Shore excursion in Barcelona

[outandabout]

Our 12-day mediterranean cruise (in June) will end in Barcelona, Spain. I only have one whole day to spend before I fly out. I would like to see the city by joining a city tour. I heard the ship offers these kind of excursion/tour. If so, how could I find out which are these and most importantly is the schedule. I would like to know NOW than later as I will have to book my flight out pretty soon. Any helpful info is much appreciated.

[Desertbelle]

Outandabout, are you on the June 20th Millennium cruise? If you are, we have a Roll Call going (the link is in my signature) and would love to chat with you before the cruise. Some of us have been talking about this cruise for near a year. :) You might get some ideas about Barcelona and all the other ports.

 

Also the Europe Port of Calls forum has tons of great information about cruising the Mediterranean!

 

And don't forget to sign up for the Cruise Critic party!

[Dale]

Our 12-day mediterranean cruise (in June) will end in Barcelona, Spain. I only have one whole day to spend before I fly out. I would like to see the city by joining a city tour.

Here's something for you to consider. There is a tourist bus that covers most of the places of interest. It's a "hop on hop off", so you can choose what you want. A word of caution, beware of pickpockets on La Ramblas.

 

Dale

[mii]

The Ports of Call board for Europe probably has all sorts of info.

 

Marilyn

[Pincus]

I agree with Dale. For one day, I'd choose the hop off/hop on bus. You'll see the whole city....it's a double decker, and there are two routes. Ride around, and then use you a tour book to see the sights you want!

 

Enjoy!

[kitty9]

In Barcelona, don't miss the Segrada Familia (church of the Sacred Family), an absolutely fascinating cathedral that was started in 1882 and won't be finished for another 40 years. Antonio Gaudi's vision for a cathedral is very famous. Another stop is Parque Guell, a very pretty area in the center of the city. Other places are the Gothic Quarter and Las Ramblas. As one poster said, watch your belongings in Las Ramblas, but you have to be really careful in any tourist area of Barcelona, even near the Segrada. Don't wear expensive jewelry, and if you wear a chain necklace, hide it under your clothes because it's been known that theives will pull them right off your neck.

[Petoonya]

Here's a site all about the bus....

http://www.tmb.net/en_US/home.jsp

[psf]

My wife and I hired a private guide when we went to Barcelona last summer. He was great and in one morning we saw the essentials. I don´t remember his name. I think it was Juan or Jose or something very Spanish sounding like that. I have his email pepitotours@europe.com. The concierge at your hotel can also help you with this. They know many guides. We always do that, wherever we go.

[Tatka]

I thought ship tour covered Barcelona pretty well, although we didn't get to go to Gaudi's park.

[WeBeCruisin']

I thought ship tour covered Barcelona pretty well, although we didn't get to go to Gaudi's park.

 

On a previous trip to Barcelona, we couldn't get a flight out to go back home until the next morning, and took a ship's tour of Barcelona to avoid the hassle of storing our luggage until we could check into the hotel. It was a very nice tour. We saw the Olympic site, and had an extensive tour of the Gaudi Park, and then went downtown to the big Gaudi Cathedral. The tour returned us to the airport, which was near our hotel, although it was also dropping people off at a lot of the hotels near and on Las Ramblas.

 

Allen

[Tatka]

On a previous trip to Barcelona' date=' we couldn't get a flight out to go back home until the next morning, and took a ship's tour of Barcelona to avoid the hassle of storing our luggage until we could check into the hotel. It was a very nice tour. We saw the Olympic site, and had an extensive tour of the Gaudi Park, and then went downtown to the big Gaudi Cathedral. The tour returned us to the airport, which was near our hotel, although it was also dropping people off at a lot of the hotels near and on Las Ramblas.

 

Allen[/quote']

 

We were in the same situation..and took this tour with drop-off at airport.. Our very nice guide called hotel and they picked us up. Did you stay in Best Western( Aer Puerto)?

 

I kind of wish we stayed in the citty and walked on La Ramblas ...but we were dead tired from all tours...plus we planned to spend next day in London!

[dmk]

The tourist bus..with the hop on and off idea was excellent and economical. I believe it was some thing like $25.00 for the day.

[Bruin Steve]

I've been to Barcelona a few times...

But just once by cruise ship...Our August 2003 Med cruise on the Millennium ended in Barcelona...but, it also did an "overnight" in Barcelona...and we added two nights in a hotel in Barcelona, so we had a bit of time...

 

We took the ship's excursion on the day in port ...had it been our ONLY time in Barcelona, I would have been somewhat disappointed (of course, I probably wouldn't have known better, so it would probably have been just fine with me)...

 

The main stops on the ship's excursion were Montjuic, the Sagrada Familia and the Barri Gotic and old cathedral...Though those three stops are on a lot of folks' lists, and if you have a few days in Barcelona, I would hit all of those, for me, only the Sagrada Familia makes my "A" list of don't misses...

 

Where the ship's tour didn't go...that I consider A list destinations...are:

 

--Park Guell (It's not in the "center of town", more to the north of the center, a healthy ride up Passieg de Gracia from the Placa Catalunya - which IS the "center of town")

--Casa Mila - Gaudi's classic apartment house that houses the Gaudi Museum and has an incredible firy tale roof you can walk around on.

--Casa Batllo - a Gaudi residence that is not to be missed.

--Las Ramblas - Barcelona's great walking promenade that stretches from the Placa Catalunya down toward the harbor.

 

I would make sure to see the Sagrada Familia FIRST, then the sites I described above...then only head to Montjuic or the old cathedral if you have the time...

 

Yes, all of the above can be done with the hop-on, hop-off bus...but it can also be done on foot and with local transportation...Park Guell, for example, can be reached for a nominal fee by the public #21 bus from Placa Catalunya...Casa Mila and Casa Batllo are walking distance up Passieg de Gracia from Placa Catalunya while Las Ramblas is a walk directly south out of the Placa Catalunya...

 

Reasons I don't like Montjuic or the old cathedral:

--The old cathedral is old and ordinary...Sagrada Familia (intended to be the new cathedral if it is ever finished) is simply fantastic, maybe the most fascinating single building in the world...it is wild, imaginative and picturesque...there is nothing like it anywhere...

--Montjuic is just dull...Yes, there are views of the city (but there are from Parc Guell as well) and yes there are the Olympic facilities (but the ship's tour never stops at them)...mostly, it's just a big hill with a lot of open space...You should see Barcelona up close, not from afar...

 

Good luch and have fun...

[4 cruisers]

Nice to see past fellow Barcelona cruisers here again!!! What a fantastic place to start or end a Med. cruise! Steve, the only thing I disagree with you on is the old cathedral!!! The reason being, we ended up with a fantastic guide there the last trip and what a difference it made in viewing the cathedral!!!! He seated us in the middle of the cathedral where all the families had bought their own chairs and proceeded to describe the type of people these had been...it really brought it to life! Oh, and we always have a glass of wine and a little sandwich at the hotel Colon right across from the cathedral. What a view and great place to people watch.

 

In a way, I wish we were going again this year, but with the dollar and long flight from the west coast...we're heading for the land of "Aloha!" Always nice to see you and Tatka though!

 

Nanette