"The Shadow of the Wind" Novel Walking Tour
Description
Explore the magical Barcelona depicted by Carlos Ruiz Zafón in his bestselling novel. Follow the characters' footsteps to lesser-known sites like Santa Anna Street and Montcada Street, visit iconic spots like Els Quatre Gats Café and Santa Maria del Mar Church, and enjoy guided commentary that brings the story to life.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Barcelona wouldn’t be Barcelona without the Rambla. A wander up and down this famous boulevard is a ritual well worth observing. Just soak up the atmosphere and admire the buildings, from the Canaletes fountain to the Columbus Monument, which connect the old and modern city with places like Liceu and Boqueria. A walk through the life and history of the city.
This square is so beautiful, it's no wonder it was named "royal" (reial Catalan for royal). The elegant ambiance of the Plaça Reial is accentuated by the fountain, streetlamps and palm trees, and it is one of Barcelona's busiest, most vibrant spots, particularly at night. This is Barcelona's best-loved porticoed square.
In 1906, Palau Savassona became the property and headquarters of the Ateneu Barcelonès. This iconic association, presided over by such illustrious names as Àngel Guimerà, Valentí Almirall, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Joan Maragall and Pompeu Fabra, has been working for culture for more than a century and a half.
papirvm was born in the heart of the Gothic district of Barcelona in 1981, where it transports you to paradise from lovers of writing, from a past time to the present time, in which by that difficult conjugation join the ancient and handmade forms of binding with different materials such as skin, fabric, or paper.
But we couldn't talk about historic streets without mentioning others that are less well known but have a special charm of their own. If we walk through the Born, it won't be long before we come across the names of trades such as: Sabateria (shoemaking), Assaonador (tanning), Argenteria (silversmithing), Cotoners (cotton trading), etc. Their names are the legacies of the workshops set up by Barcelona's most important guilds and organisations in the late Middle Ages. Groups of artisans dedicated to the same trade, set themselves up on a corporate basis to cater to the common needs of all their members. Every guild had its own guidelines and rules. They usually set up their premises on the same street and became the most important group of artisans with the result that the street adopted the name of this particular craft or trade.
The basilica of Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, also known as the "cathedral of La Ribera", is one of the most perfect examples of Gothic style architecture due to its harmonious proportions and the serenity of the ensemble.
Els 4 Gats, was a café in Barcelona (Catalonia) which opened on 12 June 1897. It also operated as a hostel, a cabaret, a pub and a restaurant. Active until 1903, Els Quatre Gats became one of the main centers of Modernisme in Barcelona. The artist Ramon Casas i Carbó largely financed this bar on the ground floor of Casa Martí (1896), a building by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch in Carrer Montsió near the center of Barcelona. Els Quatre Gats was reconstructed during the transition to democracy in 1978. Pablo Picasso visited this pub–restaurant often in his early art career.
The Church of Santa Anna in Barcelona is a haven of calm hidden in the heart of the city. Located very close to Plaça Catalunya, it is enough to place yourself in the center of the square where your main entrance is located, to realize that it is a hidden gem amid the turmoil and whirl of the modern city. With a thousand years of history in its walls, nowadays it serves as a soup kitchen for the most needy. In addition, on specific days, Spanish guitar concerts are organized to which both tourists and locals attend promptly.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Comfortable shoes are recommended
- Operated by a bilingual guide in Spanish and English
Reviews(63)
It was fascinating seeing the landmarks from the book and, via the guide, getting a better sense of how the 2 eras in Barcelona impacted the story.
Jordi was a great guide. This was a wonderful experience seeing scenes from the book and hearing additional history of Barcelona. I wasn’t sure what to expect but highly recommend!
