Personal – Affordable – Quality Touring

Most cruisers in Barcelona begin or end their journey here although in some cases the ship may only come into port for one day mid-journey. We have gathered below some helpful information for the cruising community, but first let us kindly recommend and prioritize your best touring options in Barcelona:

Barcelona City Tour
This is a half day tour covering all the main highlights of Barcelona. This tour is ideal for first time visitors because it takes away the stress of having to deal with finding your way around the various sites scattered across the city. Also, cruisers do not need to worry about dragging their luggage around since pick-up and drop-off is included from the port, hotel, or airport.

Barcelona and Montserrat
This is a full day tour that covers all the important sights in Barcelona as well as the most famous destination outside the city – Mount Montserrat. This is the perfect excursion for cruisers that only have one full day of travel in and around Barcelona and are interested in spending their valuable time seeing as much as possible.

Montserrat and Cava day tour
This tour is great for those cruisers that have already covered the highlights of Barcelona and wish to explore the surroundings of Catalonia. Montserrat offers impressive views, extraordinary mountain formations, an interesting Basilica, and possibly a performance by Europe’s oldest children’s choir. You may wish to do the full day tour and also enjoy a visit to the Wine-Country of Catalonia to learn about the Spanish version of the French Champagne – Cava.

Girona + Costa Brava or the Dali Museum
Girona is a lovely destination offering narrow cobblestone streets and wonderful medieval architecture. Visit the impressive Cathedral or learn the Jewish heritage and you will not be disappointed with this little gem approximately an hour’s drive from Barcelona. If you have a full day to spare, consider an afternoon visit to the lovely Tossa del Mar on the Costa Brava (wild coast) or the famous Dali Museum in Figueres.

In general, its important that as a cruiser you make the best use of your time. Try to book an itinerary that makes sense to you and takes into consideration your starting and ending location.

For example, if you are ending the cruise in Barcelona and your flight is not until the day after, why not book a tour that would pick you up from the port and take you to the hotel at the end of the tour? This way you can save time (waiting for your hotel room to be ready) and money (saving the cost of transportation) – both valuable if you are only here for a short time.

If you are arriving at the airport to begin a cruise later in the afternoon, its best to arrange a city tour that would pick you up from the airport and take you to the cruise pier at the end of the tour. This way in the few hours that you have in the city you can see all the main highlights of Barcelona and benefit from an ‘extra’ day of sightseeing. This arrangement is especially popular with our guests arriving on the overnight flights from the US on Delta, Continental, and American Airlines.

For those visiting for the first time we recommend the City Highlights tour, which covers all the main sites including La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Gaudi’s famous building, Montjuic Castle, and more.

If you wish to really see as much as possible in one day of travel, book the Barcelona and Montserrat Combination Tour. In addition to the highlights of Barcelona you will also visit the most famous site outside of Barcelona – Mount Montserrat with its beautiful mountain views and impressive Basilica at the top of the mountain.

If you have more than one day then we would recommend to do the Barcelona City Tour for a half day and then to enjoy a leisurely afternoon on your own around the Old Quarters and La Rambla. In the evening take in a Flamenco Show and Dinner at one of the best venues in Spain to cap off a wonderful Spanish experience. For the following day, consider a Montserrat and Wine Country tour as the second most important tour, followed by a tour to Girona and the Costa Brava if you have another day for touring.

As a cruiser you are likely to have lots of luggage with you which is also an important consideration. We keep your luggage safe and secure in the vehicle and make it easy for you to do a tour even if you are just arriving at the airport or finishing the cruise.

If you are finishing a cruise in Barcelona we recommend you start your shore excursion from the pier at 8:30am. This is when our small group tours normally start too and in most cases the ship will ‘encourage’ you to disembark by this time so that they can clean and arrange the ship for the next journey. So even for those of you who prefer to sleep-in it would likely not be possible to start the tour any later.

If you are starting the cruise in Barcelona, normally most cruise ships would be happy to welcome you between noon to 1:00pm, which gives you an opportunity to do a half-day tour prior to embarking the ship. We will of course pick you up with your luggage, do the tour, and take you to the ship in time for check-in.

We hope the information provided in this page was helpful but of course please feel free to contact us with any question. We are happy to help and hope we can welcome you in Barcelona for your shore excursion soon!

The BDT team