Your Private Gaudi Tour of Barcelona starts in Paseo de Gracia, a still elegant avenue that was the most fashionable address in Barcelona at the turn of the 20th century and known as the street where Gaudi left his mark. See the two architectural designs by the artist, very different apartment buildings for the city’s uber-wealthy. The first building that you will admire with your private guide is the bluish hued façade of Casa Batllo. Designed and built right at the beginning of the 1900s, this is the building where Gaudi had his most artistic freedom and is based on local Catalan legend. Just a few blocks away is the stunning Casa Mila, which is known locally as la Pedrera – the stone quarry. Find out how it got this nickname and what made it a forerunner in architecture through the knowledge and lively commentary of your private guide.
Once you have taken your photos and are ready to move on, you will head to the newly restored Casa Vicens. This was a project completed by a very young Gaudi not too long after he had graduated from architectural school, to be a summer home for the wealthy Vicens family, and was just recently opened to the public after being used as a private residence since it was built in 1885.
Then it is on to the masterpiece, la Sagrada Familia Basilica, a project that Gaudi was commissioned to lead the same year he was designing Casa Vicens, 1883. With skip-the-line entrance tickets, you will be given priority access to enter the most visited monument in Spain. This amazing feat of architecture takes up a complete city block with a storybook-like exterior showing the life of Jesus on Earth on one side and The Stations of the Cross on the other side and was designed to have a forest-like interior. The magic of the stained glass windows makes you feel like you are walking inside a color-filled forest. Once you have had your fill of this almost finished spectacular masterpiece, you and your private guide will take a short taxi ride up into the hills of the city to visit Gaudi’s Park Güell, watching the sun set over the city.
The Park was one of Gaudi’s most expansive creations with 42 acres of land, which is now a public park. As your guide leads you through Park Güell, you’ll have the unique experience of walking through an entire community created by Gaudi, giving you the feeling that you’ve stepped inside his mind.
Park Güell was originally designed by Gaudi for the industrialist, Eusebio Güell, at the turn of the 20th century. Gaudi was commissioned by Güell to create a community of exclusive houses, each with its own small garden, as well as a large public area. Güell’s vision of an upmarket gated neighborhood never came to fruition, so upon his death he left the park to the city with the stipulation that it always be kept as a public park – lucky us!
