Suggestions in Barcelona . . .

[CanuckCruisers]

Hello . . First time European vacation here . . We’ll be in Barcelona in August 2022 for a couple of days before embarking our cruise . . While we’re there we are planning to visit Sagrada Familia and Park Gruell.  Reaching out to other cruisers if it’s more beneficial to book a tour that takes us to these places or purchasing advance tickets and head out on our own . . Any advice for first timers?

[marazul]

It is easy to get around Barcelona using taxis.  They are everywhere and are inexpensive. Definitely purchase advance tickets. For la Sagrada Familia purchase one that includes a tour. 

 

Do take one of the "free" walking tours of the Gothic quarter. And also visit two Gaudí masterpieces: the Casa Güell and la Pedrera.  They are a couple of blocks from each other on the Passeig de Gracia.  You can get advance tickets for them.

 

You can add a number of other places to visit, but the above are the centerpieces for two full days.  You could get tickets for the Picasso museum or some other attraction on the morning of embarkation.  

 

If you get a hotel near the Plaça de Catalunya, you are within easy walking distance of the Passeig de Gracia, las Ramblas and the Gothic quarter. And a short taxi ride to la Sagrada Familia. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by marazul

[SueH7]

We used Barcelona Day Tours in November of 2021 for our Spain Intensive cruise transfers and a Barcelona city tour. I'd highly recommend them. 

 

We booked an airport pickup, 4 hour city tour and hotel drop off. Our luggage stayed with us while we toured, since we couldn't checkin to our hotel until the afternoon.

 

They will purchase timed entry tickets if you want to visit the insides of Park Guell and La Sagrada. It was very busy in those areas so we were glad we had our own driver. 

 

The person who answered our email was excellent. We wrote back and forth several times while planning our itinerary. They answered all our questions and provided a written confirmation. 

 

We also booked them for our transfer to the cruise ship. Both times the drivers were on time, professional, personable, masked and drove roomy, clean vehicles. 

[CanuckCruisers]

Thanks very much for the suggestions!  We’ll definitely look these up!

[marazul]

11 hours ago, CanuckCruisers said:

Thanks very much for the suggestions!  We’ll definitely look these up!

Sorry, senior moment.  I meant Casa Batlló and La Pedrera (Casa Milà) on the Passeig de Gracia.

The Casa or Palau Güell is also well worth visiting, but it is near the lower end of La Rambla.

 

https://www.casabatllo.es/en/

https://www.lapedrera.com/en

https://www.casabatllo.es/en/antoni-gaudi/palau-guell/

[Sailing12Away]

On 1/4/2022 at 5:45 PM, SueH7 said:

We used Barcelona Day Tours in November of 2021 for our Spain Intensive cruise transfers and a Barcelona city tour. I'd highly recommend them. 

 

We booked an airport pickup, 4 hour city tour and hotel drop off. Our luggage stayed with us while we toured, since we couldn't checkin to our hotel until the afternoon.

 

They will purchase timed entry tickets if you want to visit the insides of Park Guell and La Sagrada. It was very busy in those areas so we were glad we had our own driver. 

 

The person who answered our email was excellent. We wrote back and forth several times while planning our itinerary. They answered all our questions and provided a written confirmation. 

 

We also booked them for our transfer to the cruise ship. Both times the drivers were on time, professional, personable, masked and drove roomy, clean vehicles. 

We also used this company a few years ago and had a lovely time. You get a little bit of everything.

[BklynBorn47]

Personal Experience of our 3 generation family (11 people ages 17 – 74) traveling on our own

From my website

http://www.brigs.us/2019-June-Europe/index.htm

Smart to arrive early and not just for the sites.  Our flight was cancelled and we lost an entire day and our luggage ended up in Madrid not Barcelona.  Took 4 days for them to deliver it and only because the manager of the apt we rented called the Madrid airport and found it.

Our transatlantic NYC to Rome in May has a stop in Barcelona so we booked an excursion to Monserrat, the only site our flight in 2019 caused us to miss.