Your private guide and driver will meet you at your hotel and take you to visit three of Gaudí’s most renowned works. From buildings that look as if they’ve come from storybooks to twisting lampposts that defy expectation, the city is littered with elements that all owe their origins to his masterful design.
Your first stop is a visit to the Casa Milà apartment blocks, often referred to as La Pedrera (meaning ‘the stone quarry’) due to its rippling stone exterior. It sits on one of Barcelona’s most affluent boulevards, Passeig de Gràcia, which was part of the new Modernist district, L’Eixample, built in the early 19th century.
A top-floor apartment, the attic and the roof are open to the public, with the rooftop stealing the show with its chimney pots topped with sculpted heads. The attic contains a museum dedicated to Gaudí’s work, and the apartment showcases the curving, sinuous design elements for which he’s best known.
The next stop on the tour is Park Güell, an unfinished housing development that became a municipal park on what was then the outskirts of the city. The entrance is flanked by two fairy-tale houses and leads to a playful park landscape pitted with steps, terraces and curving pathways. They’re flanked by vibrant mosaics and idiosyncratic details such as sloping walls, a giant mosaic-covered salamander and wave-like seating offering views over the city below.
Your final stop of the day is the jewel in Barcelona’s crown, the unfinished Sagrada Família, still under construction after more than 130 years. This was Gaudí’s most ambitious and flamboyant project, a basilica that would break with tradition and challenge all preconceptions about church design.
Its medley of organic shapes, free-flowing curves, bright mosaic work, soaring towers and intricate detail is arresting and absorbing in equal measure, and the Sagrada Família has become the city’s most significant landmark.
Once you’ve toured the basilica in the company of your guide, your driver will take you back to your hotel.
Start planning your tailor-made trip by contacting one of our Spain specialists
These activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences around where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can suggest tours and activities that will introduce you to the local ways of life.
Barcelona by bicycle
Take off on two wheels and explore Barcelona by bicycle with the help of a local guide. You’ll discover the waterfront area of Barceloneta, ride along the winding narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter and visit some of the city’s main sights.
Codorníu and Montserrat
Journeying around the Penedès wine region, you’ll discover the home of cava, Spain’s sparkling wine, on this full-day guided tour. Learn about its history and production, and tour the Codorníu estate, before continuing on to Montserrat to see the basilica, one of Spain’s major pilgrimage sites.
Dalí, Figueres and Girona
This full-day private tour from Barcelona takes you to Figueres, Salvador Dalí’s hometown and the site of his surreal museum, as well as the historic city of Girona, with its Romanesque and Gothic buildings and Baroque cathedral.
Paella cooking class and market visit
Learn to cook a traditional Spanish paella in Barcelona on this half-day course, which includes a visit to a local market. You’ll find out how to choose the best ingredients before putting them together in an engaging, hands-on day of activity.
You can enjoy this activity as part of the suggested tours below, or we can weave it into a trip shaped entirely around you.
