Home > Barcelona > Small-Group Medieval Villages Day Trip from Barcelona
USD $102.00
Small-Group Medieval Villages Day Trip from Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
Leave Barcelona and travel back to ancient times on this small-group tour of Catalonia’s medieval villages. Visit the beautifully preserved villages of Besalú and Tavertet and learn interesting facts about these historical locations from your guide. Have free time in Rupit village to see the Baroque-era Church of Sant Miquel and have a traditional Catalan lunch (own expense) at a local restaurant. Take in views of the remains of the Castle of Rupit, Castellfollit de la Roca and the Cingles de Tavertet sandstone cliffs. This small-group tour ensures you’ll receive personalized attention from your guide.
Discover the beauty of Catalonia ’s medieval villages on this small-group day trip from Barcelona. Meet your guide in central Barcelona and relax in a comfortable minivan as you take in views of the green countryside on the 1.5-hour drive to Besalú.
When you arrive, enjoy a guided walking tour of this beautifully preserved village from the Middle Ages. See the town's arcaded streets, visit a restored mikveh (an old Jewish bath from the 12th century), and see the remains of a medieval synagogue.
Continue by minivan toward the village of Rupit. On the way, pass by Castellfollit de la Roca, one of the smallest towns in Catalonia with 1,000 habitants in just 3,280 square feet (1,000 square meters), located on the edge of a basalt precipice. When you arrive in Rupit, enjoy two hours of free time to visit this beautiful village at your own leisure. Wander along the cobblestone streets lined with 16th-century country houses, stop by the hanging wooden bridge, and visit the Baroque-era Church of Sant Miquel. Have lunch at a local restaurant (own expense) and see the remains of the Castle of Rupit on a rocky peak.
Next, enjoy a scenic drive to the top of the Cingles de Tavertet sandstone cliffs, located by the Ter river valley. Pass by a megalithic tomb -- a field of funerary urns -- and the Iberian Wall until you reach the village of Tavertet. With your guide, visit this charming village, declared a National Property of Cultural Interest due to its 48 preserved houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. Learn interesting facts about this village as you admire the houses and the 11th-century Romanesque Church of Sant Cristòfol. Enjoy a short break to grab a coffee at a local café (own expense) or walk to the viewpoint to admire stunning views over the Panta de Sau lake.
Then, relax on the drive back to Barcelona and take in views of El Magatalls, a beautiful lush forest, and El Montseny, a UNESCO Man and Biosphere-listed natural park.
Amazing tour! Very informative tour and unforgettable scenery. Our guide is professional. He paid good attention to each of us in the group, which is very appreicated. Highly recommend!
Review by: Megan S, December 2017
Super cute towns, well planned out, and informative. Our guide, Ernesto, was so patient and helped to personalize the trip to our liking, making small adjustments along the way to adapt to the day. The last stop could've been foregone -- it had great views, but that was about it.
Review by: Phil E, December 2017
First the van for the tour was awful and the driver made it even worse. Drove too fast up and down mountain roads and on the bumpy Spanish freeways. Very unpleasant. Second there is only really one of these towns that qualify medival. The other two have some old buildings but are largely resorts.
Review by: Raymond Waiman C, December 2017
Beautiful scenery and charming villages, but for places that had been habituated since tenth centuries, little history, background, significance and human stories were revealed from the tour guide who gave very brief and brisk tours in all three villages left an unfinished note and more questions.
Review by: Marlene B, December 2017
This is an AWESOME Day trip from Barcelona!! Our tour guide was OUTSTANDING! Our tour guide was friendly, fun, knowledgeable, joyful, thinks Out of the Box and makes everyone feel comfortable, welcomed and informed. The villages that we visited were enchanting! I throughly enjoyed my day on this tour and highly recommend that you experience this Small-Group Medieval Villages Day Trip Tour from Barcelona, as well. You will experience time with your tour guide comfortably laced with time on your own during the village visits. ENJOY!
