Just back from Barcelona!

[NRG]

My husband and I just returned from a land trip to Madrid/Barcelona. I always go to Cruise Critic for advice so I thought I would return the favor. We flew into Madrid, stayed 4 nights then took the high speed train for 3 nights in Barcelona. The train experience was great. We did 3 prebooked tours in Barcelona and I recommend them all:

 

Food Lover Tour: We did their Picoteo tapas tasting tour. Julie was our guide and there were 3 couples in all. Very good food, walked around and visited 4 different restaurants we would not have found on our own.

 

Barcelona Day Tours: We did the 4 hour City Highlights Tour. We were picked up in a mini van at our hotel, 12 people in all. We went into Parc Guell, otherwise just did outside of attractions including La Sagrada Familia. This was a really good tour in my opinion, since Barcelona is a big city and some attractions are far apart it saved us a lot of traveling around on our own. We went back on our own later to look at the Gaudi houses. The tour ends at Sagrada Familia so you can book a time to enter on your own or be dropped back at your hotel.

 

Runner Bean Free Walking Tour Gothic Quarter: It rained off and on the morning we did this tour but it didn't matter. There were I think 12 people on the tour, probably would have been more without the rain. Very informative and very worth doing.

 

We flew home Saturday morning, there was no problem going through security. Our flight on AA to JFK had a 4 hour delay due to mechanical issues (the toilets didn't work :o) but there was no sign of any strikes. Eventually the plane took off.

 

I'll try to answer if anyone has questions.

[EnricM]

Which one of the dozen Gaudi Houses did you visit?

[NRG]

EnricM we just walked Passeig de Gracia and took pictures of the three houses, there were lines to enter we did not.

[EnricM]

Ah ok.. since you mentioned "the Gaudi Houses" I thought you would have visited all of them, and that'd be an accomplishment since, as I mentioned, there are over a dozen visitable houses/attractions designed by Gaudí: Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, Palau Güell, Park Güell, Colònia Güell, Museu-Casa Gaudí, Sagrada Família, Casa Vicens, Torre Bellesguard, Casa Calvet, Pavellons Finca Güell, Col·legi Teresianes... :)

 

By the way, the "three houses" I would imagine you mean Casa Batlló, Casa Milà (aka La Pedrera) and Casa Amatller, or perhaps Casa Lleó i Morera, the latter two are close to Casa Batlló. Note however that these are not Gaudí's... Casa Amatller was designed by Puig i Cadafalch and Lleó i Morera -which now is no longer visitable- was designed by Domènech i Montaner, two other architects of the same Modernista period.

 

As per your last remark... well, I'm afraid one cannot visit a city like Barcelona -the fourth most visited destination in Europe- and attempt to visit some of the most popular attractions without pre-booking. This is true all year round albeit, in certain weeks, the influx of visitors decreases a bit and at certain moments you might be lucky (just might!) and be able to just get there and get a ticket for immediate access. This sadly is not true though for the "top" attractions, those you need to prebook always.

 

I hope though you enjoyed the façades... even just looking at that is already a feast for one's senses.

Edited September 18, 2017 by EnricM

[NRG]

Actually I said we went back to "look". My initial post is intended for cruise visitors who have only a day or two in Barcelona so please move on.

[kuddles14]

My husband and I just returned from a land trip to Madrid/Barcelona. I always go to Cruise Critic for advice so I thought I would return the favor. We flew into Madrid, stayed 4 nights then took the high speed train for 3 nights in Barcelona. The train experience was great. We did 3 prebooked tours in Barcelona and I recommend them all:

 

 

 

Food Lover Tour: We did their Picoteo tapas tasting tour. Julie was our guide and there were 3 couples in all. Very good food, walked around and visited 4 different restaurants we would not have found on our own.

 

 

 

Barcelona Day Tours: We did the 4 hour City Highlights Tour. We were picked up in a mini van at our hotel, 12 people in all. We went into Parc Guell, otherwise just did outside of attractions including La Sagrada Familia. This was a really good tour in my opinion, since Barcelona is a big city and some attractions are far apart it saved us a lot of traveling around on our own. We went back on our own later to look at the Gaudi houses. The tour ends at Sagrada Familia so you can book a time to enter on your own or be dropped back at your hotel.

 

 

 

Runner Bean Free Walking Tour Gothic Quarter: It rained off and on the morning we did this tour but it didn't matter. There were I think 12 people on the tour, probably would have been more without the rain. Very informative and very worth doing.

 

 

 

We flew home Saturday morning, there was no problem going through security. Our flight on AA to JFK had a 4 hour delay due to mechanical issues (the toilets didn't work :o) but there was no sign of any strikes. Eventually the plane took off.

 

 

 

I'll try to answer if anyone has questions.

 

 

 

My husband and I are going on a cruise next year out if Barcelona. We will be going in early about 3 days and was thinking about doing Barcelona Day Tours. Did your tour include tickets to enter La Sagrada Famila? Or did you pre purchase them?

 

 

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[EnricM]

@NGR, you are very rude, this is an open forum and my post is intended to provide additional information for would-be visitors that might be interested in deepening both their knowledge and their experience. If you're not interested, just skip my posts.

[ollienbertsmum]

@NGR, you are very rude, this is an open forum and my post is intended to provide additional information for would-be visitors that might be interested in deepening both their knowledge and their experience. If you're not interested, just skip my posts.

 

Enrich, I appreciated your insider information about the houses - and since we may well be walking by them next month I had taken notes of which houses are actually by Gaudi. It is always useful to have someone with local knowledge on these boards.

[campolady]

so please move on.

 

There is absolutely no need for rude comments like this! Although information from recent visitors like yourself is helpful, additional details from knowledgable locals like Enric can make a visit even more special and is much appreciated by most forum members.

[LondonTowner]

Well, it always makes me laugh that those who have visited places once or a couple of brief times always seem to know more than those who live in the destination or have visited in numerous times.

 

Also, the contradictory remarks about winter weather in the Med during the winter from those who have maybe done one Med cruise in November.

 

 

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[lucky cal]

The OP is inexplicably rude, when EnricM's reply was polite and informative. We should greatly appreciate the local perspective, as well as visitors' experiences when evaluating where to go and what to do in a destination. Especially if one wants to be a traveler vs. a tourist.