Anyone use Barcelona Day Tours?

[Chemist]

My sister and I took Barcelona Day Tours half-day "Barcelona City Tour" on Easter Sunday, 16 April 2017. The tour was excellent and covered the highlights of Barcelona including some of the Gaudi works. Our guide, Anna, was likewise excellent, well informed and very personable. I would have no hesitation in recommending Barcelona Day Tours.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Just returned from Barcelona and used Barcelona day tours for a full day tour of the city and Monserrat. Our guide was Marta and she was amazing. We enjoyed every minute of the tour and would highly recommend it. She picked us up at our hotel at 8 am and finished up at around 5 pm. A long tour but worth seeing all the great sights. Marta is very knowledgeable about the city and its history. We had a nice vehicle and shared the tour with 4 other couples

 

That is great to hear and I am so excited about the tour. Monserrat is somewhere I wanted to visit forever.

They told us we had to walk to the pick-up point because our hotel is on a street they can't park and pick-up. We are staying at the NCL hotel.

[ab21au]

Just returned from Barcelona and used Barcelona day tours for a full day tour of the city and Monserrat. Our guide was Marta and she was amazing. We enjoyed every minute of the tour and would highly recommend it. She picked us up at our hotel at 8 am and finished up at around 5 pm. A long tour but worth seeing all the great sights. Marta is very knowledgeable about the city and its history. We had a nice vehicle and shared the tour with 4 other couples

 

Glad you enjoyed it. We are looking at doing that tour. Where did you go in Barcelona?

[Teewells]

For those using this company, are you joining the shared tours or making your own private groups? Has anybody felt like a group of 12 was just too many people?

 

 

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[ab21au]

We are doing the shared tour in July. Thought about the private one but it did not seem necessary to pay the extra for the private one. We are doing the Monserrat tour mentioned above and all the reports I have read are extremely positive. Will know in July :)

[BPCruiser]

We are currently in Barcelona pre cruise and did two full day tours with Barcelona Day tours as a private tour for 4 people. Day 1 ( Barcelona City Tour/ Montserrat).

Day 2 ( Girona/ Costa Brava).

Both excellent!! Had a wonderful tour guide/ Driver Nico, professional, funny, extremely knowledgeable and made our past 2 days very memorable. Today was my favorite, the medieval walked city of Girona with the flower festival was beautiful, could have stayed longer but on to beautiful Costa Brava and the lovely seaside resort of Tossa De Mar. Highly recommend this company. Professional, timely and one if the best tour companies we have ever booked with in Europe.

We are blessed with fabulous weather currently and our 3 days thus far in Barcelona has been wonderful.

Hope to return!

Highly recommend the Girona/ Costa Brava tour!!

 

 

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[Linda the Book Lover]

I asked this question on the Italy thread but then started over thinking about Barcelona. I am starting to gather things together and I believe I read no handbags in some of the venues. I am looking for suggestions to carry money etc. I also wondered if we carried a backpack could it be left in the van. We need to carry medication with us.

[Teewells]

Thanks all. BPCruiser, those are the tours I'm thinking of as well.

 

 

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[Chocolate Teapot]

I asked this question on the Italy thread but then started over thinking about Barcelona. I am starting to gather things together and I believe I read no handbags in some of the venues. I am looking for suggestions to carry money etc. I also wondered if we carried a backpack could it be left in the van. We need to carry medication with us.

 

I do remember the half day tour I first did with Barcelona Day Tours, where we got off the coach to watch the Catalane circle dance outside the cathedral. Our guide had been informed by another passing guide that some pickpockets had tried to get on a waiting coach to steal people's belongings!

 

More generally, I have often heard of no large bags or rucksacks in some museums/galleries but a small handbag will be permitted.

[Linda the Book Lover]

I do remember the half day tour I first did with Barcelona Day Tours, where we got off the coach to watch the Catalane circle dance outside the cathedral. Our guide had been informed by another passing guide that some pickpockets had tried to get on a waiting coach to steal people's belongings!

 

More generally, I have often heard of no large bags or rucksacks in some museums/galleries but a small handbag will be permitted.

 

Thank you for the information. I thought to myself I should just email Barcelona Day Tours and they said what you shared a backpack and handbag is fine. MY DH got waist wallets and I have an "intimate garment" money holder so I feel good. I just wanted to have a way to carry our medicine and any trinkets if we purchase anything.

