I will be visiting Barcelona for 3 days in July. I'm looking for any unique tours of the city -- not the typical that tell you the same stuff you could get from a guidebook. Like a tapas tour or architectural tour or something different. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jeanine

Not sure how "different" you want your experience to be, but I would recommend buying books on Gaudi before you go and/or history of the Spanish Civil War and/or acient history of the Romans, Some good books are George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" or Ernest Hemmingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

When I was in Barcleona, I used Orwell's book to give me a guided tour of his experiences during the Civil War.

I used a mini art book on the 19th/20th C, art nouveau to get a tour of Gaudi's art, both in English and Spanish. I really like all the art during the turn of the 20th C., there are some really good bars that still have the art and use to serve (and some still do) absinthe. That might take a local guide to help you.

I also had an interest in the Romans and the history of Barcelona. A well hidden musuem is the City Museum, which is located off of Las Ramblas, next to the Cathedral. It has an old "winery" and other architectural ruins that is pretty interesting to look at.

http://www.bcn.es/cgi-bin/iveure_eq.pl?id=92086011563

Have fun and good luck!

don´t go to poble español, it sucks.

Do check on Gaudi and other not-as-internationally
famous architects. The buildings are a treat. I have
not used the following tour group, so this is not a
personal endorsement.
Even if you don't use them, their ideas are a good springboard
http://www.myft.net/index_fla.html

Anyone tried this tour grop?

Another possibility. Someone elsewhere on the forum recommended this group, as he had tried them out in another city (not Barcelona). They don't seem limited to
the terrifically fit
http://www.fattirebiketoursbarcelona.com/tour.htm

Hi Jeanine,

If you're looking for culinary/tapas tours in Barcelona, there's a company called Saboroso that offers them. They do tapas and restaurant tours, and they also have the option of doing a combined market shopping/cooking tour. They're very knowledgeable and I've heard that people who have done their tours have been very happy with them. I think they can probably arrange historical walking tours and other non-culinary things as well.

Hope this helps...have fun on your trip!