We did the 5:45 pm tour with the fantastic Jessica. Really great way to get a history lesson on…read moreSpain and Barcelona with amazing food and drink. The establishments were authentic. Overly a fantastic experience - well run and well worth it

Superb tour. Attentive. Great food, variety. Some dietary restrictions are accommodated. Lots of…read morefood. Local. Easy and walkable. Renee, our tour guide was amazing. The vermouth and beer were delicious. Sweets to die for. Thank you for answering all of our questions and being so informative. We will do this again in other parts of Spain. Thank you!!!

We were so pleased with our Taste of Barcelona dinner tapas tour, with the primary reason: Our…read moreGuide MARIBEL !! From her easy to find meeting point, early arrival and very relaxed pace strolling through Barcelona's incredible Gothic Quarter (and her dropping historical "tapas" along the way noting places of significance) her professionalism & care for clients is SO obvious !! Oh, and then the FOOD ! we were taken to 3 spots I never would have found for a great cross-section of Spanish at first bar (Chorizo sausage, Bull's tail done PERFECTLY with the richest sauce, rich bread & potatoes and a nice vermouth). Next was a Catalonian restaurant for a their special take on Paella rice, "Pisto" of eggplant, croquettas,etc.). Wine pairing was terrific And finally a dessert spectacular stop in the Jewish Qtr of custard/Flan, cake and ice cream selection. A local "cava" sparkling Catalan wine and coffee offered. In summary we had a very mixed, small relaxed group of 6 (two from NYC, 2 from Holland, 1 from Seattle, 1 from California & 1 from Cadiz Spain) who were all open to new tastes & experiences that bonded very well this pleasant evening !!! HIGHLY recommend this tour....but do it ASAP upon arrival in Barcelona, as Maribel emails all guests a follow-up list of local favorite restaurants, bars and shops that will be IN-valuable the remainder if your stay. Unfortunately we ended our trip with her...and now have to return to try as many places on her list as possible !

I was really looking forward to the Gotica tour, as there were so many great reviews on Trip…read moreAdvisor and Yelp. However, I have to say I was disappointed. Our tour guide, Miguel, didn't seem very knowledgeable about anything, and I didn't feel that the food he referred us to was all that special or even that good. Actually, I felt short changed. I have to say, the food that I found on my own was way better than anything Miguel. Also, apologies for the lateness of this review. I did this tour in 2015.

Had a great time at the Black Swan with friends and the very welcoming staff here. We checked in…read morelate and were greeted with open arms, given a tour and our room for the next couple days. This place is excellent if you don't have a complete agenda planned for your time here, they provide meals in the morning and evening, offer hostel cooking events and nights out if you're up for it. We went out with Finn who provided a great first night out bringing us to 3 different bars and it was one of the best nights i had in Europe. I'd recommend this place for anyone unsure where to stay in Barcelona. The place is updated and clean, the staff is great, beds and rooms are a little tight; but for the price and service offered its not even worth weighing in here. Great views off the balcony and its easy to find if you're clueless traveling like me. Thanks Black Swan, hope i have time to travel back in the future!

I'm going to start off by saying that this hostel is really clean, with fairly nice amenities, and…read morevery reasonable price, especially with what you are getting. It is located in a central area of Barcelona. They have various events, such as Paella making demonstration and daily walking tours (unfortunately, both were cancelled due to not enough people signing up, so make sure to have a plan B should that happen). When I checked in, I got my key card and went to the room I was assigned to. This was my first time staying in a hostel, and I was assigned a top bunk, but the bed was not made and it seemed like someone was staying there. Therefore, I decided to just settle in the bottom bunk. The next day, someone else checked in and went to the top bunk, and he told me that he was assigned to the bottom bunk. It seemed like this mixup had been going on for a little bit where the top/bottom bunk people were switched. I brought this up to the front desk, and the lady was very annoyed. She explained to me, very rudely, that they have a strict system and that we should be in our assigned bunk, and to switch my key card with the other person. I thought this was reasonable, but I never ran into the other person again: being that I slept early and he probably came back to the hostel late and checked out early. The next day, someone else checked in and asked the same question as me to the front desk. The lady was furious with me. On the staircase of the hostel with people going back and forth, she was yelling at me, saying "This is all your fault! I told you to switch spots with the last guy. This is all your fault!" I explained the whole situation as I had here. I sure as hell wasn't going to wait up all night for the other guy to get back from wherever he went just to switch the key card with him, that should be the job of the hostel staff. She wouldn't listen to my explanation at all, and it didn't seem like she was scolding me with purpose. She just kept on saying "this is all your fault:" what is the point of that? I'm not the hostel staff, and these things happen. This was a tan lady with long hair: there was a guy from the UK working and a girl with buzz-cut working, who were all very chill and nice. If it weren't for this isolated situation, I would definitely recommend this place to others.

