wonder tour with Diana she was so informative and patient with all our questions. this was sure worth the money we did a 4 hour tour with most time spent at Sagrade Familia They are so helpful on their site when you are asking about the tours and tickets for attractions read more

Have actually done the Gothic Quarter tour twice over the years by mistake. Both though were amazing as the different guides were able to provide unique information which made it seem like we were covering the topic for the first time. We could not swing The Dark Past Night tour as we were busy on the days for the seasonal rotation. That has been one the family has talked about over the years and we just have not been able to swing with timing. With how exciting multiple guides have told us it is, we will be planning a set day around that on our next trip to Barcelona. The free aspect is nice as we can tip the guide the extra portion in my mind as it is them taking their own time to provide their years of knowledge to you in a fun interactive environment. I would highly encourage anyone to go with Runner Bean Tours in Barcelona as it is better than the actual paid tours that just drag you along and provide canned talking points. read more

Katharyn led the greatest tour around the Gothic Quarter! I was leading a school trip, and she provided the perfect amount of information. She is dynamic and bubbly--I could not recommend her more! read more

10/5 stars - I love the free walking tours in cities around Europe and it's a great way to get oriented to wherever you are visiting. I did the Gaudi tour with Lisa on my first day in Barcelona and the Barri Gotic tour with Ann-Marie on the second day. The tours were very well organized and both tour guides had a wealth of knowledge that was well worth the time away from doing something else! Lisa's tour was so great that we even waited for her to finish the tour when we got separated in the Metro because of crowds:) Would definitely recommend at least doing the Gaudi tour if not both once you get to Barcelona. read more

Runner Bean Tours - Gothic quarter tour with Ann-Marie - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

Enjoyable tour. Derek was super knowledgeable and fun. We will definitely use this company again.

My husband and I were in Barcelona for the first time a few weeks ago and booked a tour of Gaudi's Casa Mila and the Sagrada Familia with Runner Bean Tours. From the moment we met our guide, Diana, I knew we were in good hands. She was knowledgeable, fun, and passionate about Gaudi, architecture, and Barcelona. As it was the beginning of our trip, she jotted down notes of things we should do, see, or read as they came up in the tour and our conversation, and shared the notes with us at the end. I learned so much from Diana --and missed learning from a tour guide after the tour ended! read more

Free 2hr walking tours daily! Meeting point is at Plaza Reial (Carrer del Carme, 44, small street off La Rambla...look for a KFC) Arrive 15-30 mins early. Wear sunblock, comfy sneakers or walking shoes and bring water. Also no bare shoulders/knees to enter the cathedrals. Lisa was our tour guide for the walking tour of the Old City. She imparts history and cultural knowledge in such an entertaining and captivating manner throughout. We wanted to take more tours with her specifically but time would not permit. Wholeheartedly recommend Lisa (with the Irish accent) and Runner Bean tours! Recommend the Old City/Gothic Quarter tour first, then highly recommend the 11am Gaudi tour on same day you visit Sagrada Familia. Buy advance tickets for Sagrada Familia online for anytime after 3pm. read more

Runner Bean Tours - Lisa was engaging and knowledgeable! - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

Runner Bean Tours popped up on my pre-travel research of Barcelona. They've been mentioned by Rick Stevens, so that's a good endorsement. They have couple of tours - the one which I selected was the 'free' Gothic Quarter walking tour. Free, means, at the end of the tour, you pay what you think it was worth. Our tour guide was Jess. She spoke perfect english and then told us that her parents are British, but she grew up in Australia, then she moved to Europe (another city), but finally decided to live in Barcelona! She was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor. All runner bean tours start from the same place, which is near La Rambla street. I'd made online reservations. Their website is very user friendly. After the reservation, I received an email with detailed instructions. It had a map of the starting point, so it was easy to find. My name was on the list with the crew. Tour started on time. I highly recommend Runner Bean Tours in Barcelona. read more

Runner Bean Tours - Runner bean tour crew - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

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I really enjoyed the Gothic Quarter Tour with Jarrod. It was a fun and interesting insight into the oldest part of the town and the people that shaped it. I already signed up for the Gaudi Tour and would absolutely recommend checking Runner Bean Tours out. :-) read more