Review by: danicadeering, December 2017
Excellent value, extremely knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. The bus/van was also comfortable, which is important because you do spend quite a bit of time on the road. The views of the countryside on the way back to Barcelona are gorgeous. Lunch in the second village was also excellent, and a great value as well- I recommend you follow the tour guide's advice for lunch, I don't think we would have discovered this little restaurant on our own. It was also a good opportunity to get to know other people on the tour.
Review by: Eileen J, December 2017
this tour was awesome , the town we visit were so charming and the drive was so beautiful! Being at the beginning of December there was ice on tree branches, sun was out, blue skies. Truly beautiful !! Highly recommend it, Arnau was so full of information and was so awesome. Thank you!
Review by: lyncast2, November 2017
Excellent tour of the medieval vilages_br/_ We learned a lot and enjoyed the tours
Review by: Andres D, November 2017
The tour was nice and well organized. However I cannot recommend this tour. Barcelona has so many beautiful attractions that spending a day visiting these towns may not be the best use of your time. The towns are nice but none with a wow factor. Most of the time it is spent on the road.
Review by: Danilo V, November 2017
That was really a wonderful trip. Tavertet was so quiet and peaceful with amazing view.We had the taste of a typical Catalan cuisine.Besalu was likewise extremely charming. Arnau, our tour guide was very knowledgeable in history and so funny at times. I highly recommend this Tour.It's like traveling back in time.
Review by: Richard, November 2017
The three villages we visited were very different but great. The second village gives you opportunity to walk along the river is well worth the effort. It is a long day but excellent.
Review by: Christian G, November 2017
Great trip. Good mix of sight seeing with tour guide and free time. All 3 Villages very different. Must do trip whilst in Barcelona.
Review by: ang0928, November 2017
Rodrigo, our tour guide was so knowledgeable on the history of Catalunya and these breathtaking little villages. Just amazing! You are taken back in time in Besalu, Rupit and Tavertet. Definitely worth visiting. Highly recommend.
Review by: Sarah C, November 2017
Our Medieval Village tour was the highlight of our trip! Our guide was Veronica, and she was amazing!!! This tour exceeded our expectations, and is more than worth the time and money to take. Highly recommended!
Review by: Lucinda L, November 2017
My husband and I loved this day trip. Three wonderful stops and a fantastic guide, Arnou, who imparted much knowledge and was a good guy. We would highly recommend this tour. We also took the 3 Countries in One Day Tour, which was good, but we liked this one better!
Review by: Niea Nadya R, November 2017
I like this trip. The driver and the guide is nice and they're very friendly. If I got another chance to visit back, will definitely take this trip again. We went out of the way to see a beautiful place. Superb!
Review by: Sueann L, November 2017
It was just my partner and I on this tour, so we had lots of individual time. Visiting these villages put into perspective life outside the city. Not too many touristslots of great photos!
Review by: Chris P, October 2017
Not as much walking as I thought a great thing lol. Great tour and our guide was the best.
Review by: Todd N, October 2017
The small towns were charming. The tour guide provided interesting information without overwhelming the group.
Review by: Glenn Owens, October 2017
Well organised tour and Roderigo, our guide was friendly and informative. The villages, especially Besalu and Rupit were fascinating and much of the natural scenery was beautiful. The time shared between the group and independently was well balanced. Would particularly recommend this trip for anyone who enjoys some free time to explore on their own.
Review by: Marina K, October 2017
We enjoy out our trip very much, our tour guide Sergio was very very good, he gave us a lot of interesting information. Wonderful trip, well worth to go . Thanks to Sergio again. Definitely recommend to visit.
Review by: Paul C, October 2017
Beautiful Tour, the places that We visit were fantastic, like taking them out from a Fairy tale book, The Tour Guide Feliciano was amazing and very informative about the places that We visited, I do recommend this tour to everyone interested in see more outside of Barcelona.
