Spain: It’s easy to book walking tours of Barcelona

A lot of you e-mailed me after my story on walking tours of Barcelona, Spain, appeared on the cover of the May 4 Travel section. Many asked for more information about buying tickets for the various walking tours of the city where several popular neighborhoods are for pedestrians only.

I checked with the staff at the Spanish Office of Tourism in Los Angeles. They said travelers in Los Angeles — or really anywhere else — can’t buy walking tour tickets in advance of their trip.

But really, it’s not that hard. When I was in Barcelona in January, I went to the city’s office of tourism at Plaza Catalunya, near my hotel. The office opened at 10 a.m., at least in the off-season when I was in town.

Buying a ticket was like buying a movie ticket: You step up to the desk, check out the tour choices, make your choice and pay your money. You can buy your ticket the day before a tour, which, in high season, is probably a good idea.

And there will be different themes to try. On foot I toured the Barri Gòtic, the Gothic quarter that still has the flavor of its medieval roots. Others include a Modernist walking tour, for a closer look at the architecture of Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and others who helped make Barcelona a showplace of Modernisme.

Have a great trip!

—Mary Rourke, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Barcelona's La Rambla features a variety of shops, restaurants and street performers. By Sisqui Sanchez / For the Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 16, 2008 at 10:03 am by Mary Forgione and is filed under Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.