extra services
discover Barcelona
| our proposal |
You have never visited Barcelona before? Or did you, even on many occasions, but you would like to discover these surprising hidden places that only some locals might be able to show you? Then book one of our guided visits and discover the city with aspasios. No big tourist groups here, no "follow the red umbrella", so don't worry if you are allergic to masses, we are too. That is why we conceived a selection of tailor-made visits, exclusively for you and your family, friends or colleagues. |
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| service |
We offer you several types of personal visits, all conceived for small groups, and, in the line of quality products aspasios is constantly striving for, revealing much more than the standard tourist tours which you can book on any street corner. Prices of the visits vary according to the day and the language in which they are conducted.
Please note visits during the weekend have a surcharge of 30 €. An extra 30 € will be charged for visits conducted in German, Dutch or Russian. Surcharges and the remaining amount will be paid on the day of your visit. In both tours there will be a stop at a pleasant bar. Price of the drinks here is not included. |
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| details |
When booking this extra service, please indicate which visit or visits you would like to experience. Also inform us about the language you choose and about your day and time of preference. Shortly afterwards you will receive a mail by the guide who will conduct the visit. He or she will make a concrete proposal on when and where the visit can start. It is possible that other clients book the same tour on the same day in the same language. If the case occurs, we will contact you to know if you wish to have a joint visit, which will reduce the costs considerably. If you prefer to have a private visit, aspasios will make sure that will be arranged. When booking, you will need to make a prepayment of 30,- € as a guarantee. The remaining amount can be settled in cash directly with the guide on the day of the visit. Here you can read what the different visits cover: |
The clash between old and new
A constant challenge through history in Ciutat Vella
We will take you on a voyage through 2000 years of history. Barcelona's Old City or Ciutat Vella has always been the social and economic heart of the area. On this tour you will learn how and why, meeting the Romans and the Jewish, learning about the constant struggle for power between Catalonia and the Spanish Crown, between the working class and the bourgeoisie, between the Church and the secular world. We will have a look at the cultural, economic and political expansion of the old city, and discover how design and modern urbanisation planning converted a century-old neighbourhood into a new home for locals and foreigners alike.
We will start our visit at Mons Taber, where the Romans once founded Barcino, and travel through time, passing by the first Christians and Jewish, the medieval Catalan State of the Counts of Barcelona and its Romanesque chapels, to finally admire the Crown of Aragon, and its Mediterranean Empire. The most famous Gothic buildings, like the Cathedral and the Drassanes shipyards date back to this period. The City Hall, the Autonomous Government Palace , the Royal Palace or the church Santa Maria del Pi, they all reflect the economic expansion and cultural greatness of that era. You will discover how, later on, population grew out of its city walls and nearby farmland was converted into textile mills, factories and cheap proletarian houses. The power of the Church declined, important traffic arteries were built, and squares like the Plaça Reial sprung up. Slowly entering the 20th century, you will find out how Spanish immigrants and international political refugees lived side by side, close to the new cabarets, gambling houses and brothels in the legendary Barrio Chino.
Arriving in the last decades, you will notice how Ciutat Vella transformed into a design, fashion and leisure centre for the western Mediterranean . Modern urban planning and fresh, contemporary parks and squares let the sunlight reach corners for the first time in centuries. We will stroll past renowned bars and art galleries, see how former hospitals turned into design schools and libraries, chapels into exhibition spaces and bookshops, how old palaces now house museums and civic buildings and how huge Art Museums and controversial hotel projects arise from scratch. Ciutat Vella has opened up to the world, and is now home to locals, foreign students and immigrants of varying origins, as a reflection of the social reality in the 21st century. We invite you to feel at home.