Best ways to see Barcelona. Choosing sightseeing tours Barcelona

Best tours of Barcelona

Best ways to see Barcelona

Choosing sightseeing tours Barcelona


Plan your visit to Barcelona in advance. There are many different way and different tours to see Barcelona. Visitors can choose from from hop-on-hop-off bus tours, segway tours, photo tours, walking tours, bike tours, group tours, coach tours and private tours to name a few. On this page we have listed some of the most popular and most fun ways to see Barcelona.

Updated July 2023

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Hop on Hop off buses Barcelona


The Hop on / Hop off bus tour of Barcelona is an affordable, convenient and easy way to see most of the top attractions in Barcelona in one day - and to get a feel for the city. The 'Hop-on/hop-off concept' means that you can get on or off the bus at all stops along the route. 

If you want to spend time at a Barcelona attraction, then just 'hop off' the tour bus and 'hop on' again later, when you are ready to continue the route. The hop-on-hop-off buses are in constant circulation so you usually don't have to wait for more that 15 to 25 minutes for the next bus. These tours buses are also sometimes called 'ho-ho' buses.

The hop-on-hop-off buses in Barcelona are modern with open top decks and audio guides in many languages. An advantage of hop-on-hop-off buses is that they are double-deckers with an open top.

This gives a nice view of the city buildings and you can take 'traffic-free' photos of Barcelona’s famous landmarks. Remember sun lotion in the summer - and a jacket in the winter.

There are 2 companies offering Barcelona hop-on-hop-off bus tours. They are called Barcelona Bus Turistic and Barcelona City Tour. You can see the bus colours below. Both companies use open top double-decker tour buses. Both companies have very similar routes and the same prices, so you can choose any of the two companies.

The advantage of the Barcelona Bus Turistic company is perhaps that you get a discount coupon book included which gives small discounts at many of the stops on the route.

The disadvantage is that there can be long lines at Barcelona Bus Turistic stops at popular attractions.

The all red Barcelona City Tour hop-on-hop-off bus does not offer a discount coupon book, but in busy season they might have shorter queues.

You can buy tickets onboard the bus on both company tours - or you can buy in advance. Both offer audio guides in 12 languages.

Barcelona Bus Turistic

Bus Turistic

Bus Turistic has Red, Green and Blue tour buses
3 tour routes which you can all ride with 1 ticket.
Total of 44 stops 
Audio guides available in 10 languages.
Discount coupon book included in price
Tickets can bought on the bus or in advance
From June to end September and night route on Friday and Sunday. 
TICKETS HoponHopoff Bus Turistic

Barcelona City tour

Barcelona City tours 

Barcelona City Tour has all Red tour buses.
2 routes of Barcelona - East and West
Tickets can be bought on the bus
No discount coupons 
Tickets Barcelona City Tours hop-on-hop-off


Coach tours

If you prefer more traditional sightseeing coach tours with a real guide instead of an audio recording, there are various bus tours and small group mini-van tours to choose from. 


Small group tours

There are many small group tours are the best option for seeing the sights, but also a little more expensive. An advantage is that the smaller the group the more time you get with the guide. A friendly local tour guide can really bring the history and culture of Barcelona to life with rich detail, anecdotes and details that are not always in the guide books.

So if you want to know much more than just the basic information about historic sights and buildings in Barcelona, then a small group guided tour or a private guide is a great solution.

Barcelona tour guides are well qualified, enthusiatic and usually native or long term English speaking residents of Barcelona.

They know Barcelona and the Catalan way of life very well and can often help you with little translations and answers to questions about life in Barcelona and Spain. 


Day Tours outside Barcelona

Half day tour to Montserrat from Barcelona

After a couple of days in the city, then many visitors choose to take a day trip outside Barcelona.  There are so many half-day and day tours from Barcelona that it can be difficult to choose where to go and who to go with. Barcelona is close to coastal areas, snow-capped mountains, world famous wine regions and vineyards and more.

Top attractions near Barcelona are Montserrat, Girona, the Dali Museum in Figueres, Sitges and the Port Aventura / Ferrari land theme park to name a few.
If you are looking for small group tours with a recommended company with top quality guides and hotel pick-up then look at DayTripsBarcelona.com 

Top 10 Day Trips Barcelona
Small group Day tours Barcelona


Walking tours Barcelona

If you want an active and healthy way to see the most famous Barcelona sights, and perhaps have a bit more time to chat to your guide, then you might choose one of the many guided Barcelona walking tours. There are also many free Barcelona walking tours that offer a free tour and then ask guests to tip if they want. Walking tours are excellent because the guides provide a lot of information and there is plenty of time to absorb it all. We definately recommend walking tours to visit  the medieval parts of Barcelona where the tourist buses and minivans are not practical because of narrow streets and many pedestrians. If walking is too slow for you and want to improve your fitness levels, then try a bike tour.


Bike tours Barcelona

Barcelona bike tours are a popular way to see part of Barcelona. Biking is a clean, green and healthy way to see the sights of Barcelona and Barcelona is expanding and adding new bicycle lanes every year.  Friendly and well- informed bike tour guides will give you many insights into the city while dispensing traffic safety tips.

The traffic in Barcelona can be a bit fast and unpredictable, so bike helmets should always to worn and remember not to take selfies while you are in motion. 

BOOK bike tour Barcelona
Bike tours/ rentals Barcelona 


Quirky Barcelona tours  


Barcelona Segway Tours

If you want to see parts of Barcelona in a different way, here are some interesting and fun ways to tour Barcelona. These tours focus a little more on fun transport and a little less perhaps on detail and depth. 

Segway tours - see Barcelona harbour and beaches on a segway tour
Motorbike sidecar tours - vintage motorbike with sidecar tour
Talking GoCars - talking mini-car with GPS guide

Welcome to Barcelona and we hope you enjoy your stay!


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Last Updated on Monday, 10 July 2023 15:43
 
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