The baldie is fled, long live the baldie!
The business (basically a CRM database) passed into better hands in 2012. These materials remain here for cannibalisation and amusement.
The baldie meanwhile has found pastures new: as a singing organ-grinder for your event in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain!
- Cruise & weekend favourites
- in 4 hours without feeling like a stupid tourist.
- Theme browser
- Fiesta finder
- Why FollowTheBaldie?
- Language All our guides are native English speakers and speak the local language fluently.
- Knowledge Our local and subject knowledge is profound and up-to-date.
- Interactivity See someone interesting? We'll interpret. Tired/full of energy? We can adapt the programme.
- Individuality We don't do herd tourism. No silly flags. No headsets.
- Responsibility Unlike most "green" tour businesses, we only use public transport--cheaper and generally more interesting.
Barcelona tours - Barcelona in 4 hours without feeling like a stupid tourist
Overview
This walk is popular with cruise passengers, weekend visitors, and other folks with a limited time budget. You'll see the main sights in local style with expert commentary. And without flag-waving official guides reciting in pidgin-English, or luxury tour buses full of fellow-foreigners.
Your tour starts with a walk round the Roman, medieval and pre-industrial remains, including the cathedral, one of the two other big Gothic churches, our favourite Romanesque church (tourist-free, with one of the prettiest Virgins north of Granada), and what was until 1391 the Jewish quarter.
In the old centre you’ll also see several key locations in the 1937 fighting between Stalinists and anarchists/Trotskyists described in George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, and several others featured in Carlos Ruíz Zafón's The shadow of the wind, the scenes of executions and other civic mayhem, and a number of unusual shops and bars.
This section ends with a lightning tour of some of the stranger stalls in the Boqueria market on the Ramblas. We then travel uptown by municipal bus to take in the famous houses on the Paseo de Gracia (Amatller, Batlló, Pedrera) and then head finally by bus or metro to Gaudí's Sagrada Familia, just in time for lunch.
(This is our default recipe. If you want something slightly different within the same 4-hour package, tell us and we’ll suggest a tweak. We don't take you round the inside of the Sagrada Familia or the houses on Passeig de Gràcia. We also offer other Barcelona city walks.)
Itinerary
The intro contains a broad outline.
Some FAQs:
- Should we buy advance tickets for the Sagrada Familia?
A lot of people choose to end their walking tour at the Sagrada Familia and then tour the inside on their own. We advise you to buy tickets in advance to avoid lengthy queues in what may be boiling sunshine. Tickets are sold for entrance whenever you like within bands of an hour, and we generally suggest taking a drinks/sandwich break between ending your walking tour and going into the basilica. For example, estimated walking tour end 13:30, get a 14:00-15:00 entry ticket.
Details
| Grade | easy |
| Base | Barcelona (Meeting point information here, where relevant - make sure you have the right one!) |
| Location tags | Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, |
| Theme tags | archaeology, architecture, art, gastronomy, history, |
| Your guide(s) | A local expert |
| Walking distance | 6 km / 3.73 miles |
| Walking time | 3.48 hr |
| Total return travel time from base to walk | 0 hr |
| Default meeting time | 09:30. This is designed to produce an optimal result from a number of factors, including sleep-in time, access to food, and exposure to sun. |
| Total time from "hello" to "goodbye" | 4.00 hr |
| Fiestas and markets in places we go through - combine a walk and some partying or shopping! |
Note that there are also events in most places on January 6 (Three Kings), Carnival, Easter, April 23 (St George), June 23 (St John), and September 11 (Catalan regional/national day) |
Photos
Comments
Page URL
You can find all this information, as well as the booking form, at http://oreneta.com/baldie/baldie/spanish-walking-tours/barcelona-walking-tours/barcelona-city-walks/barcelona-in-4-hours/Roughly how much will it cost?
N.B. This form and the B2C business have retired. Contacts here.| your group | |
|---|---|
| number of people in your group (kids 0-2 don't count, kids 3-16 = 0.5) |
This is the total size of the group. Unlike other (city) tours, you won't have to share your guide with a couple of dozen strangers. |
Book this tour
- Nota bene: The Baldie no longer runs this nor most other city tours - your mail will go to the new management. Queries here.
- Fill in your details and submit the form below.
- If you just want more info, we'll send you that.
- Otherwise we'll send you full information, a fixed price, and details of how to pay securely. (If you pay via Paypal or Google Checkout, we'll quote and bill you in British pounds. This marginally reduces our admin costs and, barring a sudden collapse of your currency, doesn't hurt you.)
- If after you have paid you change your mind about the day or the walk, or if the weather is really bad, then we'll try out best to offer you another option. Our cancellation and refund policy is here.
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