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Using Yelp, I was able to do a little bit of planning for my trip to Barcelona. I knew a Gaudi tour was a must-do, see we reserved spots for Runner Bean's free Gaudi walking tour. **Note: RBT's website was really easy to navigate, pand reserve a spot. In the email confirmation, details about were to meet, cancellation, etc. Very thorough! Jarred was our guide. He did a great job giving detail into Gaudi's life, showing how his architectural features and designs evolved over his years. There's several Gaudi buildings around Barcelona and, after the 2 hour walking tour, we still hadn't seen everything. My personal fav? Of course, the Dragon House! Basically, a whimsical fairyland that belongs on the Candy Land board game. No angles, bright, bold colors, lots of broken glass mosaics, an amazing sight for the eyes! I definitely recommend this free walking tour -it's a perfect glimpse into history, and a magnificent specter of Barcelona! read more

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In July we visited Barcelona for the first time. Knowing we only had a couple of days we select Runner Bean Tours. I cannot say enough about the services that they provided we hired them for the whole day so that we could see the highlights in Barcelona. Our tour guide was Mari, and she was fantastic. She shared so much knowledge. We laughed enjoyed the beautiful sites in Barcelona. Had a great lunch in town and even got in a little shopping. Both the driver was great, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for a tour guide, best services ever. We would hire them again without a doubt. From the communication prior to us arriving to the day of the tour they were great. Mari, thank you Tony & Shelly read more

I came across Runner Bean Tours because the meeting location, Plaça Reial, was downstairs from my AirBnb. I wasn't sure what to expect because I never have participated in a free walking tour before, but my friend and I were extremely pleased with our decision to go with Runner Beans! Runner Beans is a family owned company and tour guides work off of commission. Between both of the tour guides, I never felt pressured to tip or did not see any awkwardness if someone chose not to tip. Any time received the guide seems genuinely appreciative of. Check in: Directions provided to get to the meeting spot is easy to follow. It's easy to spot the tour guides with their green umbrellas. They are approachable and extremely friendly too! Our first day in town we did the Gothic Quarter tour with Alexandria (Ali). She was amazing! Our group had about 12 people in it from all over the world. The tour lasted about 2 hours and gave us a good understanding of the history and how to get around the Gothic Quarter. She was extremely personable with each person in the tour and took moments to get to know you, where you were from, offer local suggestions and engage in conversation. Our second day in town, we took the Guadi tour with Jared. This tour requires you to purchase metro passes for 2 stops. Jared was also welcoming and personable. He offered us great advice and directed us how to use the metro and what pass would be best for our use. Unfortunately, we had come from a guided tour at the Sagrada Familia so we only hung out with Jared for the first half of the tour as we did not want to go back to see the Sagrada Familia on this tour. We told him before the tour started we would be leaving early so he did not think we were rude and he was completely understanding. Both tours were organized and informative. I highly recommend to anyone coming to the area. You'll leave knowing you're way around and the rich history of Barcelona. Even if you are a solo traveler, going on this walking tour is a great way to meet people. Having the introduction in the beginning of each tour makes you feel comfortable with the people you will be spending the next 2+ hours with :) read more

Runner Bean Tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

I found Runner Bean on line and their reviews were terrific. So I booked a 4 hour tour for my wife and I with the owner Gorka. He was professional and communication was great leading up to today for our scheduled tour. We had a personal tour guide Anna and driver Juan Carlos. They took us all over Barcelona and Anna was so informative and incredible. This was a great decision and I can't say enough positive things about the tour. We really got a true sense of the history and modern Barcelona culture. I strongly recommend a personal guided tour of Barcelona with Runner Bean. You will not be disappointed! Thank you Gorka, Anna, and Juan Carlos for everything! read more

Runner Bean Tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

Wow! How lucky we feel to have found Runner Bean Tours for our trip this summer to Barcelona! From the thoughtfulness and responsiveness of my first email exchanges with the owners, I knew it was a first class company. Anna and Diana, our extraordinary guides for two full days, blew away our already high expectations! They were both incredibly knowledgeable (there was not a question from my very curious 12 year old, about history; art; religion; geography; or even the best gelato, which they could not answer!); personable; punctual; prepared; passionate and kind! We have used luxury tour companies all over the world and these guides are the best!! Highest recommendation! read more

