Spain – Best Local Private Guides
Spain – Best Local Private Guides: Honeymooners enjoy sunrise yoga on the beach in Barcelona.
I’ve spent more time than you might imagine deciding what to call this post. “Travel Spain Like a Local” had a nice ring to it, but after great deliberation (and several cups of tea), I decided it wasn’t quite right. I also discarded “Experience Spain…,” “Private City Tours in Spain…,” and settled on “Spain – Best Local Private Guides,” which isn’t catchy, but does describe the topic.
The problem is that the “sharing economy” (think Airbnb) is having a big impact on travel styles, but we haven’t quite developed the vocabulary to explain what’s happening. I sometimes describe Airbnb as a cross between VRBO and Facebook. Likewise, Uber is “a hybrid between taking a taxi and getting a lift from a friend.”
Now enter:Trip4real, another member of the sharing economy that opened for business in early 2013:
“The idea is to help people traveling to Spain have authentic experiences of the places they visit alongside locals. We have over 3,000 (locals) across the whole of Spain who want to share their knowledge and passion with visitors. The feedback has been very positive, with over 10,000 users from over 190 different countries.”
I might have ignored this bulletin if they hadn’t said “authentic experiences,” but they did, so I couldn’t.
If you’ve read About Authentic Luxury Travel on this site, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of pairing up travelers and locals who share interests.
While I haven’t yet had a chance to test drive Trip4real, I can’t resist sharing a few sample tours with you. Here are some short introductions from local guides and comments from visitors. Note, Trip4real offers experiences with locals in Barcelona, Madrid, Majorca, Seville, Girona, and Valencia, as well as many other cities and towns in Spain.
Spain – Best Local Private Guides: Lucas, Kristen, and Peter try Catalan Vermouth on their tapas tour.
Spain – Best Local Private Guides
Tapas & Wine Tour with Charming Foodie – Barcelona
Local: Sonia Blasco
“I used to be a chef & I’m what I think you call a foodie. Barcelona is heaven if you love food, so many markets & places to eat, I think it’s one of the best places to eat in the world! So lucky me, when I do tours with trip4real I get to eat beautiful food every day. And food tastes much better when shared!”
Review: Danielle Rubio - June 2014
“This tour is great! Sonia was very helpful, informative, intelligent, nice, interesting. I’m a traveling student (on a student budget) but food is a top priority. This was the biggest splurge of my tour but I’m glad I did it. Sonia was able to answer all my questions about food in Barcelona/Spain and she took me to excellent restaurants for tapas. While we walking around the neighborhoods she casually told me their histories and made excellent recommendations for what I should do. HIGHLY recommend.”
Travellers Kate, Andrew, and Austen on their photography tour of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter.
Visit one of the best Markets in the world, La Boqueria – Barcelona
Local: Quim Gomez
“I love discovering new places with friends. New bars, new restaurants, new flavors, nice people.”
“I don’t pretend to be an expert, I’m just a normal guy, but I love my city, especially this market, as it has always been a big part of my life. Its great fun showing people my favourite parts, explaining what the community means to me and the people around here. It’s a very fun way of spending an afternoon and making friends with people from all over the world.”
Review: Peter Sledge - September 2013
Great tour of the market! I would have gotten lost for sure… Quim was really cool, and shared a lot with me. I stopped quite a few times to buy a couple of souvenirs and of course food! the food which is actually very fresh.. can’t wait to cook it! Thanks for everything!
Spain – Best Local Private Guides: Capacine from France with Quim in La Boqueria Market, Barcelona.
Eat, Love & Learn Spanish – Madrid
Local:Beatriz Sedano
“My name is Bea and I carry Madrid in my heart. I have called Madrid home for 7 years and the more time I spend here the more I love the streets, history and secrets of my grand old city. I have lived in other cities such as Granada or London. I am inspired by life and the exchange of culture, language and history. Those histories that are behind every person and place, places like Madrid. I love nothing more than teach my native language.”
Review: Karla Meier - July 2014
“My tour with Bea was outstanding. She contacted me in advance to find out my interests and personalized the tour accordingly. She was knowledgeable about Spanish history, culture, art and literature. As a solo female traveler she welcomed me and helped me feel safe. We practiced speaking Spanish throughout the tour. She also provided recommendations for places to visit and dine out.”
This author lived like a local in Spain and loved it.
Only in Spain
And one more thing…if you’re going to Spain (and even if you aren’t), I highly recommend Only in Spain: A Foot-Stomping, Firecracker of a Memoir about Food, Flamenco, and Falling in Loveby Nellie Bennett. It’s an entertaining memoir written by a young woman from Australia with a boring job in a department store and a passion for Flamenco, Spanish food, and living like a local. I think you’ll enjoy this book – even if you aren’t planning to run away with gypsies during your Spanish sojourn.
Saludos!
Category: Spain
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great article!
Useful and very nice post. Thanks!
Great post, wish I’d seen it before I spent a couple of weeks travelling through Spain last summer.
Loving the blog by the way, glad I stumbled across it
Great to hear that your tour with your friend was outstanding. Spain is a wonderful place to visit and have a really good time
How much does a trip to Spain cost?, I don’t know if Spain is expensive or not. Thanks for the info and the post