Barcelona & Gaudi. Regular Tour

Best walking tour ever! Pia was exceptional tour guide. Having an architect’s background and knowledge of a city from an historical, societal, cultural as well as architectural perspective provided a very rich experience. Pia answered all of our many questions with an obvious love of teaching and learning. How lucky her university students must be. My husband and I would highly recommend this tour.

An excellent and detailed tour hosted by Rafael. We enjoyed the descriptions of the famed Gaudi buildings, Casa Battlo and La Pedrera as well as the lesser known Casa Calvet. Rafael provided a nice synopsis of the development of Barcelona from the Ciutat Vella and history of L'Eixample. Our three-hour tour was a most pleasant stroll through the greening pedestrian spaces of L'Eixample. Distinguishing features such as the Gaudi pavement stones, chamfered corners were interesting to learn about. We enjoyed learning about the architectural details of Casa Amatller, Casa Lleo Morera, and Fundacio Antoni Tapies (as well as the architects of those buildings). We would certainly book another of their many other tours if able to return to Barcelona.

This was my second tour with BAW, and it was every bit as fantastic as the first! If you’re looking for an immersive, memorable experience for your group, I highly recommend this tour. After such a wonderful experience last year, I specifically requested Guille as our guide again—and once again, he was exceptional. His knowledge of Gaudí, the history of the Sagrada Família, and the fascinating stories behind its design and construction truly brought this incredible place to life. We scheduled our tour for 4:00 p.m. so we could experience the late-afternoon sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows, and it was absolutely spectacular. I especially appreciated Guille’s explanations of the architecture, symbolism, and the many statues and details on the exterior. There is so much you could easily miss without a knowledgeable guide to explain what you’re seeing. BAW also made everything easy by purchasing the tickets for our group. We were traveling with my 92-year-old mom, and Guille could not have been more thoughtful and helpful. He went out of his way to help us find a wheelchair and made sure she was comfortable and able to enjoy the experience with us. There is so much more I could say, but to keep it simple: take this tour! The Sagrada Família is breathtaking on its own, but exploring it with Guille gave us a much deeper appreciation and understanding of the extraordinary genius of Gaudí. This was my second experience with BAW, and I would absolutely book with them—and Guille—again!

We had a three hours tour with Pia, an architect who teaches at university in Barcelona and has an international experience and background. We were three couples and the walk was very informative and pleasant. Pia speeks a phantastic english and explained first of all milestones of Barcelona's history and the different phases of town planning and development. We were then led to various buildings and neighbourhoods and she explained principles of Gaudis buildings, even using a small drawing board to illustrate aspects of structure and decor. We got an amount of information while walking through the streets with her. She was a very pleasant guide. This guided tour was a very nice contrast to other completely overcrowded visiting spots and Gaudi tours. As such, the Sacrada Familia was not included in the walk.

Bianca was a great tour guide. She was really knowledgeable and passionate about Barcelona and architecture. She gives a holistic perspective of Barcelona - intertwining history, culture, and technical aspects.

We had a wonderful architecture tour through Barcelona with Pia. She is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about architecture, and during the 3.5-hour tour she showed us so many details we would otherwise never have noticed. We especially loved hearing the stories behind the buildings, learning about the architects and discovering the symbolism hidden in Barcelona’s architecture. Pia really knows her subject and shares her knowledge with great enthusiasm. Some of the more technical explanations about construction and structures were personally a little less interesting to us, simply because we don’t have a background in architecture. We could have listened for hours, though, to the stories about the buildings, the architects, their history and all the symbolism hidden in the details. Overall, a fascinating and very enjoyable way to discover Barcelona from a completely different perspective. We came away looking at the city and its buildings with new eyes. Thank you, Pia, for sharing your incredible knowledge and enthusiasm with us!

We did the Barcelona & Gaudi tour our first day in Barcelona. The tour was amazing, and led by Pia our insanely knowledgable guide. She gave us a history of the city, how and why it is built the way it is, the influences of Gaudi and other architects/designers, and a generally understanding of Barcelona. This tour set the stage for every single thing we did on our trip. The different neighborhoods of the city were explained in a way that we could feel the changes as we walked around, not just visually but the personality of the neighborhoods. This was by far the most worth-while use of our time and money. I suggest every person visiting Barcelona take this tour. Our time in Barcelona was completely changed because of this tour. It went beyond what any guidebook could communicate. I cannot recommend the Barcelona & Gaudi tour with Barcelona Architecture Walks enough!

