Maria J

MARIA J INTRODUCES HERSELF

My name is Maria and I’m a real Barcelona local from the Sant Andreu and Guinardó off the beaten path districts, but in love with the trendy Born area.

I studied History and Anthropology, and worked as a History and English teacher, before entering the tourism world guiding groups around Europe and working as a museum guide in Barcelona before passing my exam to become a licensed Catalonia tourguide, over ten years ago.

I’ve been many times to the South East of Asia, my favorite place to practice scuba diving. I also play the piano, which I have studied for 7 years.

What we love about her

She’s a great guide: entertaining, adaptable and knowledgeable, and being passionate about world cultures, she’s always able to make her guests connect with our land and make them feel at home.

That constant contact with people from other cultures is one of the reasons why she’s in love with her job: because it allows her not just to share her city proudly but to also meet new people and learn from them.

Read her interview:

Interviewing Our Guide Maria J

with us since 2016

Maria J & her guests

Languages

She speaks perfect English, some German although not enough to give tours in that language, and she is learning… Indonesian!

Qualifications

Licensed guide
History degree
Founder and treasurer of the AGUICAT tour guide association

in our guests words...

This is why everyone raves about Maria J:

I enthusiastically recommend ForeverBarcelona. Four of us had an absolutely wonderful full day private tour with Maria in June 2022. She was kind, friendly, and very accomodating to our preferences and needs. Maria told us so many interesting stories and history as she showed us the miracles of Gaudi that permeate the city. Maria quickly became a member of our familia. She was easily the best tour guide we had in our two week cruise.

Maria was helpful, engaging with members of all ages. Knowledgeable, considerate, respectful, and fun. We thoroughly enjoyed our tours with her. We also appreciated her time saving skills at the entrances for these busy sites. In addition, I am thankful for tips on eating and shopping places

Maria was amazing and we had best day ever! She’s incredibly knowledgeable and gave true accounts of Jewish and Christian history.

Maria was fantastic! We had such a fun day and evening with her. She has tremendous knowledge. There is no way we would have learned so much without her. Even a taxi driver commented she was one of the best guides who really provide top service.

Maria J. was our wonderful guide… funny, intelligent and concerned that we all had a good time. And that we did!

Maria was a fabulous and flexible guide who customized each tour (Sagrada Familia w/Montserrat day tour and Costa Brava w/Dali Museum and Tossa de Mar) to meet our needs. One of our family members wasn’t feeling well and Maria was very adaptative to the situation and made us feel cared-for and valued. Her knowledge was exceptional and her enthusiasm really enhanced each trip.

Maria was a fantastic tour guide. her knowledge of architecture & passion for Gaudi & Barcelona made this tour a highlight of our visit to Barcelona. We’ll be back for another tour with Maria for sure!

Maria our tour guide was fun, helpful and knowledgeable and the children loved her. Well done!

Maria is sharp, knowledgeable and so fun you will be thrilled to have her with you. Her knowledge, sense of humor and beautiful English kept us engaged during all our day trip to the scenic town of Girona and Dali theater Museum in Figueres. Upon meeting us and hearing our priorities, Maria quickly made some calls, adjusted our itinerary and paced our day accordingly. I would hire Maria (and Foreverbarcelona) again in the “Salvador Dali breathing” heartbeat.

Maria J was a wonderful tour guide for the Gaudi tour. It was a hot day to be outside, but Maria handled it with grace. We thought Maria was the best tourguide we ever had including some good ones in Rome, Denise, and London. Maria was so knowledgeable about the Sagrada Familia and the other Gaudi sites, but at the same time she made the tour so much fun. The restaurant she left us at for lunch was a hit. Fantastic tour.

We would like to thank your guide Maria for guiding us during our stay in Barcelona. She is an amazing guide!! We are honored to have had her as our guide. After the time spent with her, we were ready to tackle Barcelona in our own. She went out of her way to show us how to take the subway, book restaurants and gave our daughter Joelle the confidence she needed to start using her Spanish. Again thank you for giving us such an amazing person!

Maria was the tour guide for my wife and me and it was an excellent experience! Helpful, witty and knowledgeable, there’s no way we would have ever had that kind of experience at Sagrada Familia without her. Forever Barcelona Tours and Maria get five big stars from us!

Four of us had an absolutely wonderful full day private tour with Maria in June 2022. She was kind, friendly, and very accomodating to our preferences and needs. Maria told us so many interesting stories and history as she showed us the miracles of Gaudi that permeate the city. Maria quickly became a member of our familia. She was easily the best tour guide we had in our two week cruise.

We spent two fabulous days with Maria touring Barcelona and a third day taking a guided day trip with her to Girona. Maria was friendly and easy going from the first moment we met her. She was incredibly knowledgeable and was able to give a thorough background on Spanish and Catalan history which really set the stage for our tours. Thank you for making our trip to Barcelona so memorable!

Our guide Maria was fabulous. She made our walking tour of Barcelona so enjoyable. She had a comprehensive knowledge of the sites’ history and architecture, and pointed out several fun and slightly irreverent facts about the city and Catalan culture along the way. She was amazing.