Yuk, I did not like this hostel. The hostel and not the Apartment rentals were only one floor with…read more3-4 rooms of about 8 people each. Definitely a smaller hostel itself. Location: located right next to the cathedral and walking distant to las rambas and the aero bus. Central location and fairly closed to the downtown area. Hostel-Rooms were decent sizes. A female and male bathroom (which I didn't know because when I came it was late and I didn't see the picture of a guy on the guys bathroom and used the guys bathroom during my whole stay there! And finally saw it on the last day...was wondering why I saw no girls using this one...) hahaha. There was no curfew so you get drunk people walking in a 3am! The doors were weird and nobody ever locked it. Wifi only works in dining and lounging area. Breakfast was your typical cereal and bread thing. They lock up the lounging area after a certain time. I had a towel that was smaller than most and it looked like a hand towel, they took it by mistake and took them he next day to find it when it was just in their dirty laundry basket! I was mad! They didn't even offer me another towel to shower or anything. I hung the towel in the room and try just took it. I finally got it back all wet still and she was like we can wash it for it, it was effing late and I was leaving the next day! Had to pack. But when they were looking for it they kept saying oh were washing it right now, turned out to be in their dirty laundry basket. So irritated. I did not like this hostel. It was okay, small, and iono something about it...

Itaca is a great hostel in the middle of everything in Barcelona. It is literally a 30 second walk…read morefrom the Catedral and some great restaurants and shopping, and a 5 minute walk to the main street by the water and a really cool shot bar! The staff was really friendly and helpful in telling us places to eat and watch futball. We stayed in a 8 person dorm room which felt comfortable and cozy. There's no curfew or lock out time or anything, so we were able to nap during the day and stay out at night! I've heard about a few bigger party hostels like Kabul, which might have been more fun and conducive to meeting other young people, but I had no problems with Itaca in terms of a place to stay. The bathrooms weren't the best, but they weren't the worst either. The only real problem was that the showers were operated by a button that you had to press every thirty seconds, or the water went off. I would absolutely stay here again if I were coming to Barcelona and recommend it to others.

An incredible experience! Highly recommend to anyone on their first trip to Barcelona. Our guide…read moreAlex was a wonderful host and made sure everyone was having a great time. The food was diverse and we learned a lot about the background of each dish. Highly recommend!

Alex was a wonderful host!! Great tour, personable,…read moreinformative and fun. Blended the history and the culture into the tour which greatly enhanced our time with him.

Loved the Montserrat Tour!…read more We did the Winery Tour with it as well with wine tasting and tapas. Rebecca, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable. The ride was beautiful as we came closer to Montserrat, the basilica was phenomenal, the market was amazing. I ended up purchasing two delicious cheeses - goat and truffle. The walk to the cross was challenging as we had limited time but well worth it. It's an uphill climb. I loved the family history of the winery. The stability of the family to keep the property in the family for 36 generations since 964 was incredible. The vineyards were started in the 1800's. The ambience was perfect with stone cellars and towers. Great place for an event. Loved it! If you go to Barcelona, DON'T miss it!

If you are going to Barcelona and are looking for a tour guided daytrip to do wine tasting, we…read morehighly recommend Castleexperience Wine Tour to Montserrat. I did a lot of research and I think this is one of the best value experiences for the price. It was one of the most relaxing days of our honeymoon since we just hopped on the bus and enjoyed. We loved our tour guide and the entire experience. Would absoltuely recommend and do it again ourselves.

We've come away with wonderful memories of Barcelona and the warm welcome from Vicky and her team…read more From the very beginning, they made us feel welcome and checked in to make sure everything was going well. It's so reassuring to know there's someone you can turn to with questions who's genuinely happy to help. It was also my wife's birthday during our stay, and they surprised us with flowers. Such an amazing touch! We weren't expecting it at all, and it really made my day. Those little details make all the difference and show how much they care about your stay. We'd happily book with them again. Thank you, guys, for making this trip unforgettable!