Jordi was our incredible guide. He was full of passion for the novel and obviously lived for expressing every nuance of it to his guests on the tour. He absolutely owned it unlike any other guide we’ve had elsewhere. The walking tour was fantastic even for those who had not read the novel. He quoted passages and brought them alive at every stop. Even if you are only looking to learn about the architecture and history of this area, I would recommend the tour because we learned so much about that too. The group was small - about 10 of us. His English was excellent and we were given over the ear headphones so never missed a word. A highly recommended tour.
Disappointing tour. - Less than advertised duration (1h30 instead of 2h) - Several important stops were not made (Santa María del Mar, Calle Moncada and Ateneu Barcelonés, among others) The experience was clearly incomplete. But the worst was customer service. After claiming the company (Icono Barcelona Tours), they offered to repeat the tour, but we were no longer in Barcelona, so it was not a viable solution. From there they stopped responding and only thanks to the intervention of the platform (Civitatis) we managed to respond. After insisting for several days, the solution was a 25% refund (€7), clearly insufficient. It is not because of money, but because of the treatment and unprofessionalism in management. I wouldn't recommend it. Too bad, because the subject matter is very interesting, but execution and customer service should improve a lot.
Tal como le comunicamos por WhatsApp y por correo electrónico, estuvimos revisando la situación con la guía asignada y le trasladamos la información correspondiente sobre el desarrollo del tour y la gestión de las paradas durante el recorrido. Al tratarse de un grupo mayoritariamente local, resultó más ágil la intervención por parte de la guía en esos momentos. Asimismo, y por iniciativa propia, le ofrecimos la posibilidad de repetir la ruta con un guía de mayor experiencia, sin necesidad de gestionarlo previamente con la plataforma a través de la cual realizó la reserva. Sin embargo, al no poder llevarse a cabo esta opción debido a su salida de la ciudad, intervino Civitatis, quien propuso gestionar directamente la intermediación y proceder con la devolución correspondiente. Lamentamos sinceramente que su experiencia no haya cumplido con sus expectativas y que no haya podido aprovechar el importe para otra actividad, tal como nos indicó. Tomamos muy en cuenta sus comentarios, ya que nos ayudan a seguir mejorando y creciendo.
Awesome. Would highly recommend this tour. Always wanted to do it and would do again when I’m back in Barcelona.
If you love the Shadow of the Wind, you will love this comprehensive tour. Our guide was wonderful, also a BIG fan of the book and we had fun discussing different characters and parts of the book.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the experience and felt the passion our guide (Mr Jordi) brings to the route. Sharing the story, energy, and love for the place is what truly makes a tour special, and it means a lot to know that came through. We hope to welcome you again on another adventure soon!
He showed us hidden places of Barcelona with a lot of charm that made us love this city a little more
We were hoping for more from this tour, but the guide did not deliver. First, she did not make any effort to make sure she had everyone for the tour, so if you missed her, too bad (an issue since she did not show quite at the address listed and it's a very busy area). Then, she did not introduce herself, but just launched into it. Well and good, I guess, but it turned out this tour was in both Spanish and English, with the latter definitely the minority. Not necessarily a problem, but I understand enough Spanish to follow what she was saying, and she had much more to say to the Spanish group – she was far more interesting and engaging with them. The English group was clearly an afterthought. The tour itself consisted, in English, mostly of going to selected sites and reading a passage from the book. In between, the guide set a rather fast pace, and she was hard to spot from more than about 20 feet, so we lost people along the way (perhaps they gave up on the quality of the tour). We did come across a few locations we did not know about (generally speaking, not so much in relation to the book). It was particular nice to see Plaza Real, an early Gaudi project, and Les Quatre Gats (The 4 Cats). If you are so inclined, Carlos Ruis Zafón is buried in the Montjuic cemetery, and I highly recommend that tour. That was a much more satisfying experience. We had such good tour experiences throughout Spain, that this one really stood out as sub-par.
Fantastic guide with a fast paced walking highlight tour. Our teen children will now read the novel.
So interesting; makes me want to read it again. Loaded with layers of the story or parallel with where it all took place in the story line. Daniel, and Carex, mysterious people.