Barcelona "on your own" vs ship tours

[prophotogirl]

Another website for Bus Turistic. This one shows you the routes.

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

[luvdasea]

:confused: Hi, If you are out there..did you think it was worth it to hire a private tour guide in Barcelona? Was Pepito tours any good?

[roboref]

We spent three days in Barcelona pre-cruise in October 2007. I think of all the things we did, my favorite was roaming around Barrio Gotic. It's a really charming area with a treasure around every corner. In the three hours we were there, we did a quick tour of the Picasso museum, had some tapas at El Xampanyet on Moncada, watched a wedding in the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar, and had a parade of giant figures walk right by us. We also had a pickpocket run past us (learn all the anti-pickpocket tips before you get there!) with the purse he'd snatched. (I guess that makes him a purse snatcher, not a pickpocket) We were so mad we didn't trip him when we had a chance, but we instinctively jumped out of his way.

 

 

Here's a video (not ours, just one I found on YouTube) of the Giants and Dwarves Parade

YouTube video of Giants Parade

[kasi1979]

I first went to Barcelona aboard Costa Marina and did an organized excursion there. We got to see Montjuic with its view of the port vell where our ship was docked, all the sights in town including casa battlo and la pedera, had an outside tour of la sagrada familia and a nice guided walk through parc guell. All in all well worth the money.

 

I returned to Barcelona in august 2006 for a week. We took residence in Barceloneta and enjoyed the city from there. We also did the hop-on hop-off tours and got to see all the others mentioned. On our days we went to the aquarium, if you like fish, the predator-tunnel might be for you ;) walked aroung La Pedrera, went to Montjuic and the castell up there from where you have a great view of the cruiseships. We actually took a tour through La Sagrada Familia where we got lots of information and we had enough time to go up in the towers of the cathedral-to-be. We also walked around Barri Gothic and visited the old cathedral. A nice walk is possible at the parc della ciutadella where there is a small lake where you can rent boats and they have a fantastic fountain there.

All in all we absolutely loved Barcelona, however, las Ramblas with all its pickpockets is no area I like to find myself in. Please be aware that many performers are actually part of the pickpockets gang, they keep you standing still while the others steal your stuff. that is what we have seen...

[luvdasea]

I'm trying to decide between Carnival's city tour or their Monserrat tour. Has anyone been on either of these?