Review by: Jeffrey M, October 2017
This is a great tour to get out of Barcelona and see the countryside and at the same time see some interesting Medieval Villages _br/_ It is a tour we recommend, without reservation But with this word of advice..when you stop for lunch in Rupit at the restaurant Fonda Marsal. This is our experience.. we followed the guides recommendation, as did everyone on the tour. We all went with her to the restaurant for lunch. The food was excellent and the serving sizes quite large. American size. With 15 minutes before we had to be back on the bus we decided to skip dessert and dashed out to see some of the town. We hadnt seen any! Everyone suddenly following in our wake once they also realised what was happening.. So our advice is to tour the town ..THEN go back to have lunch at the restaurant..You only need 1 course._br/_ The restaurant was not full. It is worth a visit.. the whole point of the trip was to see Medieval Towns and Rupit is one of the more interesting of them all. There are plenty of places to eat ! The guide and the whole day was excellent.
Review by: PC, October 2017
This is a tour not to be missed. A fascinating journey back in time, exploring well preserved medieval villages set in beautiful countryside. Besalu was unbelievable, with its dramatic fortified entrance approached along a high arched stone bridge across the river, with all of this mirrored in the water below. This set the scene for the day, with following visits to Rupit and the area around Tavertet just as intriguing. To top it off, we had an ideal guide, Feliciano. He was well versed in the history of the region and of the particular sites, providing very interesting and entertaining commentary throughout the day. He was mindful of the needs of the group, regularly checking that everyone was OK and clued into what he was saying. We had a safe and comfortable ride in the coach, thanks to the driver, Christian. Overall this was a great day and I would highly recommend the tour.
Review by: Eva S, October 2017
Our guide Carlota was wonderful, enthusiastic and full of information about the three wonderful villages we toured. I especially liked having free time to just wander and imagine what it was like to be in these places 500 years ago. The scenic drive and scenery from the villages was stunning. It was a wonderful way to escape the busy city of Barcelona for a day and see another side of Spain. Highly recommend this tour. A
Review by: LindaL, June 2017
Three beautiful villages with free time in each to wander around and absorb the atmosphere.
Review by: Atreish R, June 2017
Very cute!
Review by: Albert I, June 2017
Our tour guide Feliciano was amazing!
Review by: Albert I, June 2017
Our tour guide Feliciano was amazing!
Review by: Richard R, June 2017
A great day outing. We visited 3 different villages, all had a different character, I enjoyed the first one the best, and the lunch we had there._br/_ Food was not included in the tour price, but we had lots of time and our guide recommended a local family run restaurant that saved home made Catalonian dishes, We both had their special 3 course meal of the day with choices, started having a beer, and my wife decided to have the local wine, which was about 5 or 6 euro, I thought about average price for a glass of wine, but to our amazement it was a whole 750mil bottle that came. Needless to say it was more than enough for 2 of us. Total bill was only about 30 euro. This trip is defiantly worth doing, nice to be amongst old Catalonian country way of life.
Review by: Richard R, June 2017
A great day outing. We visited 3 different villages, all had a different character, I enjoyed the first one the best, and the lunch we had there._br/_ Food was not included in the tour price, but we had lots of time and our guide recommended a local family run restaurant that saved home made Catalonian dishes, We both had their special 3 course meal of the day with choices, started having a beer, and my wife decided to have the local wine, which was about 5 or 6 euro, I thought about average price for a glass of wine, but to our amazement it was a whole 750mil bottle that came. Needless to say it was more than enough for 2 of us. Total bill was only about 30 euro. This trip is defiantly worth doing, nice to be amongst old Catalonian country way of life.
Review by: Anne L, June 2017
Simply amazing! The beauty of each town is breathtaking. Our wonderful tour guide, Arnaud, was so friendly, funny, and had a deep knowledge of the history of each place and explained it in an understandable way. Even my kids, 8 and 10 yrs, loved this experience and are still talking about it.
Review by: Nicole L, June 2017
AWESOME! ..but only when you have a fun and sporting tour guide, like David - even if you are alone on the trip.
Review by: dheaberlin, May 2017
What an incredible tour...we didn't know old Medieval Villages like these still existed. A full day of activities plus long bus rides. Grabbed some lunch in Pipit... What a day of photo ops in the three old villages that we visited.
