What is the Steel Donkeys Experience?
Steel Donkey Bike Tours are the first and only alternative bicycle rides in Barcelona, since 2010. Unlike with standard tours of the city, you won’t simply be learning about Barcelona you’ll be living it too… ride with us and we’ll search out the best patatas bravas in BCN, look around obscure but beautiful attractions like the Hospital de Sant Pau and the amazing neoclassical cemetery of Poblenou, stop off at local markets for delicious snacks or vintage threads, and recount the stories of the city under the shade of palm trees and in picturesque squares.
We’re not about fixed itineraries and reciting facts to you which you could read in a guidebook, we’re about going on adventures on our trusty steeds (bikes, but you can refer to them as Steel Donkeys if you like…) and revealing parts of the city which many locals don’t even know about!
Off The Beaten Path – Our Daily Tour
Our most popular tour combines exploring hidden gems like the Rambla del Poblenou and areas of stunning urban renewal, like Glories, with the classic sights that every first time traveller to Barcelona should take in, such as Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia and his marvellous mansions on Passeig de Gracia. This 3-hr tour leaves from our bike store in El Born every day at 11am.
The Original Steel Donkey Experience
Explore Barcelona with one of our passionate local guides as your private pathfinder. Itineraries go out the window, but amongst the cool experiences we might enjoy are shopping for kitsch souvenirs at a flea market, meeting a legendary stuffed parrot and patron saint, drinking a refreshing glass of orxata on the Rambla del Poblenou, and exploring the back streets of the Borne district – with its traditional shops, Gothic churches and sordid secrets.
Beach Cruise, Wine & Tapas – Afternoon Tour
Spend a lazy afternoon in Barcelona with us, exploring the back streets of the Old Town, and cruising around Barceloneta for some great beach and sea vistas. We finish the tour as a charmingly authentic tapas bar where your guide will introduce you to local wines and Spanish tapas.
More Info About Steel Donkeys….
Keep reading to find out about our local guides, our stylish bikes, why the name or how we got started in the first place. Plus the answers to your FAQs.
Meet our passionate and knowledgeable guides. They’ll show you a side of Barcelona most travellers never see… find out more about them and their favourite hotspots right here.
EDU
Born and bred in Barcelona, Edu travelled the world before coming home to Catalonia, Spain. He is passionate about sustainable tourism and local travel.
MARI
A culturally-inquisitive Catalan, Mari loves wandering the back streets of Barcelona hunting for hidden treasures to reveal on her next tour…
MILOS
Originally from Serbia, Milos has called Barcelona home for nearly a decade now. A trained architect, he knows virtually every stone and slab in the city!
We use stylish Italian city bikes as our metal steeds. These beautiful beasts have three easy-to-use gears, sturdy wheels and light frames.
Hate pedaling? We also offer eBikes!
More on our bicycles here.
Why Steel Donkeys?
We are no ordinary Barcelona bike tour… to begin with we ride in small groups (average size 8 people), which makes it easy for us to get around and gives us plenty of flexibility to enjoy our day. We also believe exploring a new city should be more than just listening to facts and gawping at landmarks. Our guides offer context and insights and share their own life experiences in Barcelona.
Maybe that’s what makes us so different to other bicycle tours of Barcelona, and why we’ve been recommended by so many travel media: including Lonely Planet Magazine, The Guardian, Harpers Bazaar, Easyjet Traveller, Budget Traveller and many more. We’ve also been awarded a Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence for the 6th year in a row, making us a Tripadvisor Hall of Fame winner.
TESTIMONIALS
I can honestly say this is the best city cycle tour I have ever been on. I was slightly daunted beforehand about the prospect of cycling around a strange city, but the route we took was largely off road or on quiet back streets.
Our guide was fantastic, and knew a lot about the city. It was great to do something a little alternative and he had lots of pithy stories about random things that allowed us to get under the skin of the city.
And the cycle back along the playa with the sun setting over the city was sensational.
Our guide was fantastic, and knew a lot about the city. It was great to do something a little alternative and he had lots of pithy stories about random things that allowed us to get under the skin of the city.
And the cycle back along the playa with the sun setting over the city was sensational.
We aren’t the type to take a tradition tour but this ride was perfect for us. We rode all over Barcelona, saw a factory that recycles city banners into bags. We also had refreshment at a great cafe that is part of a design studio in a former warehouse, rode all over the waterfront, on streets we’d never know, and looked at the cemetery. We were out for about 4 hours, but and the ride was tailored for whatever one would want. Also, we were able to keep the rental bikes for another day and use them to ride to some famous Gaudi sites on our own. Excellent!
For more testimonials check out our Tripadvisor page.
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