Can you recommend a small group tour company for a guided christmas week visit to Montserrat from Barcelona. Would also like same for Gaudi sites, Girona, and Dali museums. And from Madrid to Toledo. We are three non spanish speaking women looking to be part of a small van or bus group rather than big bus tour. (approx 85-100/person for a day tour)
Also, where to see flamenco - Barcelona or Madrid? And recommendations? TIA
Posted by
TN, USA
2114 posts
Susan.
I would suggest you email Emily at South Ole Spain Tours. I thought I remembered she had expanded her tour/service line to include Barcelona since we used her company a few years ago, so I just checked her web site, and she does cover Barcelona.
We used her for a private driver in Southern Spain, and then also for a private tour in Gibraltar a few years ago. We could not have been more thrilled....driver was great and the private tour guide in Gibraltar was absolutely incredible.
If you get in touch with her and tell her what you would like, she can either plan the whole thing turn-key for you (hotels, too), or she can just provide tours/transportation for certain times that you want.
There were just two of us, but we were transported in a smallish van. I think she also has larger vehicles, too.
In addition to private arrangements, she also offers group tours for which individuals can just sign up.
You can also check out the reviews she gets on TripAdvisor.........everyone is always sooo pleased w/ her, as we were. She is an excellent communicator re: arrangements, and she follows-up to make sure all in in order, then again to make sure all went well. She is an American who fell in love with Spain, then moved there and started her business.
Enjoy your trip. You will really love Barcelona and Spain.
Posted by
TN, USA
2114 posts
P.S. to last posting. Meant to include these links for you:
Posted by
Washington DC
27187 posts
Copying this response from the other thread in which you asked about small-group tours:
The tourist office offers an inexpensive Modernisme walking tour that takes in the exterior of some of the modernista buildings on/near the Passeig de Gracia and allows a brief stop at the Modernisme museum in that area. It does not go to La Sagrada Familia, and just about any tourist map will show you that there are far more modernist buildings than could be seen on a single tour. I wandered around for days, tracking down many (but not all) of them, just to see the exteriors of the ones I couldn't go inside. Gaudí was by no means the only fabulous architect working in Barcelona during the period in question. I particularly recommend the Sant Pau site, a former hospital. It hasn't been discovered by the tourist hordes yet. You will spend some time outdoors, so best to choose a day with nice weather.
If, as I assume, you want to go inside at least some of the buildings, I'm not sure that a pre-set tour will work for you. Visiting each site typically takes at least an hour, often more like 90 minutes, which doesn't fit too well with the idea of a tour going to a bunch of different places over the course of a morning or an afternoon. The residential buildings have a path set up that visitors follow, and I'm not sure they even allow outside tour groups. All that I visited had either their own (required) tours or an audio guide.
To avoid long waits in ticket lines, you need to pre-book tickets for some of the sights, La Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, La Pedrera/Casa Milà, Casa Batlló and the Palau de la Música Catalana among them. To safely schedule more than one a day you need a buffer for moving from Sight A to Sight B as well as for the uncertainty as to how long you'll want to spend at Sight A. Handling that would be difficult for a company trying to conduct tours. I suspect a tour attempting to take you inside multiple modernist buildings (if such even exists) would really be rushing you through. And those site tickets are expensive (often 20 euros or more), so I wouldn't be too happy to be rushed.
I imagine a tour to the Dalí sites in/near Figueres and Cadaques could work well since taking public transportation--while easily possible--is not a matter of just one train or one bus. I can't provide a recommendation because I did not go to the Dalí sites, but I did see flyers for tours.
I would prefer to do my own thing in Girona since it has a number of sights that would be more or less interesting to individual travelers, which makes a one-size-fits-all tour problematic. In Girona you have the large and very walkable old town, two important churches (at least one with an audio guide available), a wall you can walk on, and a wonderful small museum that I highly recommend. It would be easy to hop on the fast train to Girona (about 40 minutes) and then take a cab the short distance to the edge of the historic district. Girona's easily worth a full day. If you don't have that much time, you can check to see whether someone combines Girona with the Dalí sites, but be sure the tour allows enough time for the latter.
If you happen also to be a Miró fan, you would enjoy the very nice Miró museum on Montjuïc in Barcelona. The collection is essentially all Miró, so skip it if he's not a favorite of yours.
Posted by
Seattle
287 posts
I joined a small day trip by Barcelona Day Tours in October. About 10 people in a small mini-bus. We did Montserrat in the morning thru lunch and then visited a Catalonian winery in the afternoon for a tour and tasting. Total trip time (departure to return) was about 8 hours. It was a great experience and our guide was a wonderfully informative gentleman. The price fits your budget. Definitely recommend! They have other tours also, but unfortunately I only had time for one day trip and Montserrat was #1 on my list.