Be very careful with the extra charges and the check-in process here…read more Our biggest issue was not the apartment itself. It was how the host handled communication, extra fees, and arrival. Before the stay, we were suddenly asked to pay an additional €80 "holiday check-in fee" plus tourist tax through a payment request right before arrival. The holiday fee had not been clearly and openly explained to us in any practical way beforehand. It was buried inside a long block of listing text, without being clearly highlighted before the free cancellation period ended. As foreign travelers, how were we supposed to know a local holiday surcharge would apply if the host never clearly explained it? We asked a very normal clarification question about these charges, especially because the listing said the tourist tax was charged per person, per night, and one guest was not staying all nights. This was a simple and valid question. There were not endless messages from our side. There was essentially one clarification request about the charges and one follow-up about the check-in process. That was all. What made this even more frustrating was that the host had our information and arrival details already, but still did not clearly flag these costs in a direct way before arrival. The payment request initially did not even come with a proper breakdown. For travelers already dealing with flights, time differences, and a wedding schedule, this kind of last-minute surprise is extremely inconvenient and stressful. Check-in was also unnecessarily difficult. The host insisted on doing it in person, but then arrived late, so we had to wait even after check-in time had already started. We did not complain and simply waited. Once the host arrived, the explanation took about 30 minutes and went through far more detail than necessary while part of our group was trying to unpack and get ready for dinner. It made the entire arrival feel rigid and inconvenient. The most unreasonable part is that after all of this, the host left us a nasty review, even though our only real issue was asking for clarification about significant extra charges that had not been clearly disclosed in a straightforward way. Asking about an €80 fee and a tax calculation is not bad behavior. It is basic common sense. If you book here, read every line extremely carefully and be prepared for extra costs and a very inflexible communication style. For international travelers especially, this was far more stressful than it needed to be.

My friend and I stayed at the Inside Barcelona apartments for a week in early December and it was…read moreabsolutely lovely! What an amazing place to stay for an amazing price in an amazing area of the city! It really couldn't have been better, we were so happy with our stay here, and the Inside Barcelona office/help desk people were so friendly and accommodating! We thoroughly enjoyed staying at this apartment and it really made our trip memorable! Our apartment was on the 4th floor of the Carrer Comercial 15 building, and basically had everything we could ask for and more! Upon walking in, there was a bathroom with sink and shower, next to a large bedroom with two beds. The staircase leads you upstairs from here, where the living area, kitchen, and second bedroom are located. The living area was complete with comfy chairs and a couch, and a flat screen TV and coffee table. There was also a dining table with chairs, and a full service kitchen complete with fridge, stove, sink, and stocked with dining utensils and cookware. The second bedroom is upstairs also, with a bed, desk, and private balcony. The living room also has a big beautiful balcony you can walk out on and we had a great view from the 4th floor! Some great sunsets here! The layout of the apartment was really perfect, and we absolutely enjoyed our time here! All amenities also are provided, such as towels, sheets, kitchenwares, even a large bottle of water in the fridge! I believe if you stay a certain number of days they also have a maid service that will come in and clean. Basically everything a hotel provides you with and more! Another huge plus is how helpful the staff at Inside Barcelona are. They give you detailed instructions on how to get here when you arrive (I took the train from the airport), even which trains to hop on/off of, which was super helpful. I got there without a hitch and met them in their office, then they escorted me to the apartment, showed me around, and went over all the details. They also give you handouts about events going on in the area, where the closest conveniences are such as grocery stores, ATMs, etc, and they can get tickets for you to all the major Barcelona attractions and day trips. WOW they were so helpful, it was wonderful! We ended up booking tickets to an FC Barcelona game through them and it worked out perfectly! They really did think of everything you could need and were very accommodating and super friendly! The icing on the cake is that this apartment building is right in the middle of the best area, we really loved exploring El Born and found so many wonderful restaurants and cool sights and things to do in this district, we were really happy to stay here! Its close to the Estacio Franca (train station), Picasso Museum, a big park, tons of restaurants and a lively bar scene, and a short walk to the metro. Also close is the Bascilica de Santa Maria del Mar, a huge beautiful gothic church that isn't to be missed! There is a ton to do in this area, just a short walk away. That being said, our apartment was quiet as a mouse, we didn't have any trouble sleeping at all and didn't hear any loud noises at night at all, which was wonderful. Our stay here was superb and I recommend anyone travelling to Barcelona to stay here! Its amazing value for your money, we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed ourselves. The place was perfect, the location was perfect, and the staff of Inside Barcelona really were perfect, we had the best time and staying here really made the experience memorable!

Super helpful and friendly - all the ladies I dealt with in making the booking before arriving in…read moreBarcelona were responsive no matter what questions I had about the area, the apartment. I had no worries about how to get here when arriving at the airport because they seem to have it all covered and down pat, complete with PDF of the check-in procedure and then plenty of maps and recommendations for the Born area once we walked in the door to the apartment. In some ways it's like the personal feel of staying at an apartment through AirBnB but fully streamlined and kink-free!