Barcelona Day Tours - New Thread

[Host Bonjour]

Hello Spain Ports Community!

 

Its been 7 years and 20 pages since the original Barcelona Day Tours (BDT) thread was started. I figured it was time to start a fresh thread. 

 

Please post your requests here for information and experiences from fellow cruisers with BDT. 

 

As our experienced Cruise Critic members know, this is one of the rare exceptions made when direct questions may be posted regarding Barcelona Day Tours. A similar exemption exists on our Italy ports board. 

 

The intention of this thread is to accommodate our members’ information sharing and reduce the number of similar threads so that other Spain port questions will be easy to view. 

 

And the obligatory fine print....

Please keep our TOS re: limits on discussion when posting requests/replies to posts; our rules are stated at the top of this board in the formerly “sticky” notes, now pinned topics.    Remember about "one (or two) post wonders as well.  Those will be removed.

 

Everyone that posts here is always wonderful and we appreciate your enthusiastic participation on this and every single topic throughout Cruise Critic. We’re not us without you. 

 

And so about that Barcelona port stop....🚢

 

 

[Savvygrams]

We used Barcelona Day Tours on May 12th for a tour  to Montserrat and Barcelona. The tour was terrific, Joseph, our guide was ver6 solicitous and helpful.  They picked us up at the ship, and returned us to our hotel at the end of the day with our luggage. We will definitely use them again when we return to Barcelona ❣️

[SilviB]

We also used Barcelona Day Tours for a half day Barcelona City excursion when we disembarked from our cruise.    Our guide was very nice indeed, she was informative and the driver too, was very pleasant.  The great thing about what BDT offers is, that they allow people to take their luggage on the bus, wonderful for people cruising and they dropped us right at the door of our hotel at the end - excellent service.  As far as pre-excursion relations go, I must say that BDT's response time to any inquiries and e-mails is second to none.  I would highly recommend them and of course, use their services again.

[FRANKM]

Excellent company.  We used BDT for the first time for a semi-private tour on May 17 of

Barcelona/Montserrat before our Oasis of the seas cruise. 

Booking was super easy and email response to

questions was very quick.  Our tour guide was Marta and she was the best.

Our driver was Wilfredo and he knew how to navigate through and around traffic with no

problem.  The Mini bus we had was clean and comfortable.  Highly recommend them.

Will use them again next time we are in Barcelona.

 

 

[Noggins]

My elderly mother and I had a simply perfect half day trip of Barcelona - hosted by Helene. She was the perfect tour guide and driver. She was knowledgeable and extremely flexible making sure my mother's mobility problems were accommodated. In a busy city she did a remarkable job at always finding a perfect stopping point for the sights (we were not able to hop in and out of the car like able bodied folk) and at the end we were dropped off by the accessible entrance for Sagrada Familia. Oh, and the price was very reasonable too!

[Sostrich]

Our tour in Barcelona was WONDERFUL! Our lovely guide and competent driver made our time together a joy. I learned a great deal and appreciated all of the consideration shown to our group by our guide. In fact, I raved about the tour to lots of people on our cruise. I will definitely use your company again when we return to Barcelona.Thanks for making my experience a joy!

[smonticelli]

We also used Barcelona Day Tours on May 17, 2019 for a morning tour of Barcelona and Park Guell before getting on our cruise  ship. We had pre-purchased  timed tickets (highly recommended) for entrance inside Sagrada Familia (they helped us decide on the appropriate time which would coincide with the end of the tour) and they left us off at the cathedral after their exterior only guided visit. Others were taken back to their hotel or cruise ship as arranged. The company was on time and reliable and their booking staff was extremely prompt and efficient in responding to any inquiry. I would definitely use them again and recommend them to my friends. 

[ccv51]

My husband and I had a great tour with Barcelona Day Tours!!  Our tour guide was Marta and she did a fantastic job.  She was very knowledgeable, showed us all the sites, gave us background, history, local cultural tips and sites to come back and see on our own if we had the opportunity.  We spent 3 more days in Barcelonca and had the opportunity to go back and see/experience a lot of the recommendations Marta made -- and we are so glad we did.  She was by far the best tour guide we had on this Mediterranean vacation (and we had several very good ones).  I would highly recommend this company to anyone going to visit Barcelona!!

Thank you for such great service!

[mapleleaves]

Was this thread  (and 2 similar ones on the Italy forum)  created as a place to post solicited reviews from vendors?

You know what I mean .... when you get home from a vacation and a vendor sends you an email with a link to tripadvisor, cruisecritic, yelp, or whatever, asking you to post a review .

I enjoy reading the reviews, but just wondered if that was the intent of these threads.