Barcelona walking tour of Gaudi architecture was Great! We did a "free" walking tour of some of the architecture of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona. I recommend these Runner Bean walking tours without reservation. In my view this tour was very well thought out and quite enough for a few hours of touring. (We did do the Sagrada Familia interior tour afterwards. Make sure to reserve either or both of these ahead of time!) If you are lucky you'll get Jarrod to do your Gaudi tour. He is very well organized and gave a smooth and thorough presentation. He stayed on top of our quite large group through each phase of the tour. You can ask him hard questions if you want to - he seems to be a real student of Gaudi. He is, however, an Aussie. Thanks, Jarrod, for the great trip to Gaudi-Land! read more

I'm a huge proponent of walking tours as serves several functions when going about in a new city: - Getting yourself oriented on the major streets/landmarks/sights as well as how to get there (which is the single most important thing) - Learning about the history/culture of a place if you are not inclined into doing prior research, or reiteration if you did. - Meet likeminded people, which is especially true for solo travelers as it staves off loneliness. With Barcelona being such a popular international destination there's *plenty* of tours but the historical/cultural tours primarily focus on 2 themes: the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) and "old Barcelona" and the Modernisme/Eixample with particular focus on Gaudí, as many of the top sights were designed by him. Runner Bean Tours does both. Their most popular tour is that of Barri Gòtic but as I had that planned through the Barcelona TI I took their Gaudí tour because it happened to fit my timeframe. Though the tour itself is free (read: tip-based!), the use of the metro will be used due to the proximity of Gaudí's sights to each other and due to the distance Park Güell is not included (which is my favorite Gaudí site). Reserve your spot online. Meeting spot is in the Plaça Reial by the water fountain; look for the green umbrellas. For their tours the departure times in the summer are at 11am and 4:30pm and 11am only during their winter hours. Jessie was my tour guide. I did some cursory information on Gaudí's sights beforehand but she was the one that went into detail as to what made these sights special. She took note that I had just arrived in Barcelona that day and prepped me for what I was about to see as she knew that I also bought tickets to go inside the sites. She educated everyone on how to use the metro and purchase tickets. She also made a recommendation for a turrones shop right outside the Sagrada Família - I ended up buying a whole bunch to give to friends the following week. Said treats were warmly received by everyone. Should you ever go to Barcelona I would highly recommend this tour company. This is recommended by the Barcelona tourism board as well as Rick Steves, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. read more

This is my second time going on a Runner Bean Tour. The first one was the Gothic Quarter tour. Great tour. My husband and I went on the Gaudi Walking Tour earlier this month. There were only 7 people, which made for a nice morning walk. It started at the Plaça Reial like all of the other tours. We saw a lot of Gaudi's work, one which was near La Rambas (Palau Güell) that I never knew about - I've been to Barcelona nine times now. We took the metro and saw Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. Another metro ride and we were at Sagrada Familia. We walked around the unfinished temple where Anna explained about the history of Sagrada Familia. She said it is planned to be finished in 2026, but that is unlikely. It would mark the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. We were also told part of the area that has apartments will be torn down in order to create a large open park area in front of the facade. When construction started, the area were open fields. Some of the apartment buildings has protest signs, as they don't want to lose their apartments. The tour does not include the interior of Sagrada Familia. I knew this in advance, so I booked tickets for later in the day. Anna was our guide and very informative. One sad note is that one woman left the tour half way through. She didn't tip Anna. What a shame. These guides depend on tips. If you are traveling that means you have spent a lot of money on your vacation. Paying a 5 euro tip won't break your bank. Overall, a great walking tour. I highly recommend Runner Bean Tours when you come to Barcelona. read more

This tour was awesome and fascinating. You absolutely need to reserve in advance as each group is limited to around 15 people. Our guide, Tati, was fantastic and funny and extremely knowledgeable. She walked us all around and told stories of the history of Barcelona and the Catalan region for about 3 hours. After the tour ended we were thrilled to tip her more than we had planned to because we had such a great time. read more