Wow! This tour was a highlight of my trip! Though I am not an architect, designer or builder, I was looking for a more detailed educational experience about Gaudi and the context of his work before seeing other Gaudi and Modernist sites. Our multi-lingual tour guide Pia—an architect and professor—shared her deep knowledge in an accessible and engaging way. She was also in tune with the needs of our group on a hot day, and built in a break for beverages. She even extended the tour to make up for the lost time. Pia was over and above as a guide, and the tour content was fascinating. Highly recommend!

Hi, we took the Barcelona Architecture walk, and it was a collosus disaster. The guide Pia, was walking ahead basically talking to herself. Opon writting the company, they explained they had issues with speakers that day... Not only that, but even with the technical difficukties the guide to manage to convey racist and antisemitic views. Demand of refund from the company were declined with an explanation that they did have technical difficulties, and that racist views against Israelis are legit. I would steer away from this company and let them sink with their technical difficulties and bigot views.

Pia was an absolutely incredible guide. Incredibly knowledgeable and personable. The time flew by and I wish I could have kept learning from her. Giving the history of the city was a welcome touch. It did not feel like your typical tourist guided tour, but rather something special. I walked away with a renewed want for education, and an appreciation for architecture and Gaudi.

This was our third tour in Barcelona, and we were particularly interested in an architecture-focused tour, especially one centered around Antoni Gaudí. We were not disappointed. Our tour guide, Pía, was incredibly knowledgeable, given her background as an engineer and architect professor. She provided us with valuable insights and information not only about Gaudí’s architectural designs but also about the history of Barcelona’s urban planning. If you’re an architecture enthusiast, I highly recommend this tour. While some aspects may have gone over my head, the overall experience was incredibly informative.

Disappointing experience not because of the concept or the sites but rather the individual guide. An architecture and teacher, our guide was definitely knowledgeable and showed a solid passion for the subject matters of the tour - Barcelona and Gaudi. That said, she spent an inordinate amount of time expounding upon her heavily socialist perspective, how "Spain" was constantly disrespecting "Catalonia" and how anything bad was the result of "capitalists." Particularly noteworthy was when another guest of the tour pointed out to me how our guide had spent time complaining that coffee shops "should only charge 1.50 for a cup of coffee" but then later bemoaning how coffee shops don't pay living wages to the baristas. Comments about American women being backstabbers and American men just wanting "independence" from women seemed to reflect a trauma from her college years in the US. When she did find time to get around to talking about architecture, her insights were interesting and informative (though sometimes confusing). She had a helpful set of visuals with her and passionately spoke about technological advancements made in architecture over the years. Had she kept the OpEd out of the tour, this could have been a five star experience.

The tour departed on time, Pia was very educational and her tour informative. A great background from Roman times to modern day and a great look into the technical aspects of the featured locations and some great story telling about competitive architects too. A great baseline for understanding Gaudi before we visited the La Família Segrada. Well worth the time and the money and at a leisurely and relaxed pace. Thank you Pia!

Fantastic tour!! Guille is the BEST!! Guille is so knowledgable and an absolute delight! We toured the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Pia, who was not only knowledgeable, but insightful and friendly. It was a substantive and enjoyable 3-hour walk, jam packed with fun facts, background, some engineering, and valuable insights. Highly recommend!

What a great way to get to know a city! We had a wonderful morning tour with Rafa- a local architect. He gave lots of insight into Gaudi’s work but gave us a great overview of how the city works with social planning. We visited some inside courtyards and had a wonderful time wandering through the city. Rafe was friendly, knowledgeable and happy to answer all our questions.

Pia was a fabulous guide. So knowledgeable. I have recommended her to others and we hope to try her other adventures.

We booked a private tour about Gaudi because we were travelling with kids, and Gaudi was the only architect we have heard of. Before starting the tour, I hoped that it would be less about emphasizing Gaudi and more about showing that the city had more than one architect. I also wanted to understand how did the city got its street structure. I'm very happy that our guide answered to all our questions. Now I have a feeling that I better understand the city despite that we were there for only 2 days. This is a tour for any architecture lover and every person who wants to have a meaningful walk in the city to see more than just some beautiful facades.

