Julia Travel

Very bad company ! Do not trust them. They sell European tours to Canada & U. S via small travel agencies. We booked a «package of 6 days departure from Barcelona, ending in Madrid” — with a Visit to the famous Alhambra and the Generalife Gardens. But surprise ! the visit was starting at 10:30 pm ending at midnight. The tour guide told us everything was closed excepted «one palace ! They make extra money this way with you & think that we are stupid people. Nothing in the brochure mentions this is a nocturne visit! Who want to see Alhambra in the dark ??? We told them but did nothing, they got my money, so who cares ! Tourists only come once & go to visit another country. Avoid this Julia Travel. It was rip off ! Also, when in Madrid, They mixed up our hotel voucher with another couple from Argentina, we have waited for 4 hours, didn’t have time to visit Madrid, were stress like crazy, called them & after 4 hours, they found the good voucher at 9pm !!! very weak at handling problems. Their customer service so poor ! Stay away from Julia Travel !

Follow up on my review of Julia travel in Barcelona. After an investigation by Viator we were given a full refund for our tour. However, we still missed our oppurtunity to see inside of Sagrada familia. If you have had or have a bad experience with this company please post an accurate review. Either they will have to treat customers better or they will be dropped as a subcontracting company.

After leaving a scathing tip about their Madrid office I must In all fairness review their Barcelona office. Absolutely take the Gaudi tour and do the tour with Maria Joseph as your guide. She was wonderful! So passionate and knowledgable she showed Gaudi and Barcelona in the most beautiful way that I will never forget and forever be in love with Catalunya.

We arrived 3 minutes late for a tour we had purchased through
. My google maps took us to the wrong address (which is not Julia Travels fault). So when we arrived, the woman working with us was told us the bus had already left, but it was not a big deal, we could be rebooked for the same tour the next morning (Sunday). Great, she was helpful we were happy and on our way.
We arrive 25 minutes early the next day for the tour, and a different woman told us that tour did not run on Sunday and we must have misheard the woman from the day before. I asked for a refund because I was certain I heard her correctly (as did the other people in our party) and she said there was nothing she could do but offer us a different tour (which was half the cost of what we paid and nothing like what we wanted). When I followed up with viator to request a refund, they contacted Julia travel and this was part of the completely unprofessional response they gave ‘Would customers expect to receive a refund if they missed their flights because they were running late to the airport?’ No of course someone would not expect a refund if being late was their error (which we admitted) but they also would expect the airline to provide them with accurate information on the next flight they could be put on.
I wish I had done more research on this company prior to booking this tour because based on many similar reviews, I would have avoided them at all costs. Not a company I would ever voluntarily do business with in the future.

«Barcelona in One Day Sightseeing Tour» — This tour was not as described. There is a LOT of walking on this tour. The bus was clean and had air conditioning, but the air was insufficient to keep the bus comfortable. The tour guide translated everything in English and Spanish, but did so very unprofessionally. He would say a few sentences in one language and then switch to the other language. It would have been easier to understand if he had completed a description in one language and then translated the same entire description in the other language. The tour company does not seem to respect seniors and do not have any compassion for our limitations. They made me feel worthless. I injured my foot on the walk and was hobbling in tremendous pain. They would not refund the second tour and gave me a Hop On Hop Off the Bus as a consolation prize. This still left me with a $ 24 loss. The cable car was not working, and they did not offer a refund. We had to go back to the office and request a refund. They did not agree to the refund, but said it was up to Viator whether the money would be refunded or not. The travel company, Julia, was very inflexible and they are very weak at handling problems. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I read the reviews of others who were dissatisfied, and my experiences closely matched theirs. I do not recommend this tour or any tour by Julia.

Full Day Barcelona tour. It was to be at 9 am on the day we arrive in port from our cruise. Wrong move. So I called the tour office. Laura suggested we take the shuttle bus first out of port, then a taxi because of the number of people getting off the ship. The thought of transferring our luggage made us think twice and I requested for our tour to be moved next day, Anthony said no problem. We got on the tour next day — no hassles. Remember though, this is late November which is slow season.
Our Full day Barcelona tour consisted of two separate tours. First one was a walk from the Placa Catalunya and ending up the Cathedral before boarding the bus again for Montjuic. Tickets to ride the lift up to the castle was included. We were a bit late 5 minutes or so? to get back to the bus, but they waited for us. On to the next stop Pueblo Espanyol for a quick tour and a complimentary glass of cava. Samantha also gave us a tip on where to eat roast suckling pig. Good tour.
Second part of the tour was at 3:30 giving us time for lunch. Oriole (?) was a great guide, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. You can tell he loved these places. He was very thorough walking us around all four sides outside of Sagrada Familia and showing us the best perspective to get photos. At Park Guell, too, but it involved a lot of walking and climbing up steps but thankful that he was there to point out interesting facts. It was dark by the time we got back to look at the Casa Mila, and the Casa Batllo but it seemed like he had more to say. Great tour!
Word of advice, good shoes and prepare for a workout of a walk for those two tours together!

We had an overall great experience with Julia Travel while spending time in Barcelona and Barceloneta. Dealing with the staff at booking might a be a little pain at times and the day tour trips can be a little expensive, but not unreasonable.
By far, the best part about the Julia Travel experience in Barcelona is the hop on hop off double decker tour bus. While it is to be used mainly as a listening bus tour of the city, I’d highly recommend using this as your taxi to hit up the best places of the city during the day. You can be at La Rambla in the morning, Barceloneta by lunch, and at Sagrada Familia for an afternoon tour.
With regards to their excursion trips, we took the Montserrat trip to see the black madonna and were very pleased with the experience. Pro tip: don’t spend money on the train experience you’ll be offered as well. Not worth it, per our fellow travelers. Also, bring a snack.
In conclusion, I can’t think of a better way to cram in all of Barcelona than with Julia Travel as your guide.

I have to give 2 stars because of 2 major screw ups.
Let’s start with the first one: I got left behind. The guide on the Moderniste bus tour didnt bother doing a head count after meeting back at the bus in Park Guell so they took off without me. I was three minutes late. I dont feel sorry for people who are late but I will assume not everyone’s watch is exactly synced up so, to me, three minutes is not late…10 is late. I called the Julia office as I saw my bus pulling away and they told me that no one was going to come back for me and they also did not offer me any compensation. I took the city bus back. Luckily I knew my way around Barcelona by this point.
Problem #2. I showed up at the travel office at 3:15 for the 3:30 Artistic walking tour. I was told I needed to go to the info center at Placa Catalunya about 4 blocks away. Ok, I go there, look around, dont see anything that resembles a tour group so I got in the info line. It turns out that starting in June (mind you it was already the end of June) that tour starts at 3 pm. So I head back to Julia where they placed me in a different walking tour starting at 4 pm. I headed back down to the info office in Placa Catalunya to find out that tour now starts at 6… starting in June. I walked back to my hotel and took a shower and walked all the way back. I could have taken a cab but I’m cheap. I had already been walking since 9 am and was done with walking!
The good points were that there were absolutely no issues with the Barcelona Highlights tour I took. The guide was awesome. She had a great personality, loved the city and her job and had a sense of humor. The last walking tour had a great guide too.
I wish we had the modern technologies of tour guides in Chicago like the radios with head phones and guides with loudspeakers. It’s so nice to keep moving while listening to the guide as we walk through the city.