Great tour today with Miguel! So happy to have found Runner Bean Tours! He was knowledgeable and so interesting and it truly made our day terrific. Highly recommend! read more

Whenever my husband and I visit an unfamiliar city, we like to schedule a private walking tour with a local guide. In addition to getting a sense of the layout of the city, we learn so much about the culture and history of the area. In anticipation of our trip to Barcelona, we scheduled a private Gaudi tour, including La Sagrada Familia, with Runner Bean Tours. Anna, our guide, was fabulous. She was charming and informative and eager to share not only the history of each of the sites we visited but also little pieces of fun trivia. We enjoyed the four hours we spent with her and learned so much about Gaudi and Barcelona and the Catalan region. I would recommend Runner Bean Tours and Anna to anyone planning to visit Barcelona. read more

Gothic tour- with jessi as guide. So knowledgeable, willing to answer questions, pace the tour- for older folks on the tour. The 2.5 hours flew by. Walking the area by yourself would not do 1/4 of what this tour provided. Well worth it, if you have time ! read more

I loved the two free tours I attended with Runner Bean in Barcelona. I was very impressed with the thoroughness of the tours, including the amount of destinations reached, the quality of history/background information provided by the tour guides, and the local recommendations provided by the tour guides. I attended the Gothic Quarter tour with Jessie and the Gaudi tour with Miguel - both were fantastic! I am so happy that I found these tours and would recommend that everyone take them!! read more

My girlfriend found Runner Beam tours on the Internet and booked the 'Old City Tour". We gathered at la Placa Reial where we met the tour guide (Gorka) and the other participants. Having visited Barcelona frequently, I was amazed about the information and explanations our tour guide was able to give us. We visited some great locations in the Barrio Gotico (Jewish quarter - Roman temple - ..,) and ended at the Santa Maria del Mar in Borne. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours and was a fantastic experience and highly recommended to all those who want to get a non-commercial taste of the old city. The tour is free of charge (booking required up front) and it is left up to the participants to tip the guide according to their satisfaction. Be correct with these guides so they can continue to provide this great service. read more

Runner Bean Tours - Our friendly tour guide Gorka - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

I heard about Runner Bean Tours while I googled and searched what to do at my visit in Barcelona, and I must say it was wonderful surprise. Our guide Garod (I hope that the way he spells his name ;) was kind, funny and lovely storyteller. If you're looking for something interesting to do at your visit you must think about this option! And it just 2.5 hours, you'll have the all noon for lunch & shopping ;) read more

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We went on a Gothic Quarter tour with Lisa and she was absolutely wonderful! She did a great job immersing us in the Catalan culture and we were never bored with her presentation. Her personality was very engaging and she made sure to make the tour as much fun as possible. I was also very impressed by how knowledgeable she was, both about history, but also about Catalan culture as a whole (despite not originally being from Spain), and she was able to very succinctly and thoroughly answer the group's questions as we threw them at her. She was truly a delight and I'm happy to have been able to learn more about the history of Barcelona on our tour with her, would highly recommend! read more

We had a really good time with Lowri on the Gaudi walking tour in Barcelona. We began the tour with the question of whether or not we'd consider Gaudi to be a madman or a genius and at the end of the tour we each answered this for ourselves. The houses and architecture of Gaudi are each very interesting but it was Lowri who made the tour especially enjoyable. She was very knowledgeable, personable and funny and she had an infectious passion about Gaudi which she conveyed as she told us about the different Gaudi sites. She really made the tour and I would advised you to ask for her. She also made herself available to answer questions about Gaudi, his buildings, style and also Barcelona in general. read more

What an amazing day! Thank you Jarrod for educating us in such an engaging way. Your love of Spain is contagious. Would recommend this tour time and time again! read more

My friends and I decided to use Runner Beans Free Walking tour of Gothic Quarter. We chose Runner Bean Tours because the they guaranteed that it won't go beyond 20 people in a group. True enough. Tour guide Miguel was very clear with his explanations and carried some helpful visual aids for us to understand with better clarity. This is my 4th Free Walking tour experience to-date in my several travels and I must say that this ranked one of my best walking tour so far. Miguel was professional. He was kept his own personal opinions to himself and if asked about his views, he gave a balanced answer. With a walking tour, we get a better appreciation of the places we visited. Highly recommended for anyone who is curious and willing to walk a little. read more

