Alumni of Best of Barcelona and Madrid Tours - questions about free time

I suspect tours change a little from year to year - my remarks are based on a 2018 Best of Barcelona and Madrid tour. In reply to your questions, the group activity of "day #2" ended at Sagrada Familia in early afternoon. The evening activity was wine tasting - which included tapas. We went to Park Guell after the Sagrada Familia tour on our own via taxi. The city walk on the evening of "day #1" was mostly around Placa de Catalunya ending in a group dinner. Several of us went to Montserrat the afternoon of "day #3".

The morning Barcelona walking tours are usually scheduled for 9:00 and end by 13:00. So you'd probably want to allow time for at least a quick lunch before a further reservation.

We did take a bus to Montserrat one of the free days we built into the trip before the tour started but I am sorry I don't remember the name of the bus company. It was not a tour but a day trip we did on our own using the RS guidebook. We spent the entire day there, hiking and exploring and there was even a small market set up below the Monastery that day. I don't know how much time you'd like to spend there so a half day may give you enough of a taste! Park Guell was a highlight for us as was the fun Fat Tire bike tour of the city. Lunch on the beach was included at the time. You are correct: "It’s going to be great experience no matter what :) "

I was on the Barcelona/Madrid tour in May 2019. Some in our group chose to go to Montserrat on the bus tour leaving at 3 p.m. on day 3 (our second full day in Barcelona) I decided against going because, although I wanted to see Montserrat, I didn't think it would be worth it for such a short visit, and going would make for a very packed day given we had a group dinner that night. Those in my group who did go to Montserrat on the 3 p.m. bus on day 3 said they enjoyed it but being there for such a short time (around 2 hours) wasn't long enough.