I usually try to do research myself while traveling and don’t like guided tours but I am so happy I booked this one! I went with my boyfriend to Pia’s walk and we have been for a couple of days in the city asking ourselves arbitrary questions about the city and its design, buldings and history, and it was like Pia had read our minds. She answered a load of them without us actually asking them sometimes! It was like walking with a professor but even better, beacuse she gave us a bigger picture talking about history back to the romans, architectural problems and city planning, merging all the topics together, not just focusing on one area of expertise. A super immersive and focused guide!

We had the most perfect start of our trip with this tour, guided by Carmen - a very knowledgeable architect who clearly knows the ins and outs of this city, providing comprehensive information about the history of this city, from an architectural perspective and an understanding of society and politics through the years. She clearly does this tour because she’s truly passionate about Gaudi and Barcelona. Thank you so much, will definitely recommend to others!

My husband and I took the Gaudi & Barcelona tour led by Pia on Friday, March 20. It was fabulous! Pia was engaging, friendly, and knowledgeable. She helped me appreciate Gaudi's work by explaining the structural/design brilliance of the catenary arch.

Daniel was an excellent guide

We’ve taken many tours across multiple countries, and this was the best by far. Although we had visited before, Pia completely changed how we see the city. She presented history, engineering, architecture, politics, and the Industrial Revolution in a clear, integrated way. Her style was direct and candid, offering unfiltered perspectives rather than a scripted narrative. The three hours flew by

10/10. Daniela was an amazing tour guide and her passion for Barcelona and its history was very clear. A wonderful introduction to this amazing city. Already planning on returning for another tour! Thank you Daniela!

Such an enjoyable and informative tour. Pia has a wealth of knowledge on the subject of Barcelona’s architecture and conveys it with clarity and humour. We hope to join another of this company’s tours on future visits. Highly recommended.

A excellent tour - thanks to our friendly and knowledgeable guide, Daniela. Highly recommended experience.

Our walking tour with Pia was fantastic. Her technical knowledge is impressive, and her love of Barcelona was infectious. The tour helped us to understand how the history of Barcelona informed its current layout and how different architectural techniques are used in buildings throughout the city, especially those designed by Gaudi. We felt very pleased that we were able to identify catenary arches all over the city afterwards! This tour is a must for anyone who is interested in how the places people live are created. We recommend you go early in your visit so you can use what you learn on the tour are you explore the city more.

We had a fabulous walking tour with Pia. She is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the architecture of Barcelona. We are not architects and the tour gave us the skills to look at Gaudi’s architecture and the layout of Barcelona in a whole new light. Would highly recommend!

Pia was amazing. So knowledgeable and friendly. She could answer all of our questions. We learned so much.

The historical content was very interesting and helpful in understanding Gaudí and the evolution of Barcelona. The architectural content was more technical than I was able to absorb well, which was somewhat frustrating. However, as I visited more Gaudi buildings I came to a better understanding of his techniques and innovations. Our guide seemed to stick to her academic content regardless of our level of comprehension. It would have been helpful if she had checked in with us on our understanding and interests.

The tour itself and our guide Jelena were awesome! It was raining and cold but she made it comfortable and still was able to give us the whole tour. Highly recommend!

Pia's tour felt like a private graduate course in Barcelona history, architecture, and city planning. Excellent information I referenced many times through the weeks after the tour. Highly recommend!

Carmen was fantastic—knowledgeable about a wide range of topics, interesting, good company and flexible about changing the tour to cover the places we wanted to see. We did it on our last day in Barcelona but I wish we had done it earlier because what we learned would have enhanced everything else we did in the city. It wasn’t just the architecture but the urban planning, the context, the history, and the stories. And lots of little details we would have never noticed on our own. Plus she introduced us to the best hot chocolate! When we come back, we’ll be taking other tours to learn more.

Pia was outstanding. We learnt so much and had a few laughs along the way too! Her knowledge and wit really made the tour and we were so grateful for her energy and her time. Pia's passion for Barcelona's architecture and engineering were obvious and we were so grateful that she was happy to extend past the allotted time to share even more of her knowledge and expertise!

