History, Culture, Architecture and More!

I currently offer Guided Walking Tours of Barcelona in Ciutat Vella, where we concentrate mainly on Gothic and Roman Barcelona, and L’Eixample with its fantastic Modernista buildings by Gaudi and his contemporariesl.

During a 3-Hour Tour you get a succint introduction to Barcelona’s amazing history, culture and architecture.

Whether you are visiting Barcelona as part of a Mediterranean cruise, are here for a few days or have been here many times before, my tours will really help you get the best out of the Catalan capital.

I really recommend that you take a tour with me early on during your stay in Barcelona.

The information I can give you, not just about history, culture and architecture but also about practical things like eating out, shopping and transport, will help you plan and get so much more out of your holiday here.

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Recommended Walking Tours of Barcelona

Ciutat Vella – Barcelona’s Old Town

If you don’t know Barcelona as intimately as I do, I strongly recommend you take this tour because Ciutat Vella, which literally translates as Old City in Catalan, is where you are likely to spend most of your time and this tour is a perfect introduction to the city.

This is a real whirlwind trip through 2,000 years of Barcelona and includes the highlights of La Rambla, Barri Gòtic and Roman Barcelona as well as some early Gaudí, Picasso’s Barcelona and a little bit of Dalí and Miró.

Full of anecdotes, you will also get to see the world famous La Boqueria market, sites of Spanish Civil War fighting and find out all about the Siege of Barcelona and the now fashionable El Born neighbourhood.

At the start of a tour last year, a group of guests told me that they’d ‘done Ciutat Vella’ on the previous day, they were amazed to find out what they had missed and a few days later emailed me, they’d have to come to Barcelona because they’d still not seen everything.

 

Modernista Gems in the Quadrat d’Or

This Modernista tour is a little bit more specific and although it doesn’t give such a clear overview of the history of Barcelona, many guests are fascinated by the Modernista architectural style so it is also very popular.

The Quadrat d’Or literally means Golden Square and is where you’ll find the highest concentration of Modernista buildings not just by Antoni Gaudí but also by his contemporaries and rivals Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch and a whole host of other magnificent architects.

The area we cover, which is actually where I live, lies between Passeig de Gràcia and Gaudí’s La Sagrada Familia in what is known as the Dreta de l’Eixample.

The neighbourhood is jampacked full of Modernista buildings, including hotels, government buildings, chemists and bakeries as well as private house with mesmerising architectural details.

Although entrance to the major monuments is not included, it is possible to enter inside a number of famous Modernista buildings free of charge so that you can really see what they are like on the inside.

 

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Specialist Walking Tours of Barcelona

Particularly throughout the winter months, I often organise specialist Walking Tours of Barcelona in order to keep me motivated to write and research because, as a former University teacher, I know it’s important to keep ideas fresh and doing them maintains a deeper knowledge of the subject than is necessary for a specific tour.

These are generally organised through my Facebook Page and are aimed at Barcelona Residents so I don’t only give them in English but also in Catalan and Spanish and can always give them to a group of tourists if you are really interested.

 

A Walk Down La Rambla

The Ramblas, or Les Rambles in Catalan, was originally a seasonal river that ran outside Barcelona’s medieval city walls and was described by poet  Federico García Lorca as the street he ‘wished would never end’.

With the Barri Gòtic on one side and El Raval, La Rambla is not only Barcelona’s most beloved avenue but also the scene of a great deal of the city’s history.

The Spanish Civil War, a Roman graveyard, a world famous market, Europe’s finest opera house and a medieval shipyard that built vessels for the greatest empire in the Mediterranean are just a few of the delights.

Barcelona’s Barri Gòtic and The Catalan Empire

This is a more detailed walking tour of the area around Plaça del Rei and Barcelona Cathedral, El Call, which was the medieval Jewish Quarter, as well as some of the lesser known Gothic churches such as Sants Just i Pastor and La Mercè.

This tour is much more for the serious Barcelona history buff.

We learn about the rise of the Catalan Empire under the Counts of Barcelona and the establishment of the city’s proto-democratic Council of One Hundred as well as the assassination attempt on Ferdinand the Catholic amongst other things.

Barcino – Roman Barcelona

Originally known as Barcino, the city of Barcelona goes back 2,000 years to the time of at least Emperor Augustus.

For such a built up city, the Roman remains are extraordinarily well-preserved and new relics are being discovered all the time.

This tour takes us on a complete circuit of The Roman Walls of Barcelona and along the streets of Decamanus Maximus and Cardo Maximus.

The Roman necropolis in Plaça Vila de Madrid and the Temple of Augustus on Carrer Paradis are particularly interesting.

 

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Times and Prices

Each of my Walking Tours of Barcelona lasts 3 hours and I will pick you up from your hotel or a designated place of your choice at 10.30 am.

• 2-3 People : 40 Euros per person (including tax)
• 4-5 People : 30 Euros per person
• 6-8 People : 25 Euros per person

I require a non-refundable deposit of 30% of the fee to be paid in advance by PayPal or Credit Card with the rest payable at the start of the tour in cash.

The tours are scheduled to finish at around 1.30 pm and I am happy to accompany you for lunch at a Menu del Dia or an A La Carte restaurant on the understanding that you foot the bill.

Please use the form below to pre-book your tour and I will be in touch via email within 2 working days.

If you or your group have other requirements, would like to book me for a full day or longer or are interested in me giving a talk to your organisation, I’m sure we can come to an agreement.