Barcelona is one of the most gay friendly destinations we have been to. Whilst you may have read about the many clubs, bars, saunas and gay beaches, you may not know that Barcelona also has a wealth of gay history hidden amongst the streets. Something you would never know unless you go on a gay tour of Barcelona!
We never usually book onto a tour, let alone a gay tour. In Barcelona, we saw many huge groups with headsets on and this put us off. It looked a bit too chaotic and impersonal.
However, Rainbow Gay Tours only offered private tours which immediately sounded more appealing! We were also very intrigued as to what was meant by a ‘gay Barcelona tour’.
Read on to find out more!
Who are Rainbow Gay Tours?
Rainbow Gay Tours are one of the first gay tour companies to be set up in Europe.
They have been growing and serving the LGBT market for over 5 years. Currently they have gay tours in Barcelona, Madrid, London, Gran Canaria, Berlin and Rome. All of which have great gay scenes! In particular, in terms of gay scenes, we have been to Gran Canaria many times and love pride there (read about it here).
All the guides are at a minimum, bilingual and LGBT themselves. The tours are all private, with no mixing of groups. This means that you will be taken to explore at your own pace.
Beyond the tours themselves, the guides can provide you with all the information you need about the LGBT nightlife in Barcelona or your chosen destination. They even provide you a ‘gay map of Barcelona’. This includes the bars, clubs etc that you would expect, but also includes gay-owned restaurants!
We also liked the fact that they put group packages together around big events like Barcelona Pride and Barcelona Circuit – this is when Barcelona reaches it’s peak gayness! Check out the packages here and you can take 10% of the price if you quote ‘GLOBETROTTERS’.
What tours did we do? Rainbow Gay Tours
Modernism and Gaudi Tour (inc Sagrada Familia entrance)
We have to admit – we are not history buffs and we don’t do many cultural activities. So, we were naturally sceptical about how much we would enjoy this tour. However, we need not have worried. We loved it!
This was a 2 and a half hour tour. We were picked up at our hotel by our very enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide, Jorge.
During the tour we visited the most popular modernist houses of the city, such as La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, Casa Amatller and Casa Lleó i Morera. These were all beautiful and had some really interesting stories behind them!
Jorge explained everything with such excitement and just the right amount of detail for us. We genuinely found ourselves interested in the buildings around us and learnt a lot. We felt a bit embarrassed that we walk around looking at our phones so much. Look up in Barcelona and you will be wowed!
Half way through the tour we took a quick coffee and pastry break. This was nice because walking in the heat can be exhausting. This was included in the tour price.
To finish off, the tour included queue jump tickets to La Sagrada Familia, a church that has been in construction for over 100 years. It was quite simply stunning from outside and from the inside too. We had visited Barcelona many years ago but opted not to go inside, don’t make the same mistake, its well worth it!
Inside the Sagrada Familia
Jorge made sure we got in ok and then we were left to spend as much time exploring La Sagrada Familia ourselves as we wanted.
This was an excellent tour and it really did surprise us how much we enjoyed it!
Rainbow Night Tour – Exploring Gay Barcelona!
Barcelona has had gay nightlife for over 25 years. It has a huge gay scene which quite literally caters for anyone and everyone. This is all mainly centred around the well known Eixample district – commonly know as ‘Gayxample’.
What we loved about this tour, was that our tour guide Manuel asked us what we like and what we wanted. This meant that he then tailored the night around us! We visited bars we would never have come across and went to bars we had been excited to visit for a long time!
The first drink was included, as was all transport from your hotel pick up. Manuel was an excellent guide and really personable. We loved spending time with him and we were never short for conversation.
One of the major benefits of having a tour guide was the tips. We wanted to go to Arena and would have paid 15 euros to get in. However, Manuel had a top tip. He took us to El Punto where if you buy a drink, you get a ticket to Arena for free!
Needless to say, this was one of our best gay nights out in Barcelona.
Gothic Tour of Barcelona
During this 3 hour tour we visited the Arco de Triunfo, the beautiful Ciutadella Park and then explored the stunning narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter starting from La Rambla.
We loved that during the tour, our guide Marc explained all about the city’s gay history, lifestyle, and nightlife. We enjoyed learning about the demonstrations for LGBT rights dating back all the way to 1977!
This was definitely the best way to explore the city, especially because its so easy to get lost in the Gothic Quarter!
What did we love about Rainbow Gay Tours
The Guides
Jorge, Manuel and Marc were all excellent. They were professional, enthusiastic, fun and very easy to get along with. They really made the tours special for us.
The Private Aspect
Being in a group of 40 people, herded around the city is not for us. We can guarantee you that we would lose interest very quickly! The tours from Rainbow are all private and that meant the guides could give us their undivided attention. We learnt so much more and had such a better time because of this.
Photo Opportunities
We are all guilty of getting a bit ‘snap happy’ in a new city. Being private, the guides were great at always offering to help us get that ‘Insta worthy’ shot. They were also helpful at getting you away from the crowds and taking you to the best viewing spots for all the attractions.
This meant we got lots of amazing photos to remember our time in Barcelona.
The Style
Everything is well thought out:
- We love that you get picked up from your hotel.
- All your transport tickets are included.
- Tours can be tailored.
- They are genuinely fun and informal.
- You can go at your own pace.
- The tours are just the right length of time.
If you are going to spend some time in gay Barcelona, we highly recommend you check these guys out. It will be the best use of your time and the best way to experience the city!
You can get a 10% discount if you use our promo code “GLOBETROTTERS” for the Barcelona tours operated by Rainbow. You can still get a 10% discount using our code if you want to book a tour in Madrid, Bilbao, Gran Canaria, London, Lisbon, Rome or Berlin – take a look at all these great gay destinations here.
Note: Using our promo code means you get a great discount and we receive a small commission for each referral. You’re not obligated to use the code but we appreciate it if you do. It’s worth noting that all opinions are our own, honesty is very important to us! Thank you in advance for supporting this site if you choose to use our code!
P.s Don’t forget to follow our Facebook page, YouTube page and Instagram to see more and keep up to date!
[instagram-feed]