[ziggy001]

Just returned from Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona to Barcelona. Last day of cruise, my husband and I were met at port for a half day tour of the city. We were quite impressed with Dolca, our guide. She was well informed when we visited many areas of the city. We had ample time for photo taking and breaks. It was a small group in an air conditioned van; we were dropped off at an airport hotel. I would use Barcelona Day Tours in the future; it is an excellent company.:D

[GweninTX]

This is a great tour company! Responsive and fair!

 

 

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[putnam]

We used Barcelona Day Tours for a half day tour of the city on the morning of our cruise on NCL Epic. They picked us up at our hotel and took us on a comprehensive tour. We were able to take our luggage with us in the van and they dropped us off at the pier in time to breeze through check in. This saved us the price of a cab ride to the pier. The other 6 passengers in the van were also leaving on cruises that day. It's a perfect way to spend the morning before departure.

Our guide Gina was amazing. Her English was flawless and she was entertaining and really knew the city and its history. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend Barcelona Day Tours to all. Gina made us want to return to spend more time in this beautiful city.

[echokat]

We used Barcelona Day tours also for 1/2 day after cruise.

WE HAD A WONDERFUL TOUR!! I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH

GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS COMPANY. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

IT TO GET A TASTE OF THE HIGH POINTS OF BARCELONA.

[Lois R]

I am going on a tour with them in August:D....all firmed up today. Looking forward to this "small" tour...it is shared and

only between 4 and 12 people and one of the other gals on the roll call is going as well:D....it will be fun to meet in person

Pre-cruise. We sail on August 9th:D and visiting Barcelona 2 days pre-cruise.

This thread is awesome:D

[angeleyes27]

We used them a month ago. They have excellent tour guides.

 

 

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[tyrannosaur]

I felt compelled to share our recent excellent experience with Barcelona Day Tour as well, thanks to the wealth of information obtained here on the board. Here was my review on Tripadvisor:

 

The reviews were right, Barcelona Day Tour is a great tour company and provides great services. We recently used them for 2 pick up services and 1 day tour of Montserrat because of the good reviews on Tripadvisor and Cruise Critics, and I pre-paid everything ahead of our trip. I was a bit worried about the prepayment, but an incident proved that they are a reputable company. We missed the pick up at the airport due to a mis-communication (it was my fault) and lack of internet service while traveling, and they promptly refunded the money after reviewing the situation. We were amazed about the quality of their drivers (we had 2 different services), they all had great attitude and provided professional service. The email communication was EXCELLENT, the best of any tour company we used during the trip. I would not hesitate to use their service again in the future.

Michael

[Chocolate martini fan]

We had booked 2 group tours booked with Barcelona Day Tours and I have just cancelled both.

I mentioned that we are not as fast walking as we once were. Evidently that has become a problem.

This is a quote from the email I received " we do make it a point to tell everyone that our group tours are only suitable for fully fit participants."

 

Back to the drawing board for us, I am sure we will find something else. Just wanted to save someone else some aggravation.

[Lois R]

We had booked 2 group tours booked with Barcelona Day Tours and I have just cancelled both.

I mentioned that we are not as fast walking as we once were. Evidently that has become a problem.

This is a quote from the email I received " we do make it a point to tell everyone that our group tours are only suitable for fully fit participants."

 

Back to the drawing board for us, I am sure we will find something else. Just wanted to save someone else some aggravation.

 

Really?:eek:...what is considered fully fit? I mean I walk here at home but I am not an athlete......I am going on the

all day tour....I can't imagine it will be walking for 8 hours straight.

[Chocolate martini fan]

Really?:eek:...what is considered fully fit? I mean I walk here at home but I am not an athlete......I am going on the

all day tour....I can't imagine it will be walking for 8 hours straight.

 

Lois, I an copying more of the email from Barcelona Day tours:

I would just like to inform you about something as I remember that you have mentioned that you are in your older years and may not be able to walk as fast as the others and this is regarding the semi-private Barcelona city tour that you have booked with us. In general, we tell all our guests that the itinerary and level of difficulty of our group tours is not suitable for people with any mobility issues. For people with walking difficulty or those who may not be able to keep up with the other guests in a shared tour, at this point, because of some situation that happened in the past and just recently, we recommend that they book a private tour, and I would recommend you think about that as well.

