Jo1023

Hi- Looking for recommendations regarding tours in and around Barcelona. There are lots of choices, but I'm hoping to get help from people who've used the services. We're two active seniors planning on using Barcelona as our base for a few day trips. We'll be there 8 days and are seasoned travelers. We'd like to visit Girona for flower festival, Figueres and Montserrat (not in one day trip of course) but not sure if we should use an individual tour guide for trips or join a group. One tour offers Girona and Figueres tours in a single day. I'm thinking this may provide too little time in each but not sure a day trip to each from Barcelona is the most sensible option (we thought about staying overnight in one of them so that's a possibility but we'd rather not drag suitcases around on public transport too much). Pretty much same with Montserrat; seem to be combo tours but not sure if that allows enough time in the sites. Thanks for any help!

Robert2016

You might take a look at Spanish Trails (Spanish Trails ? Day tours from Barcelona and Madrid, Spain) for a day trip to Girona, or even around the city. Otherwise, for getting oriented in Barcelona, you can use the Hop-On Hop-Off bus.

For visiting Montserrat, you can check out Home - Montserrat Visita

Jo1023

Thanks! We usually take a hop-on bus when we go to a new city. Hate feeling so blatantly touristy, but ithey're such a great way to get your bearings!

kja

If you want to join a tour, then by all means, do! But you don't need to join a tour for Girona, Figueres, or Montserrat -- all are perfectly easy to visit on your own and at your own leisure. Just get a good guidebook or two (for those areas, I found the Michelin Green and Rough Guide particularly useful) and go!