What are the best tours in Barcelona?
We often get asked by our readers to recommend the best tours in Barcelona. So, for that reason, we’ve created this guide to point everyone in the right direction. While we ourselves aren’t the world’s biggest fans of guided tours, we DO think there are plenty of tours that provide real value for tourists and visitors in Barcelona.
Barcelona is one of the most popular destinations for travelers in Europe. It’s also one of our favorite cities in the world. It’s hardly surprising that there are a ton of great Barcelona tours to choose from. Everything from guided market tours to crazy pub crawls to historic architecture tours are available.
So, which tour is the right one for you? Well, pretty much anything you’d want to guide for is available in Barcelona.
Here are our selections of the best tours in Barcelona!
Table of Contents
The Best Tours in Barcelona
Sagrada Familia Guided Tour with Tower Access
The Sagrada Familia, the most popular attraction in Barcelona, really is something quite special. It’s the jewel in the crown that is Gaudi’s legacy of beautiful buildings, it’s magnificent both inside and out.
What’s even more impressive is climbing to the top of its towers. The climb up, and the views when you get there, are simply breathtaking. On this guided tour, you will be able to do just that as well as learn all about this unique building from your expert guide. We highly recommend that you do choose a guided tour because there is so much to take in, a knowledgeable guide will help you make sense of it all.
E-Bike Tour with Montjuic Cable Car And Boat Trip
You’ll get to effortlessly cruise around Barcelona on e-bikes that make getting from A to B easy and enjoyable on this 3.5-hour-long tour. You’ll stop in the Gothic quarter and Parc de la Ciutadella (the main park), as well as at some of Gaudi’s most famous buildings like the Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and Casa Batlló.
You will also get to ride the cable car that carries you from the beach, across the port and up to the top of Montjuic to admire the stunning views across the city.
Not only that, but a boat cruise along the coast to see the city’s skyline is also included. All in all, an unbeatable package for the price and one of the best bike tours you can take in Barcelona.
6 Minute Helicopter Flight over Barcelona’s Coastline
For those of you with a head for heights and some spare cash burning a hole in your pocket, you can opt for a whistle-stop tour of Barcelona from the sky. On the six minute flight, you’ll see some of the skyline’s most recognizable features such as Torre Agbar and the Olympic port, as well as the Eixample neighborhood’s unique urban plan where all buildings are laid out in perfect blocks.
It’s not the cheapest way to spend 6 minutes of your time in Barcelona, but it’s definitely unique. Flying in a helicopter is on many people’s bucket list, and for that reason, we think it’s one of the best tours in Barcelona if you’re one of these people.
Paella Cooking Experience with Boqueria Market Tour
One for all the foodies out there. Barcelona is home to maybe the best fresh food market in Spain, La Boqueria. The produce that’s on offer is always the highest quality, especially their seafood.
The other thing Spain is famous for is the Paella, tourists flock to Spain hunting down the traditional rice dish.
So, combining these two things, how does a guided tour of La Boqueria market and a Paella cooking class sound? Well, that’s exactly what you get on this tour. A trained chef will guide you through the market while you purchase the ingredients to make a Paella, Pintxos (small tapas on bread) and Sangria (another Spanish favorite).
2-Hour Segway Tour
This 2-hour segway tour will take you around all of the main sights in Barcelona from the Gothic quarter to the Columbus monument. It’s an excellent alternative to walking since the distance between these places, although not out of the realm of possibility, means a lot of walking.
Don’t worry, you’ll get some segway training before you set off!
From Barcelona: Montserrat Half-Day Guided Tour
Hands down one of the most popular day trips from Barcelona is a visit to the mountain of Montserrat, and its stunning monastery. Going with an expert guide makes the experience so much more rewarding. You’ll learn all about the history of the area and the religious significance of the monastery.
Included in the price is transport to and from Barcelona in a private minivan as well as tickets for the cremallera (rack railway) which takes you to the top of the mountain to the monastery and back down again.
Picasso Walking Tour & Picasso Museum of Barcelona
At the age of 7, Pablo Picasso moved to Barcelona, and it was here that he started to show signs of being a pure artistic genius. Picasso thrived in this city and often referred to it as his real home despite actually being from Malaga.