 

[limmerb]

We used BDT on June 8th when we disembarked from our cruise ship, and I would highly recommend them. It was a perfect way to get an overview of the city and take care of our luggage before checking into our hotel. The fact that they pick you up right at your ship at the time promised, and drop you off at your hotel, with a nice and comfortable air-conditioned bus, is a huge plus. They make several stops to get out, walk around, and take pictures, and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. Please note that there is a good amount of walking, especially at the Olympic Center and at Park Guell (nothing that strenuous but you must be comfortable with that amount of walking). I can't think of a better way to spend those few hours immediately off the ship, because you must disembark early and you can't check into hotels until the afternoon. The price is extremely reasonable, especially when compared to what the cruise ships charge for similar post-cruise excursions! 

[fabnfortysomething]

we used this company a couple of years ago to take us on a tour post disembarkation and drop us off at airport and advertising secure storage of our luggage in the van

 

my backpack containing laptop and travel documentation was stolen from van whilst we were touring and driver was originally very dismissive over his responsibility to look after our posessions

Barcelona day tour eventually paid out a "goodwill gesture" but I would never use them again 

 

[dlohbeck]

We took the all day Barcelona and Montserrat tour on Saturday June 8, 2109.  It was a great tour and Josep was our tour guide.  He was excellent and very knowledgeable. We has a group of 12 and everyone enjoyed the tour. They picked us up at the ship and dropped us off at our hotel.  I would definitely recommend Barcelona tours and would use them again.  

[Rgm1953]

We had the good fortune to book a Barcelona City Tour for June 8, 2019. They pick us up on time from the ship, with all our luggage.  We had a wonderful morning touring Barcelona in a small group.  We had purchased skip the line tickets for Park Guell, which was fantastic.  I must say that the photos you see don’t do it justice.  Our guide “Charlie” for short was terrific giving us a lot of background and history which only enhanced the tour.  We did a walk around Sagrada Familia plus visited a lot of other interesting Barcelona sights.  Our hotel was on Las Ramblas which is impossible to stop on for Tour buses but they got us so close, it was a matter of crossing the street.  Thank you so much for that.  My husband left his had on the bus (silly boy) and we thought it was gone, but next day, Charlie turned up at our hotel with the hat.  How amazing is that!  We were shocked that he knew who’s hat it was.  I’m not saying that would always be possible but we were so grateful. Service is what they say they deliver and they are right.  Use them if you are going to Barcelona.  They offer some wonderful tours and we were not there long enough to take advantage of everything they have to offer.

[flacruiser]

Barcelona Day Tours is an excellent tour company, from the first email contact, months before our cruise, to a follow up of our tour. After a two week Med cruise, on June 8, 2019, we used Barcelona Day Tours for an all-day tour of Barcelona, including Monserrat and Parc Güell. Separately, we purchased inside tickets to La Sagrada Familia through them for the day after our tour. We were picked up at the cruise terminal, and dropped off at our hotel right off La Rambla, after the tour. The group consisted of 12 of us, all disembarking the Emerald Princess. We had a great time. 

 

It it was an excellent day.  You will be fortunate if you have Josep for your local guide. Thanks, Barcelona Day Tours. Highly recommend. 

[wendyp247]

On 6/6/2019 at 3:26 PM, smonticelli said:

We also used Barcelona Day Tours on May 17, 2019 for a morning tour of Barcelona and Park Guell before getting on our cruise  ship. We had pre-purchased  timed tickets (highly recommended) for entrance inside Sagrada Familia (they helped us decide on the appropriate time which would coincide with the end of the tour) and they left us off at the cathedral after their exterior only guided visit. Others were taken back to their hotel or cruise ship as arranged. The company was on time and reliable and their booking staff was extremely prompt and efficient in responding to any inquiry. I would definitely use them again and recommend them to my friends. 

We plan on taking the same tour and then being dropped off at Sabrada Famila for. 3:00 pm tour. How would you suggest we get back To Ship? Taxi?  

 

What did did you do for lunch , earring places to Sagrada Famila? Thanks 

[smonticelli]

We ate lunch at a small restaurant called Aitor recommended by our Barcelona Day Tours guide very close to Sagrada Familia. They had a large variety of tapas on toothpicks you could see and select as well as Basque specialties. At the end of your meal they count your toothpicks and charge you accordingly. They spoke English.  I took a picture outside the restaurant (facing the church where you will enter and go through security with your timed tickets walk to the right around the church and turn right onto a side street where you will almost immediately find the restaurant) so remember the name and just googled it. There are lots of reviews and the directions online. Our Sagrada visit was at 2:15 and we had more than enough time for lunch after our morning tour.

There were plenty of taxis outside Sagrada and we took one back to our hotel, picked up our stored luggage, and got back into the cab for the ride to our ship. There is a metro station at Sagrada Familia also but the taxi didn't cost a lot and with our luggage it was much more convenient. 