We took the Gaudí tour with Raquel and it was great. The pace was easy and Raquel was very informative. Highly recommend. read more

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Our family scheduled 3 private tours with Runner Bean - and we could not have been happier! After sharing the specific details of our vacation preferences, Gorka and his staff kindly took care of the rest. No tickets to buy, no waiting in line...just show up and enjoy the day! Each experienced guide was very knowledgeable and skilled at relating this information in a fun manner that even our teenagers loved it. Prices were very fair and our time together was memorable. We met as tourists and feel like we departed as friends. Thanks to Ann Marie, Laura and Gemma for helping our family make life long memories rather than just traveling experiences. A solid 10! Will scheduled again next time we are in Barcelona. read more

We loved our Gaudi tour with Jemma. She gave us an entertaining historical overview and pointed out the don't miss points. Being with a guide allowed us to maximize our time. I would absolutely buy the tour again! read more

My 10 year old & I learned so much with Jarrod on our walking tour of Old Barcelona City. We'd been by a few of the spots already, but Jarrod helped us notice many details we had missed. He was mindful of other people & didn't loose track of our 20+ group. Started at 11:00 and ended at 13:30. Leave a big tip! read more

Lisa guided us today to some of Gaudi's works throughout the city. She was friendly, energetic and knowledgable. She gave us plenty of history about the artist, and also of Barcelona as a whole. I learned so much on this excellent tour! I will recommend her tour to everyone. read more

We really enjoyed our Gaudi tour with Lisa! It was the perfect way to spend our first day in Barcelona getting to know the history of the region and the famous architect. The tour covered Palau Guell, Casa Batlló, Casa Mila, and the Sagrada Família. We learnt so much about the symbolism behind all of Gaudis designs. I highly recommend! read more

Great tour Company. We did three tours in Barcelona - Gaudi with Ana, Dark Tour with Ross and Old City with Tatiana (Tati): Each tour guide was passionate and well informed about their area of speciality's. We learned a lot and were engaged to pursue further research after each tour. The tours are well organized and at a good pace. I would highly recommend as a great introduction to the city. read more

We did the Gothic walking tour - our guide (Jessi) was excellent. She knew the city forward and back, and possessed an amazing amount of knowledge of its history and culture. I was surprised that the tour was free given the quality of the guides. Definitely recommend. read more

We did the Gothic Quarter tour. The group size was perfect, and our tour guide was excellent. It was great to get little details of things that we probably would've walked by without even thinking twice about it. Would recommend over and over again. read more

Runner Bean Tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Barcelona, B

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I've done several of these types of tours but these guys are the best. They are free tours but you give a donation to the guide at the end based on how good they were. We did the Gothic Tour in Barcelona and had Miguel as our guide. He was funny and knowledgeable. Highly recommend this group. read more

Well, i guess it's not rocket science... all you have to do is hire someone that is passionate about a subject, can speak multiple languages, is friendly and knows how to impart knowledge to many different types of people while also keeping them entertained (in our fortunate case it was Raquel)... then charge a reasonable fee, and operate a consistently reliable business. Ok, maybe it IS rocket science. Anyway, if you've been doing any Barcelona tours research you've probably narrowed it down to, among others, Context and Runner Bean. Context had seemed to me (in my planning stage) the one that was more expensive and likelier to have better guides. I have used Context in other cities and thought they were top notch... didn't have that experience in communicating with them here in BCN so thought I'd try Runner Bean and so glad I did. Runner Bean is a well-oiled machine with at least one (we only tried them once) high-quality guide... in the interest of full disclosure, we hired them for a private tour and maybe the best guides are used on them. But the next morning I saw Raquel leading a free tour (and free really means pay what you think it's worth) so those people scored a nice guide who knows her shit. read more

We started our visit to Barcelona with free walking tours from Runner Bean Tour. The first day we did the Gothic Quarter with Gorka and the next day the Gaudi Tour with Tati. Both were very energetic and passionate. Loved listening to all the history. Very enthusiastic and friendly. We both enjoyed this greatly and would recommend to anyone. Tip as you feel appropriate. read more