Private Barcelona Shore Excursions
The port of Barcelona is the largest in Europe and the number 4 in the world (after the main ones in Florida). We are proud to receive over 2.5 million cruisers every year, and to be the departing and ending port of call for many renowned cruise-lines.
Despite only a few piers being walking distance from the city center, the other are still a short ride from most attractions, and that allows you to plan for comprehensive sightseeing Barcelona shore excursions even if you are staying only for a morning in town. And if you are lucky to be on one of the few luxury cruises that spend a night over, that will also allow you to experience the local dinner and nightlife scene.
IN THIS PAGE YOU'LL FIND
So should you book one of the shore excursions in Barcelona sold at the ship? The truth is that cruise group tours are usually crowded and their itineraries are rushed. Trust us: most Barcelona licensed guides have given tours for cruiselines at some point of their career. We know what we are talking about. And that’s why we think private shore excursions can give you a far better experience than any group tour. In a private tour gets you to cover much more ground in the same amount of time, at your own pace and with a custom design.
OUR COMMITMENT FOR ALL OUR SHORE EXCURSIONS IN BARCELONA PORT :
- Since 2009, always back to the ship before it departs.
- Your time is precious: your tour starts on time and finishes on time.
- Pier pick-up and drop-off included in all our chauffeured shore excursions.
- Skip the line access to the top Barcelona sites. Your guide goes inside with you to continue giving explanations and answering your questions.
- Your luggage (if any) safely locked in the trunk. Driver stays always in the car while you are out and about with your tour guide.
- Air-conditioned new luxury Mercedes cars or vans with leather seats.
- Complimentary water bottles.
- Flux Flex and Ultimate Flex cancellation policies.
- Fully compliant with the latest COVID-19 regulations.
BEST SHORE EXCURSIONS IN BARCELONA:
The best way to tour from the Barcelona port is to have a private driver. You’ll find below the most popular chauffeured itineraries.
We can only provide cruise pier pick-up for chauffeured tours. But if you are happy to hop on a taxi and meet your guide in town, you might want to consider a walking/taxi tour. Make sure to check out all our Barcelona Half Day Tours to see all the possibilities.
Even if you are staying only for a morning, if your sightseeing is well organized you can get to cover much more than you would think. We are cruise tour specialists that can help you visiting in a time-efficient, organized and safe way. Our Barcelona shore excursions are precisely designed with this goal in mind.
We have selected for you the itineraries that work best for cruise passengers in Barcelona: from city highlights and airport to pier tours, to the Gaudí masterpieces and even a daytrip out of town that fits most cruise schedules. Check out here our recommended private Barcelona shore excursions
BARCELONA TOURS FROM CRUISE SHIP
The best overview of Barcelona. Cover the top tourist areas: city views from Montjuic Hill, stroll around the historical Gothic Quarter, photo stops of Gaudi’s Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, and fast-track access to Sagrada Familia Church.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van with driver
GAUDI TOURS FROM CRUISE PORT
The best overview of Barcelona. Cover the top tourist areas: city views from Montjuic Hill, stroll around the historical Gothic Quarter, photo stops of Gaudi’s Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, and fast-track access to Sagrada Familia Church.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van with driver. Alternatively, meet your guide in the city for a walking/taxi tour.
BARCELONA SHORE EXCURSIONS BY PRIVATE MINIBUS
Are you 7 or more people? If your party won’t fit in a smaller minivan, we organize Barcelona tours from cruise port in luxury minibuses with leather seats and complimentary water. Itineraries adapted to the particular traffic restrictions for tour buses.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Luxury minibus.
MONTSERRAT DAY TOURS FROM PORT
If you’ve already been to Barcelona and your cruise stays at least 7 hours in port, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the Mountain and Monastery of Montserrat. Spectacular views, less than 1 hour drive from Barcelona.
TOUR LENGHT: 5 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van.
CUSTOMIZED SHORE EXCURSIONS IN BARCELONA
If you’ve already been to Barcelona and your cruise stays at least 7 hours in port, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the Mountain and Monastery of Montserrat. Spectacular views, less than 1 hour drive from Barcelona.
TOUR LENGHT: From 1.5 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van OR walking/taxi.
BARCELONA SHORE EXCURSIONS REVIEWS
“We were in port for only a day in Barcelona.
We’d had one official cruise excursion already and it was pretty mediocre. This was light years better. We were assigned Miriam and she was fantastic – just perfect relaxed, knowledgeable, good humored, a bit wicked (we ended up buying lots of chocolate!) and our driver was absolutely lovely too.”
