the sea for boats, with people keen to enjoy the show from the water as well:

For those interested in the lyrics, a Icelandic songwriter, long-time resident in Catalonia, has dubbed some havaneres into English (ie La Bella Lola ) .

 

Enjoy!

Edited August 29, 2016 by EnricM