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Departure: Daily except Sundays, at 9am from Pl Catalunya opposite Tourist Office in front of Deutsche Bank & Hotel Olivia Plaza. From April 15 to October 31
Duration: 4 h aprox.
Price includes entrance fee to Casa Batlló (worth €18) and Colonia Güell Crypt (worth €5)
Guides: Officially-licensed English-speaking local experts who love their job
Languages: Only in English
Transport: Comfortable roomy air-conditioned bus
Itinerary: Casa Batlló > Carretera de Sarrià > Gate to Miralles Estate > Güell Pavilions > Colonia Güell Crypt (12 kms) > return to Barcelona
You cannot say you know Gaudí’s architecture until you have visited one of his apartment buildings. You will on this tour, our groups have fast-track entrance to Casa Batlló.
We then go to the Finca Miralles Gate and the Pavillions of Finca Güell and finish with a visit to the amazing Colonia Güell and its crypt, 15 Km away from the city centre and one of Gaudí’s buildings you cannot miss.
This is a 4-hour tour in a comfortable coach with a very knowledgeable guide who will enable you to thoroughly enjoy Gaudí’s work, find out about his magic creativity and visit two of his World Heritage Sites in Barcelona.
Casa Batlló: Casa Batlló, one of Antoni Gaudí’s masterpieces, is not just a building but an artistic legend; hidden behind an exceptional façade which reflects a tranquil sea is a world of surprises and refined architectural details.
This apartments building enchants visitors with its remarkable design and the vast repertoire of visual solutions employed. In every corner, with the help of our guide you will discover something surprising, details full of life that will fascinate everyone who can appreciate imaginativeness.
The tour includes a visit to the legendary Noble Floor (it used to be the home of the Batlló family), the Attic (it was used by the residents as stores and laundry room), the Rooftops and Chimneys (which presents the well-known spine of the multicoloured dragon killed by Sant Jordi), as well as the magnificent lobby, main staircase and light well (it used to be the main staircase for the rest of the neighbours).
The Magical World of Casa Batlló will stir your imagination with the metaphors and representation of nature, in particular the sea, which will inspire you and stimulate your senses and emotions. An explosion of colours and forms, splendid examples of the decorative arts of the epoch, an immersion in modernity, enigmatic forms, the interpretation of a dream, a Mediterranean marvel, a place of innovation and new concepts, a place for reflecting on the capabilities of art and design. Casa Batlló is all this and more.
Güell Pavilions: Gaudí designed the gate, the gatekeeper’s lodge, the stables and the coach house at the entrance to the Güell’s summer residence.
The entrance features the striking Dragon Gate, a five-meter wrought iron sculpture of a mythological dragon with bat’s wings, a scaly body, great fangs and a sinuous tongue.
The walls and the domes of the stables are covered with tiles, ceramics and mosaics. Today it is property of the University of Barcelona and houses the Gaudí Chair.
Colonia Güell Crypt: In 1898, Eusebi Güell, a leading industrialist and patron of Catalan arts and literature, commissioned the architect Antoni Gaudí to design a church for the textile industrial estate that he had founded in Santa Coloma de Cervelló in 1890. In 1908 building started and stopped, unfinished, in 1914. The lower nave, since called a crypt, was nevertheless an outstanding achievement full of architectural innovations, both technical and decorative. Gaudí was able to try out many features he would use later in his search for synthesis between the structural layout, building techniques and architectural forms: caternary arches, hyperbolic paraboloids, and harmony of shape and textures with the surroundings. Decorative elements enhance the beauty: Gaudinian crosses, glass and ceramic mosaics, floral stained glass windows, and a seashell font. Gaudí also tried out his 3-dimensional model, using strings and weights to calculate the arches and pillars needed to sustain the weight.
The Crypt, lauded by architects as a groundbreaking work, is a World Heritage Site since 2005. Daily Tours offer the only tour to this treasure.
After visiting the crypt we will see the modernista industrial estate, a charming enclave and in its day a great improvement to workers’ conditions.
Before going back to Barcelona you will have free time to wonder around the marvels of the Colonia Güell.
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