He attended the Llotja de Mar art school as a young boy, which is just one stop on this Pablo Picasso walking tour.
You’ll get to explore the neighborhood where he lived and studied with an expert guide who will tell you all about his life in Barcelona. The tour also includes entry to the Picasso museum where your guide will walk you through their fascinating collection.
Barcelona: 1.5-Hour Las Golondrinas Boat Tour
This is one of the best tours in Barcelona if you’re on a slightly tighter budget. On this hour and a half tour, you’ll sail along the coast to get an excellent view of the skyline, the famous Barceloneta beach-front neighborhood, the old Olympic port and some of Barcelona’s most beautiful beaches.
Las Golondrinas have been taking tourists out on the open sea to admire the city’s skyline since 1888 (although thankfully they’ve bought new boats since then!).
Backpacker Pub Crawl
If you’ve had your fill of culture and seen all of the sights you want to see, then letting off some steam and making new friends might just be the tour for you. The backpacker pub crawl is legendary and perhaps one of the best tours in Barcelona for Eurotrippers and gap year travelers looking to have some fun.
Your local guide will take you to four bars and pubs where you’ll get exclusive drink deals. Finally, you’ll end up at one of Barcelona’s top nightclubs, the entrance ticket is included in the tour price.
Palau de la Música Guided Tour
Staying with the theme of amazing architecture, a tour of Palau de la Musica Catalana should be at the top of your to-do list. The building’s architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, like so many other famous architects in Barcelona, was inspired by the modernist movement.
The building is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and hosts over half a million people every year in its concert hall.
You get more than just a guide on this tour, you get access to parts of the building ordinarily off-limits to the general public. We can’t recommend this tour enough.
Park Güell Skip-the-Queue Guided Tour
Park Güell is also an extremely popular place to visit that’s made better by going with a guide. The knowledge they can share with you will really help you to appreciate the experience even more. Park Güell is another of Antoni Gaudi’s creations and not something you should not miss seeing when in Barcelona.
The views from its vantage point on Carmel hill stretch right over the city below and out across the sea. What’s more, you will be able to skip the often quite long queues to get in the park on this tour.
From Barcelona: 8-Hour Costa Brava Kayak and Snorkel Tour
Time for another day trip from Barcelona. This 8-hour kayak and snorkel tour in the pristine waters of the Costa Brava is an unforgettable experience. The coastline of the Costa Brava is rugged with rocky cliffs and turquoise water. It’s one of Spain’s most stunning stretches of coast.
The tour guides pick you up in Barcelona and driven to the Costa Brava in small groups. You will spend the afternoon kayaking and snorkeling. This really is one of the best day trip tours in Barcelona, especially for those of you who enjoy water based activities.
Casa Batlló Entrance Ticket with Smart Guide
Casa Batlló is the third and last of Gaudi’s buildings we’re going to talk about in this article. The building is located along the glamorous Passeig de Gràcia but, even by the street’s luxurious standards, this building stands out.
Casa Batlló’s design is very distinctly Gaudi, it’s so abstract it almost looks as if it’s melting. This tour will allow you to cut straight to the front of the queue (which can get very long, just like most of the popular attractions in Barcelona) and also comes with an audio guide.
Camp Nou Experience: FC Barcelona Museum and Tour
The last place on this list is heaven for football fans. The Camp Nou is the home stadium of the Barcelona football team and the largest in Europe. It’s where the likes of Messi and Suarez run rings around their opponents week in, week out.
While going to see a match is great (and highly recommended), if you really want to experience the stadium, we suggest this tour. You’ll get to walk around the stadium when it’s empty, along routes where legends have been. You’ll also get to visit the official museum to see important items from their past as well as the audiovisual multimedia area.
We hope this guide to the best tours in Barcelona has helped you fine travelers pick the perfect tour to suit your exploration needs.
As we stated before, in our opinion these are the best tours in Barcelona, but there are a ton more! Whatever you’re into, you can do it in this fantastic city. From architecture to food to sports, Barcelona has it all.
Which one of these Barcelona tours are you going to book?
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Please note – Some of our selections contain affiliate links. These allow us to earn a small percentage every time you make a booking. Using our links enables us to provide all the information found on this site free of charge.