Maria is absolutely the best tour guide we have ever encountered. Her knowledge and kindness were extraordinary. Tour was done in a very thoughtful manner.

We spent two days with Maria J and she was great. Excellent English and knowledge including local knowledge. but she was also very friendly and had a great sense of humor. The tour was wonderful but was also very FUN!

Just spent three full days with Maria our guide and Manuel our driver. Impeccable service and the whole family enjoyed both their professionalism warm friendly and punctual services. The kids love Maria! Felt like traveling with old friends. Highly recommended.

Beautiful day with charming Maria and our driver we recommend her highly as she is enthusiastic, very knowledgeable, and sensitive to clients needs. Thank you Maria.

Maria J what a terrific guide with a lot of helpful hints for when you are on your own. 4 hours went by in a flash – just wish we had more time!!

Our guide, Maria J was the perfect fit for our group. Maria’s knowledge and love of Barcelona was impressive and engaging.

Maria was our guide for 3 days. I do not have enough words to describe our time with her. She was amazing, showed us many areas of the city and gave information on where to eat and how to get around the city. She left us well prepared to explore in our own. We left Barcelona feeling we had left a friend behind! Maria was the perfect guide for our family and couldn’t have asked for a better guide.

Maria was an extraordinary, attentive, knowledgable, and fun guide. We highly recommend her as a professional who is highly qualified to lead the way for travelers to discover the treasures of Barcelona.

Amazing service, fantastic tour guide, a perfect day tour of Barcelona. Maria was excellent and really knew how to handle our group. I highly recommend ForeverBarcelona, you’ll be in excellent hands.

We had the BEST time in Barcelona, largely due to the two incredible tours that we had with Maria ("MJ"). We were staying in Barcelona for 2 nights after a cruise before our return home. On the first day we had booked a half day city tour and on the second day a 5 hour trip to Montserrat. Both were amazing! MJ was punctual, informative and so full of positive/incredible energy. Most importantly, she was very perceptive about our family and seamlessly adjusted the tour to fit our needs/interests. Our party of 6 consisted of my husband, our 2 children, my two parents (one with mobility issues due to a knee injury) and myself. MJ perfectly adjusted the tour to be slow enough for my mom to keep up and at the same time keep the interest of our kids. She was really able to keep all of us engaged which must have been a huge challenge (but you would have never known). She was continuously finding ways to make our time memorable (from finding fun ways to take a picture to stopping for local treats). She even went out of the way on our return trip from Montserrat so that my son could see/take a picture at Camp Nou (Barcelona Stadium) because she knew he had an interest (even though this was not part of our scheduled tour). Each day when MJ left us, she went out of her way to make sure that we had a good plan on how to utilize the remainder of our day in order to maximize our time in Barcelona. She is quite simply the best tour guide we have ever had. I also want to give a shout out to our driver Manuel. We felt incredibly safe riding around with him and he was always quick to add insight wherever he could. He was extremely friendly and very pleasant to spend the drive with.

What a light, personal, and informed tour! Maria (our tour guide with the same name as me) knew just how to cater our tour to keep the kids listening and the adults interested. She kept us moving while somehow making us feel like we were setting the pace. I’m sure she knew so much more than she shared since she had the answer to any question we asked.

We had a great time, Maria is a really great guide and a very nice person. We really enjoyed her company and knowledge.

We had the pleasure of having Maria be our tour guide over a course of 5 days. Maria is absolutely wonderful – (i) in terms of her knowledge of the subject, (ii) her kindness and sense of humor, and (iii) her patience in dealing with a family of 4. I have had similar tours in London and Paris. Maria and ForeverBarcelona, by far, provided my family with the best experience.

Maria was great!!! She was extremely flexible and provided just the right amount of detail. She was able to read the energy of our group and adjusted accordingly. She has great sense of humor and was just a pleasure to be with.

Fell in love with Barcelona because of Maria J and Javier! They provided interesting, colorful and informative explanations of the sites and scenes of the city. We felt fully immersed in the history and culture of Barcelona. Great recommendations for activities and restaurants, as well as unknown “secrets” about the city. Loved their humor and candor.

Maria J was absolutely phenomenal. She took us to all of the sites, allowed us to skip all of the lines, and was so through with her knowledge of the history of the city that we learned so much. She was by far the best guide we had on our entire trip.

Touring the Sagrada Familia with Maria was not like a typical tour guide who simply recites a script at points of interest. Maria was instantly like a friend and expert on the location and history. Aside from being so personable and knowledgeable, she took care to contextualize the history of the basilica, Barcelona, and Catalonia region. It was truly a joy to experience such a magnificent place with someone who cared about sharing her knowledge with others. My mother-in-law needed a wheelchair and Maria made sure one was available, but also advocated for her making sure people didn’t obscure her view of things, or pulling us to the front of crowds to ensure my mother in law could experience everything we could. Choosing to tour with her turned something more of a tourist trap into a truly lovely experience. Thank you so much Maria!