We throughly enjoyed our tour with Pia. She is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about her subject and eager to share. A working knowledge of geometry is helpful but not required. She is a teacher and able to explain.

A very different and rewarding experience with a highly experienced and knowledgeable Catalan architect. Ranging from Roman history to current city planning via Gaudi. A much higher level than many tours.

My husband and I went on the "Barcelona & Gaudi" walk with Pia on October 3rd. It gave us a lot of insight into understanding Gaudi's work and the Modernisme movement as well as the history of Barcelona as an urban center. Pia was full of both information and anecdotes -- the three hours passed very quickly and enjoyably. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone interested in the architecture of this period.

Pia was beyond excellent! Her knowledge of the city, its history, the architecture and Gaudi and his contemporaries left nothing wanting and was delivered with and wit and humour most welcome!

Pia, the guide was very informative and professional with her explanations of various architecture styles of works. The walk was enjoyed by all

Our architecture tour with Pia was a highlight of our time in Barcelona. She is fantastic tour guide and we don’t have a single complaint. Her English is essentially native, the content was tailored perfectly to our group, whitty, interesting, and delivered at a perfect pace. We were fully engaged and benefitted so much from her knowledge. She managed to be both no-nonsense and also incredibly caring about our comfort. I wish we had time to take the other tours.

What a perfect way to learn about the architecture of Barcelona. Our guide, Carmen, a professional architect and planner, had working knowledge of contemporary architecture but also an extensive background in heritage architecture. 2 hours became 3 and could have gone to 4 if we did not have a planned tour of Sagrada Familia. Well worth the time spent with her.

My parents and I really enjoyed this wonderful Gaudi based walk, led by Carmen. The pace and content of the walk were excellent, and my father - a retired architect - was impressed by Carmen's knowledge and insight (but the walk was equally enjoyable and easy to understand for non-architects). Carmen's enthusiasm and delivery were also excellent - her passion for this subject and her love of Barcelona were clear to see. We would highly recommend this walk

I learned so much from Pia as we walked around the city and studied with the buildings. This is not just about Gaudi, it’s a very good education on how the city developed. I was so glad that I learned something about Gaudi‘s building techniques before I toured Sagrada Familia. Highly recommend.

We took the Barcelona & Gaudi tour with Pia Wortham and it was terrific! Pia was very knowledgeable, engaging and personable. We learned a lot about Barcelona's urban development and how the city has evolved. A great way to start our visit and highly recommend. Pia also had some great restaurant suggestions.

Pia was an excellent guide. Her explanations were relatively straightforward and engaging. She had many photos to accompany her descriptions. The pace was perfect. She was happy to answer questions. I would definitely recommend her

Our architect guide Raphael was note perfect: informed, attentive, and friendly. He listened, answered every question, and left us knowing so much more about Barcelona and architecture than we had when we met him. Can hardly imagine a way to improve our experience.

We eagerly expected our Barcelona & Gaudi tour as it had been our wish to do such tour during our previous visit to Barcelona some years ago and it didn't disappoint! As a matter of fact, the tour exceeded our expectations as Pia, our guide, provided ample information about the city, the historical context of Modernisme in general and Gaudi's work in particular, his many innovations and what actually made him the genius he was. Pia's presentation was precise, humorous and witty and, most importantly, she delivered the technical explanations in simple terms comprehensible to lay persons. This tour is definitely a must as it gives a clear insight into the way in which the city developed into such a beautiful place and Gaudi's contribution to it. Would definitely recommend it to everyone.

We highly recommend this tour. It was a real highlight of our time in Barcelona. Particularly, it is valuable if you can take it early on in your time in Barcelona. It is an excellent introduction to Gaudi and architecture but also to the city itself. I hadn't known we'd learn so much about the growth of the city, urban planning, etc. Carmen was incredibly knowledgeable and covered a lot of material in an engaging manner: neither too high-level nor too detailed. She was "just right." Also, this tour was very good value for the money: the fee for 3 hours and so much knowledge was far more reasonable than similar tours we've taken with other companies who offer expert guides like Carmen. You will not regret spending 3 hours this way!

The was a very enjoyable tour and our architect guide Carmen was very professional. She made the 3 hour tour pass very quickly and we learned so much about Gaudi, other architects and many interesting facts about Barcelona city and its history.