“For us, the perfect perfect guide!” – TripAdvisor
My wife and I booked Francesc for our first two mornings (4 hours each) in Barcelona and asked him to focus on history and architecture. I cannot recommend highly enough starting off your visit this way if you are new to the city, as we were. Francesc was, from our POV, the perfect perfect guide. He is energetic but calm, he always has a plan but is always aware of the client’s reactions and is always open to a modification, his knowledge of the city is so detailed and so thorough that he can explain anything that might interest you in whatever level of detail you might enjoy and in a manner designed to engage your interest.
The first morning, we began at our hotel in the gothic quarter (Mercer hotel – wonderful!) within the original inner city walls and walked us through the expansion of old Barcelona through time giving us a real feel for how Barcelona grew and why. He seemed to know details of everything, sometimes, for instance, leading us into small boutiques to show us an ancient wall behind a clothing rack.
The second morning he took us on an architecture oriented tour of the more modern areas (still old if you come from LA, like us) including the great Gaudi church (as an official guide, allowing us to entry immediately despite an enormous line). Francesc would leave us in a perfect spot to lunch with advice for the rest of the day.
We enjoyed our time with Francesc which informed the rest of our visit in the best way.
If you are visiting Barca in other than low season, book him in advance (as we did), as his dance card fills up quickly.