Our Guides

Hola amigos, I’m Slinky – one of the locals behind Steel Donkey bike rides! I’ve been living in Barcelona for several years now, working as a travel writer, so in I’ve got to know the city really well.

I set up Steel Donkey bike tours because I felt that no one in Barcelona was offering visitors the kind of tour I like to go on when I visit a city. I’m not really interested in being shepherded around the main sights with a bunch of other tourists and being read out dry facts and oft-recited stories. I want to interact with the city I’m in and its people, I want to see some dusty and forgotten corners and have a unique experience to myself – not go on the same tour that hundreds or even thousands have taken before me.

Ride with Steel Donkeys and we’ll head out into Barcelona in a small group and we’ll simply start exploring. Our guides are constantly finding cool and unusual treasures, and thanks to our stylish city bikes we’ll be able to cover a lot of ground, get a real feel for the city and have a really action-packed day.

Most tourists see only a tiny fraction of Barcelona, but you’ll go home having seen an impressive amount  – geographically and culturally.

Edu is a true local, born and bred in Barcelona. In his late teens he decided to go out and explore the world, living in 3 different continents and visiting over 75 countries (and counting). After travelling the globe for over 10 years, in 2013 he came back to his hometown and joined the team at Steel Donkeys. Since then his (awesome) day job is showing visitors  his favourite hidden gems in his beloved Barcelona.

As well as his mother tongues, Spanish and Catalan, Edu is proficient in English, Mandarin Chinese and French. He lives in Gracia, which he considers an oasis in the heart of the busy city centre. But he also enjoys spending time in l’Eixample and in the up-and-coming area of Poblenou.

Oh! And he also runs his own online shop selling travel gear for backpackers, check it out if you have the time: www.unuk.es.

Mari Carmen was born in a little medieval village called Cardona, an hour from the Catalan capital. Barcelona became her second home when she moved here to study and work, aged 21. Passionate about art, she studied to become an official tourist guide, and joined the Erasmus programme in Tuscany, in Italy, to gain more experience.

Now a seasoned tour guide in Barcelona, she never tires of always seeing and sharing the most amazing places in the city – indeed she considers herself lucky to have such a job. She loves to show the contrasts of the city, ancient stores, developing areas, local food and drinks and not so well-known architecture to travellers.

When she is not guiding, she loves roller skating along the sunny shore of Barcelona and sharing good moments with her family and friends, always with a glass of wine and some pà amb tomàquet, jamón ibérico, llonganissa and good cheese. She likes gastronomy and she likes cooking grandma’s Mediterranean recipes.

There is no better way to get to know the people, customs, food, art, architecture and rhythm of Barcelona but through someone’s personal impressions, thoughts and passion, according to our guide Milos.

Milos is an architect and tour guide who enjoys living in the Catalan capital and sharing his experience with Barcelona’s visitors. He has always loved travelling and discovering new cities, new life and the unique energy of every place. By reading every major book about this city, in combination with his long walks and urban cycling, he has come to know almost every corner of Barcelona, so that no one is better placed to transmit its unique energy to our guests.

Milos believes the very best way to see Barcelona is through a tailor-made tour. He loves to include a bit of everything on his own bike rides, including local food markets, authentic bars, tapas or great ice-cream, and not forgetting street art and graffiti and Barcelona’s extravagant architecture, spanning 2000 years of history up to its new, contemporary, futuristic side.