Having said that, as you mention that you think you would still be able to do the tour then I will let you decide about that directly. I would like to let you know however that we have had some incidents previously when people turned quite vicious on participants that were perceived to slow them down, and then contacted us and requested refunds because they felt the tour was not good because of that. Although we feel this is completely unfair to those people who need just a slightly slower pace this is still the reality unfortunately. Some guests with mobility difficulty have been verbally attacked by others and in some cases they just contacted us afterwards to complain. People can be very insensitive and rude and since we cannot determine the true mobility level of someone over email I want to make sure you take this into consideration. The owner of the company has mobility issues himself so we are very sensitive to this subject but we do make it a point to tell everyone that our group tours are only suitable for fully fit participants. The responsibility for any issues that may arise due to mobility issues of some of the participants in the group is therefore their own, and although we are happy to keep guests that say they can keep up with everyone, this will be your responsibility and we will not accept any complaints afterwards if you had to wait out some parts alone.

I hope this helps

[Lois R]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't receive anything like that from the company but I don't have any mobility issues and

hopefully everything will go smoothly:). All the other reviews I have read have been very positive and so I am just

staying with them. Being verbally attacked is terrible:( and I would hope that is not going to happen.

[JoRoy218]

I would think having "mobility issues" would mean needing assistive devices (e.g. walker, cane, wheelchair).

DH and I are in our early 60s without mobility problems but certainly would be slower climbing steep inclines.

I might ask for clarification if you feel strongly about going on this tour.

[Chocolate martini fan]

I would think having "mobility issues" would mean needing assistive devices (e.g. walker, cane, wheelchair).

DH and I are in our early 60s without mobility problems but certainly would be slower climbing steep inclines.

I might ask for clarification if you feel strongly about going on this tour.

 

We do not use any assistive devices. I did let then know that due to medication DH needs a minute after standing before he can move forward. Since I am short ( 4' 10"), I requested a step stool if they would be using a large van. We are a little slower walking.

 

They did offer to do a private tour instead of the group tour but we did not feel the need to spend that much money. We are currently looking at other options that may suit us better.

 

As far as someone being verbally obnoxious, that would have pushed me over the edge. I may be short and older but I can be very assertive.

 

My original post was meant as a caution.

[Linda the Book Lover]

My DH and I enjoyed a Barcelona Day Tour yesterday. We had a wonderful time. My DH is 73 And I am 66. I was recently diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis. There are cobblestones and several steep inclines. I held onto the rail and one place (bless one of the participants for her arm) in another. If you have mobility issues and you are unable to walk quickly as it is a semi quick pace or cannot do steep inclines than perhaps you may want to rethink about the tour. We did not have an issue as we walk everyday until 3 weeks ago when I was told to stay off my feet. We clock from 2.7 to 3.0 walking speed. We had a great time but Monserrat is steep as is the Park. I think because there is so much to see in a short period it may be a caution to the participant of the pace. We kept up with no issues but we walk 2+ miles per day. Please don't think unkind of this group for the caution. I will write a full review upon our return. We are on NCL Epic now. Thanks Marta and Jose for the great time! Al loved it and we both told others about our great tour. I will write a review after our cruise.

[fireweedcanada]

We enjoyed a wonderful day with Nico from Barcelona Day Tours on our private tour adventure to Monserrat.

From our pickup at the port to delivery back to our ship, Nico tailored the entire day to our needs. He is so friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about ensuring his guests have a wonderful, educational time on his tours. He quickly adapted to our group of 6 adults and a teenager from Canada and the USA. His English was excellent and he is quite the conversationalist.

Monserrat is a destination not to be missed if you have the time to travel there from Barcelona. It was a great second day tour of Barcelona for our group during an overnight cruise stay. We had used Barcelona Day Tours for our city highlights tour and visits to Parc Guell, and La Sagrada Familia, on our visit as well.

Nico ensured that we got up to the mountain top in time to get to see the area that hosts the Black Virgin, which closes at 10:30 in preparation for Mass. After viewing the Virgin, we caught up with Nico at the area of the candles and were afforded some time to see the sanctuary before mass commenced at 11:00.

Towards the end of our visit, Nico outlined some choices for us. We could hike to a cross for a scenic look out, take the funicular up to the top of the mountain, have something to eat or shop. Our group split with some of us going up the funicular and others taking the hike. Nico followed us in the line for the funicular to ensure that we chose the right type of ticket, explained what time we should descent and he explained to us what we would see. I fully recommend the funicular ride to the top to look down at the monastery. Although the hike, the free option, got rave reviews, also.

After our side trips, we had enough time to visit the gift shop and explore the small market that was selling sheep and goat cheeses.

To show us more of the beautiful surrounding area, Nico took us back to Barcelona than the way we had come. He stopped at a beautiful scenic outlook and took pictures of our group and individual families.

From beginning to end, Nico treated us like family as he toured us around Monserrat. We would highly recommend him and Barcelona Day Tours to anyone that wants a great tour of Barcelona and the surrounding area.