[jtlcopat1]

I used Barcelona Day Tours on Sunday, 6/16 following a cruise on the EPIC.  They are fantastic!  I can't say enough about the quality of my tour with our guide, Joe, to Montserrat and ArtCava winery.  We had a day to kill after our cruise and selected a tour that picked us up and the cruise port promptly upon disembarkation.  We spent a fun filled day visiting Montserrat monastery where the Feast of the Holy Trinity was being celebrated with the boys choir singing so beautifully.  It was truly inspirational!

 

After our visit to Montserrat, we got on to some serious stuff -- a tour of ArtCava winery with Ramon as our host.  A highlight was the champagne tasting after a tour of the vineyards and bottling process.  I've been to many wineries but the personal touch here was phenomenal! There was a lot of laughter on the tour as Joe entertained us and kept us on track.  I found his knowledge of the Catalonian culture, history and spirit a big bonus to the tour. You can't go wrong with Barcelona Day Tours.

[cruisevirgin1]

We discovered Spain Day Tours thru a roll call on the cruise we just took June 3rd thru June 16 out of Barcelona. We booked numerous tours with them including in Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga (Alhambra in Granada), Cadiz (to Seville) and Ibiza. I recommend Spain Day Tours and their affiliated tour companies: Barcelona Day Tours and Top Day Tours as a very professional tour provider. Their guides are tops. Their coaches/vans are very comfortable. Their prices are much more reasonable than the ships’  tours. They respond to emails and phone calls immediately and are extremely accommodating. They are outstanding and we feel they made our Spain vacation special.

[Mrs f.]

On 6/19/2019 at 10:09 PM, jtlcopat1 said:

I used Barcelona Day Tours on Sunday, 6/16 following a cruise on the EPIC.  They are fantastic!  I can't say enough about the quality of my tour with our guide, Joe, to Montserrat and ArtCava winery.  We had a day to kill after our cruise and selected a tour that picked us up and the cruise port promptly upon disembarkation.  We spent a fun filled day visiting Montserrat monastery where the Feast of the Holy Trinity was being celebrated with the boys choir singing so beautifully.  It was truly inspirational!

 

After our visit to Montserrat, we got on to some serious stuff -- a tour of ArtCava winery with Ramon as our host.  A highlight was the champagne tasting after a tour of the vineyards and bottling process.  I've been to many wineries but the personal touch here was phenomenal! There was a lot of laughter on the tour as Joe entertained us and kept us on track.  I found his knowledge of the Catalonian culture, history and spirit a big bonus to the tour. You can't go wrong with Barcelona Day Tours.

So glad you liked the tour. Looks like the same one I have booked for November. Montserrat and Cava.

[Chocolate Teapot]

I used Barcelona Day Tours for a half-day tour with transfer to my ship. As usual, it was an excellent tour, full of interesting information, and I am happy to recommend them.

[wendyp247]

I have them booked later this year. They are dropping us  off at  Sagrada Famila after the tour so we can take a guided tour inside. They seem very accommodating

. 

Edited July 15, 2019 by wendyp247

[Tamuron]

We had a wonderful tour with Barcelona Day Tours. Marta, our guide, was an excellent guide and exceeded our expectations. She was very friendly and knowledgeable and treated us wonderfully. I would definitely recommend Barcelona Day Tours for anyone who wants to see the sights of Barcelona.

[Hula Girl67]

Spain Day Tours ( https://www.spaindaytours.com/)  is a family owned company and very responsive via email to all of your questions. My husband and I took the Barcelona City Tour after disembarking from our cruise. Simona, our guide and Ernesto, our driver were there on time to pick us up with luggage at the port terminal. We saw many sites and also purchased, through their site, tickets to Park Guell. Simona led us through the site and gave us insight into Antoni Gaudi's magnificent creations. We were so glad we had a guide for this excursion or we would have missed so much viewing it on our own. She also explained the outside of the beautiful La Sagrada Familia. We had purchased tickets for the following day to visit the inside.

They don't advertise this but if you are "first in group" to sign up for any of their tours you could receive 1 or 2 free excursions       ( depending on the number of passengers in the van). We signed up to be the first in group (after we were told of this offer) and since we had a full van of 12 people, both of our tours were free.

I had also arranged for tours in Valencia, Palma De Mallorca and a Montserrat tour from Barcelona but unfortunately none of these tours reached a minimum and were cancelled, even after posting on CC roll call.

I highly recommend this company for your tours in Spain.

[erby2283]

I know tipping in Europe is a point of argument with some...I just want to do wants expected. On a full day Barcelona / Montserrat tour, am I supposed to tip at the end? 

[Hula Girl67]

19 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

I know tipping in Europe is a point of argument with some...I just want to do wants expected. On a full day Barcelona / Montserrat tour, am I supposed to tip at the end? 

Yes, we tipped at the end of the tour.