As an architect visiting the capital of Modernisme for the first time (with my non-architect wife), I wanted a tour that would give us a good introduction to Barcelona & Gaudi, so we selected that tour. From all the touring that we did during the week we were in Barcelona, my wife and I both agree that the BAW was the best.
Our tour guide, Jordi, met us at the easy-to-find rendezvous spot and started the tour as soon as we arrived, as we were the only ones on this tour. As the details on the website are somewhat vague, I wasn't sure what we would be seeing or if we were going to be going inside any Gaudí buildings. While we did stop by (but did not go in) the 3 Gaudí buildings listed in the tour description, we spent most of the time learning about the expansion of the city under the Ildefons Cerdà plan. We had spent the first few days of our vacation in el Born so, other than a trip to the Sagrada Familia, this was our first experience with l'Eixample. Jordi explained how this area of the city came to be, showed us one of the first mansions in the "new city" and explained how the architecture of this area developed. He pointed out the work of other architects who were much more prolific than Gaudí and helped us to understand the roles each of them played in the development of the city. He did an excellent job of explaining what Modernisme is and isn't. He also showed us one of the many "pocket parks" in the city and explained why and how today's urban planners were trying to improve the quality of life for the residents of Barcelona.
As there were only the three of us, our tour was more like a dialogue than a tour. We learned so much about the city as we walked along some of the major thoroughfares. (About halfway through the tour, we were given the option of walking more or less for the rest of the tour - we took more and got to see even more.) We occasionally had to rephrase a question so that Jordi could understand what we were asking but we always got a thorough, professional answer. The visual aids mentioned in Victoria M's review were extremely helpful. The tour ended at la Pedrera after 2.5 hours so we grabbed a quick lunch then toured the building. (This sort of last minute thing can only be done off-season. If you are going during tourist season, I suggest you confirm the ending location and time with BAW and but tickets for this tour ahead of time. It is well worth it and is an excellent ending to this tour.)
If you are interested in learning about the city of Barcelona, I highly recommend BAW and their architect tour guides!
