frankieblu

Hi. My family of 4 (with 2 teen daughters) is headed to Spain for the first time in just over a month. We're flying into Madrid, but spending most of our time in Andalusia and then Barcelona. I booked a walking food tour for our first day in Seville, and we'll tour Cordoba on our own for one day (side trip from Seville). We'll be on our own in Malaga for a few days over Christmas, and then we're flying to Barcelona for 4 1/2 days. I'm doing a lot of research on areas/sites to see, but have only booked a paella cooking class in Barcelona so far (with a market tour). I'm debating whether to book any tours in Barcelona- maybe a Gaudi tour, or another Devour walking/tasting tour- not really sure if it's overkill if we're already doing a food tour in Seville.
We're pretty independent...,just want to take advantage of seeing everything we can and making it fun for our daughters. Any advice on whether anyone has really enjoyed any tours or if we're better off on our own? Thanks!

dreamon

The Boqueria food market in Barcelona is wonderful so you could perhaps just wander through there and maybe have breakfast there. Just check it's open at that time between Christmas and New Year. I enjoy walking tours so I'd be tempted to do one in Barcelona as well but I don't have any recommendations unfortunately. I normally go first to the local tourism office to see what they offer.

Traveler_Nick

Book the Sagrada Familia if you're interested. Next month? I wouldn't trust the weather so booking the tower climb might not worth it. Not sure what you'd see if it was cloudy/foggy.

In general it depends on what you're hoping to see and what you enjoy. For example I'm sure the maritime museum would excite a sailor or maybe a kid but I wouldn't personally go out of my way for it.

If the weather is nice and you have the spare time a walk along the beach promenade might be worth the time.

Obviously wander around the Gothic quarter. A tour might help with the less visible things. There are some Roman ruins that most people miss for example. Or if you wanted things explained. But OTOH you could just wander and soak in the place.

frankieblu

Thank you both! I think we may just pick different areas to explore each day and do it on our own. Appreciate the feedback though

thursdaysd

Pick up a good guidebook and book the Gaudi sites that interest you ahead of time. Otherwise no need for a tour, Barcelona has good public transport. You might need to book the Palace of Music as well as the Gaudi sites.

KarenWoo

We were in Barcelona in 2010 so it's been awhile. At the time, it wasn't necessary to book any Gaudi sites in advance, but it sounds like that is not the case today. I agree with thursdaysd that it is not necessary to book any tours as long as you have good guidebooks. The only tour we took in Barcelona was a guided tour of the Palace of Music, which is beautiful. We got around by using public transportation and taxis, which were very inexpensive at the time. Some wonderful neighborhoods to explore are Gracia, Las Pedrables and Sarria.