“After leaving the Harmony we organised a tour of Barcelona followed by lunch and drop off at the airport. We were met by Josep our driver and Miriam our guide. They arrived exactly on time in a extremely smart people carrier. Miriam tailored the tour exactly as we wanted it! Sadly we had to go to the airport for our flight home. Josep picked us up exactly on time and we traveled in style for the final time. The tour was exactly what we wanted, our luggage was secure and both members of the team were excellent at their jobs.”
PRE-CRUISE TOURS OF BARCELONA
Are you arriving a day before your cruise departure, or maybe just a few hours before departure and yet you don’t want to miss the sites that Barcelona has to offer? We have you covered!
BARCELONA TOURS FROM THE AIRPORT WITH PIER DROP-OFF
Have your private driver pick you up at the Barcelona airport, and once in the city be joined by your private guide to see the sites before being dropped-off at the pier with your luggage (or at your accommodation, if you are staying one night in the city before your cruise starts). Skip-the-line entrance to Sagrada Familia.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van.
BARCELONA TOURS WITH DROP-OFF A THE CRUISE PIER
This itinerary that we already mentioned as a popular Barcelona Shore Excursion can also be booked as a chauffeured tour starting at your accommodation and ending at the pier. Your luggage will be safely kept in the trunk, and the driver will stay in the vehicle at all times for extra safety while you explore the city with your guide at the stops.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van with driver
GAUDI TOURS WITH OPTIONAL PIER DROP-OFF
Our Gaudi tours, that we already mentioned as one of our favorite shore excursions in Barcelona, are also a great option if your cruise starts in Barcelona instead. Choose a chauffeured tour to include drop-off at the cruise port.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van with driver if you need to be dropped-off at the pier. Walking/taxi tours do not include port drop-off.
WALKING TOURS OF BARCELONA
Walk around the city center of Barcelona with your private guide. This is perfect when you don’t need to be dropped-off at the pier right after the tour is over.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Walking & Taxi
LONG STOPOVERS AND OVERNIGHT STAYS
If your ship arrives early in the morning and leaves in the evening or even stays overnight, or if you are arriving the day before the cruise starts, you’ll have more time for sightseeing and the opportunity to experience the local nightlife. Don’t miss out!FULL DAY TOURS OF BARCELONA
Our 8-hr full day tours from port or from your accommodation are the perfect way to explore Barcelona extensively. We have fully chauffeured itineraries that can include pier pick-up and drop-off, and partly chauffeured itineraries that include only either pickup or drop-off.
TOUR LENGHT: 8 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van OR walking & taxi, OR a mix – your choice!
EVENING TAPAS TOURS
Taste the best tapas in Spain with this itinerary around the most authentic tapas bars of the Old Town Barcelona.
TOUR LENGHT: 2 to 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: 100% walking tour. Pier pick-up and drop-off is not available.
TAPAS AND FLAMENCO TOURS
Wonderful combination of a shorter version of our Old Town Tapas Tour and one of the best Flamenco shows in Barcelona.
TOUR LENGHT: 2 to 3.5 hours
TRANSPORTATION: 100% walking tour. Pier pick-up and drop-off is not available.
BARCELONA TOURS AFTER CRUISE
Ending your tour in Barcelona? No matter if you only have a few hours before your flight back home departs, or if you have one or more days in town, we have the right tours for you!
BARCELONA DAY TOURS FROM PORT TO AIRPORT
Have your private driver and your guide pick you up at the cruise terminal. Tour around the city while your luggage is safely secured in the car trunk, then be dropped off at the Barcelona Airport. Skip-the-line entrance to Sagrada Familia.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van.
BARCELONA TOURS FROM CRUISE PORT WITH HOTEL DROP-OFF
Start your sightseeing at the Cruise Port. Get the best city overview with fast track access to Sagrada Familia Church. Be dropped off at your hotel or appartment at the end of the tour. Your luggage will be safely kept in the car trunk during your sightseeing.
TOUR LENGHT: 4 hours
TRANSPORTATION: Mercedes car or van with driver
And check out too…
TIPS FOR CRUISE PASSENGERS VISITING BARCELONA
Either you are in a short stopover in Barcelona, longer overnight cruise stay, or you are embarking or disembarking from your cruise, if it’s your first time in the city or if you have already been here before, we can help you taking the most out of your time in Barcelona.
But before starting to plan your Barcelona shore excursions, here are a few points you need to consider so you can to organize your stopover in Barcelona efficiently:
Unlike Rome, for instance, the cruise piers in Barcelona are right in the city. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to walk from your ship to the city sites. Although in some cases, you might.
