Tapas Tour

Are you talking about an organized thing, or just doing as the locals do and moving from one place to another?

probably organized since we have a limited amount of time

Jon, I will be in Spain In April/May and have been looking into the same thing, especially for Barcelona, where there are various food tours of various types. I posed the same question here, and got just a couple suggestions. You might look back a few pages on this forum. I have found in Barcelona there are food tours at various times of day and evening, in different neighborhoods, and some which are just tapas tours, some include markets and shops, and some include tapas and then a full dinner. Different amounts of time and cost. All of them seem to have excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, with many people saying the tours were the highlight of their trip, and provided a lot of food. If you go to Trip Advisor for Barcelona, under "Attractions" or "Things to Do", scrolling down there is a category called Food Tours, that reviews a bunch of them, usually with a link to the tour company's web site. With 5 people in your family, one thing you will need to consider is the costs and benefits of signing up for a group tour at a per person rate, or arranging your own private tour. Which is more economical, and do you want to just do a tour as a family, or would you like to join with other people, sometimes from other countries. Happy searching!

We've been to Spain several times, and really enjoy the tapas culture. We did not take an organized tour; I just did a lot of reading and researching, and we experienced it on our own (we are big foodies). We found at a number of places, if we showed up early, staff was available and very willing to help us out by explaining dishes and making suggestions. My parents will be visiting Spain later this year, so I did some research for them, as I would love them to enjoy tapas but that they were unlikely to do it themselves.

I found a variety in the tours. The cheaper tours have more people, visit fewer places, and based on the descriptions, have the customers try the most standard dishes, such a pa amb tomaquet, patatas bravas or Tortilla Española. And always some jamon, but not the priciest (tastiest) varieties. With a larger group, it's more difficult to enter tapas bars, which tend to not have a lot of room. The more expensive tours tend to have a smaller group size, which makes it easier to visit places. And a greater variety of dishes.

I would say that if you want to take a tour, do it as early in your trip as possible, so you can then spend the remainder of your trip enjoying tapas on our own.