Eastern Caribbean
- Duration
- 2½ hours
- Back to ship
- No guarantee
About this tour
Barkeno Tours runs this two-and-a-half-hour walk every day in English and Spanish. It's tip-based: booking is free and you pay the guide what you think the tour was worth at the end. Groups are small, and everyone listens to the guide through a radio headset, a small charge paid on the day.
It starts at Plaça de Catalunya and heads up Passeig de Gràcia into the Eixample, the grid of cut-corner blocks laid out when Barcelona spread beyond its medieval walls. Along the avenue the guide stops at the modernista houses: Casa Malagrida, then the Block of Discord, where Casa Lleó Morera, Casa Amatller and Gaudí's Casa Batlló stand almost side by side, and a few blocks on, his Casa Milà, La Pedrera.
From La Pedrera the group takes the metro to the Sagrada Família, and the tour ends outside the basilica with the stories behind its façades. Going inside isn't part of it. Timed tickets sell out weeks ahead, so book your own entry early if you want to follow the walk with a visit.
The day
Look for the guides' pink umbrellas at the top of La Rambla, near the Urban Outfitters shop.
Pickup: None. From the cruise terminals it's about half an hour on foot up La Rambla, or take the metro to Catalunya.
The day, stop by stop
The start, at the top of La Rambla, where the guides wait under pink umbrellas.
Passeig de Gràcia
The Eixample's grandest avenue, with its cut-corner blocks and modernista bench lamps.
Rebuilt by 1908 for an owner back from Argentina, who gave half the façade to Argentina and half to Spain.
Casa Lleó Morera
The first house on the Block of Discord, where wealthy families hired rival architects to outdo each other.
A stepped gable and mismatched windows, with rooms inside kept much as the family left them.
The first of the tour's Gaudí buildings, all curving stone and sea colours.
Built for the Milà family after they saw Casa Batlló: no straight lines, every balcony different and a sculpted rooftop.
By metro from La Pedrera. The walk ends outside the basilica; entry isn't included.
Before you book
What to know about the tour
What it covers and what it doesn't. We haven't taken this one yet.
Included
- Two-and-a-half-hour guided walk in English or Spanish
- Metro ride to the Sagrada Família with the guide
Not included
- Tip for the guide, what you think the tour was worth
- Radio headset, paid to the guide on the day
- Metro ticket
- Entry to the Sagrada Família
- Activity level
- Moderate
- What to bring
- A metro ticket for the ride to the Sagrada Família, comfortable shoes, and cash for the headset and the tip.
- Cancellation
- Free booking and free cancellation, by WhatsApp or email.
Location
Find the meeting point
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