There are two main areas:
MOLL ADOSSAT
This is where most cruise ships anchor, specially the large ones such as Costa, Celebrity, MSC, Viking, Norwegian, Royal Caribean and Tui Mein Schiff. To get to this pier you must cross the Porta Europa rising bridge, and while it hardly ever rises anymore (thus making you waste some precious time unexpectedly), walking accross it and then along some port streets all the way to “the real city” takes… 30 minutes under the sun, as there is no shade.
There will be taxis waiting outside of the ship, but lines can be long and we don’t want all this time to be wasted from your tour. This is why we don’t offer pier pick-up if you are booking a walking tour. Instead, chauffeured tours work great because the ride across the bridge is quickly done if you have a private driver.
MOLL DE BARCELONA (Also known as World Trade Center pier)
This is where the smaller ships dock: Silver, Azamara, Seabourn, MS Berlin, Grand Circle and most Windstar. This pier is a 5 minute walk from the beginning of La Rambla, and therefore it can work to explore the city on your own although you are likely to have to take cabs to get to most places. We could meet you there to start your tour if you are booking a walking tour, but it’s still more time-efficient if you meet your guide directly in town.
Please note that while small ships usually dock here, they might be sent to Moll Adossat occasionally on days when there is a lot of sea traffic.
Do we need to know the exact pier when you make your booking?
There are 4 terminals in the Moll Adossat pier (A, B, C and D) with a fifth currently under construction that is however used in days of intense traffic, and 3 terminals in Moll de Barcelona (North, South and Z), but you are not likely to know the exact pier when you book your tours. Actually, you might not be informed until the day before – but that’s not a problem.
As long as we know the cruise name and cruise line, our guides and drivers have means to find the right pier. But we do need to know the exact name of the ship, as there might be two cruises from the same cruise line in town that day, and they’d be in different piers. So for instance, tell us that you are in the “Norwegian Epic“, not just in the “Norwegian”, or the “Celebrity Reflection“, not just the “Celebrity”.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A GOOGLE MAPS WITH THE LOCATION OF THE PIERS IN RELATION WITH THE TOP AREAS AND SITES
WE RECOMMEND CHAUFFEURED TOURS because:
- Pier pick-up and drop off is included (if you book a walking tour we’ll give you a meeting point directly in town and you’ll have to get there by your own means).
- We can also pick you up at the airport or drop you off there, if you need it.
- Chauffeured tours are kid and handicapped friendly.
- They are more time-efficient as they allow you to cover more areas in less time.
- Our vans are roomy and air-conditioned (unlike most city taxis, and they have room up to 6 of you whereas most taxis only take 3 plus the guide.
STARTING TIME
We recommend to book your tour to start at least 30 minutes after docking (that’s how long it takes before gates are open to allow passengers out of the ship), or at least 1 hour if you booked a walking tour. Also, we don’t recommend to start earlier than 8AM (9AM for food tours).ENDING TIME
Take into account that you will be given a deadline to be back on board and you don’t want to be late or too tight. This is why we recommend to be done with your tour at least 1 hour before departure (or 1 hour 15min if you booked a walking tour)WE CAN HELP YOU SEEING MUCH MORE THAN YOU’D DO ON YOUR OWN!
But we recommend not being overly ambitious: boarding on time should be your priority when booking.
Most cruisers do well with 4 to 6 hour tours, but if your cruise is staying overnight, an 8 hour tour is also a good option.
This formula will help you calculate how much time do you realistically have to do your sightseeing:
DEPARTURE TIME
– DOCKING TIME
– BUFFER TIME*
= TIME AVAILABLE FOR TOURING
* Buffer time is minimum 1 hour 30min for chauffeured tours or 2 hours 15min for walking tours.
Barcelona is one of the most popular ports of call in Europe, and a lot of cruise lines start or end here (or both!).
ARE YOU ARRIVING (OR DEPARTING) A FEW DAYS EARLIER?
If you have the possibility of arriving a day or two early or depart a day or two after the cruise is over… do it! You’ll enjoy the city much more. We can help you out with your sightseeing, too! This are our best itineraries for half day, one day and two days. We can send a driver to pick you up at the airport and take you to the hotel, and the next day we can show you around and drop you off at the pier at the end of the tour: with our chauffeured tours you don’t have to worry about carrying your luggage around – it’ll be safely locked in the car trunk and the driver will be in the car at all times.
ONLY HAVE A FEW HOURS BETWEEN LANDING AND YOUR CRUISE DEPARTURE?
If you only have a few hours between your flight and your cruise departure or arrival, that’s not a problem either. We can pick you up at the airport, show you around and drop you off at the pier (or the other way around). This is our favorite half day itinerary with airport pick-up or drop-off.
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