Review by: Lorraine W, May 2017
This was a lovely trip and the countryside was beautiful along the way. The villages were small and quaint and we enjoyed seeing them. Our guide was friendly and personable. However she could have been more knowledgeable and informative during the excursion. We were pretty much on our own to explore. We received a map for only one village. It would have been nice if she had accompanied us, which is what we thought would happen.
Review by: Christopher B, May 2017
This tour is really long but it's worth it. You'll see beautiful medieval villages and take some lovely pictures.
Review by: D M B, May 2017
Martha was our guide- not only was she an excellent guide with a mine of information to share with us, she was a very competent driver and had a wonderful outgoing, friendly personality!
Review by: jkhowes, May 2017
Loved this tour, but it was too long. our driver was very quiet and safe. Our tour guide Yusep was very passionate about the subject matter and it was obvious he really loves what he does. The villages are a real eye opener for an American, we can't really comprehend _br/_ anything that goes back to the 16th century. The start location is difficult to find. If we hadnt been in Barcelona for several days, I dont know if we wouldve found it in time.
Review by: Ruan G, May 2017
We had a fantastic day with Charlotte! I can highly recommend this trip, as you are given an opportunity to see and experience picture perfect villages full of history! We enjoyed the fact that at each village we were given a short tour of the village and then given free time to wonder around on our own!
Review by: Siarhei K, May 2017
Excellent tour! Plenty of opportunities to take beautiful photos
Review by: capebreton, May 2017
This was a nicely conceived excursion from Barcelona showing some very historic and interesting towns that the average tourist would not see. Viator apparently has some very good guides for this trip that were not sent on our trip. Our guide, Carlotta gave us far less information than we were able to obtain from wikipedia when we got back to our hotel. Perhaps she needs take the tour with one of the accomplished guides before she takes more groups out. She was more interested in getting to her restaurant to eat and who would join her. We enjoyed exploring these towns on our own.
Review by: Courtney, May 2017
Very happy we ventured out of the city to take this day tour. Seeing all of these medieval villages is something you never get to see, and they were awesome to explore for a day. Our tour guide, Gloria, was awesome and made the tour even better!
Review by: Turi K, May 2017
This is a great way of getting to know the area and towns around Barcelona in a day! The guide, Feliciano, was very knowledgeable, giving us a personal and informative tour of Catalunya. A bit more time to walk around Besalú would have been better, but overall a fantastic tour!
Review by: Andrea L, May 2017
Go for this tour when you have time,idyllic villages in the Mountains,really beautiful
Review by: bobmc, April 2017
If you're into medieval, this is the tour for you. Three different towns. One in a valley, the second on the side of a mountain, and the third literally on top of a mountain. Our guide Feliciano was very personable and knowledgeable. The stonework, massive timbers, and iron work abound. The lunch stop at Rupit was amazing. A fifty step climb to a restaurant built on the side of the mountain. Nice prices and everyone loved the regional food. An exceptional all day excursion for the money.
Review by: Anne B, April 2017
Tour exceeded our expectations. The Medieval Villages were amazing and everything that we had hoped for. Our guide was friendly, knowlegeabe and a joy to have as a tour leader. This was our first tour with Viator and we could not have been more satisfied.
Review by: Neil P, April 2017
This was a really great tour, two of the three towns we visited were stunning. On the way our guide gave us a great commentary about the history of Spain._br/_ We had plenty of time to wander around the streets in the villages and to have lunch at one of the restaurants._br/_ If you enjoy visiting medieval villages - I highly recommend this tour.
Review by: Natalia M, April 2017
Awesome small group tour! We had a very good English speaking guide too.
Review by: Catalin S, March 2017
Great tour, very nice cities. We really enjoyed it.
Review by: Alida D, March 2017
This trip was really amazing. Beautiful scenarios of these 3 little medieval villages. The tour guide Enriquez was really fantastic. This tour was worth every penny.
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