We will be in Barcelona in a few weeks and have planned a Gaudi Day for a Saturday. With the timed entry tickets to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi Museum and Parc Guell, I'm wondering how much time to allow for each and in what order. We're staying near La Rambla and so would likely take a bus. Do we start at Sagrada Familia in the morning and then go to the Parc and Museum in the afternoon? With the heat and the crowds, not sure in which order to see these. And how much time to allot for each. Appreciate any comments.
Posted by
Washington DC
28082 posts
There have been a number of posts about scheduling the Gaudi sights, especially La Sagrada Familia, in the last 2 months or so. If you search for Sagrada Familia, they should pop up. I think one poster mentioned spending about 2-1/2 hours at the church (including tower), and it has been suggested that it's a good idea to schedule the most crowded sight at the time it opens. But do check the earlier posts to get an overview of what multiple people have said. I'm not due in Barcelona till August 1, so I'm not speaking from experience.
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2681 posts
We started up at Parc Guell and worked our way down to Sagrada Familia. It was a nice walk down from the park through a neighborhood called Gracia, which Enric on this website suggested. Also, not sure how many are in your party, but we took a cab up to Parc Guell and it was only 10 euros, and we felt that was the simplest way to get there. Your fare might be a bit higher as we were at the Hotel Europark and it's closer to Parc Guell than where you're staying.
Parc Guell is strict on entry time as they count people both in and out of the site. We had 9am reservations there and, since the park was not full when we arrived, they went ahead and let us in a little early. Sagrada Familia is even stricter - don't bother arriving there before your ticketed time as you'll have to wait.
As to time to allot - I won't weigh in. I'm fast at sites, I think.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Given that it is approaching the height of summer I would start at Park Guell (unless you are considering a pre sunset visit). From here it's a downhill walk of about 30mins to Sagrada Familia.
Make your Gaudi day complete with a visit to Casa Mila or Casa Batllo. Allocate time blocks as such ...
1000-1300 Park Guell
1300-1400 Lunch
1400-1700 Sagrada Familia
1700-2000 Casa Mila or Casa Batllo
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks for the responses Djp_syd and Valerie. They were both helpful, particularly suggesting we start at Parc Guell early in the morning and walk down to Sagrada Familia. That may put us at Sagrada late morning with a few (lots!) more people, but better that than being in the Park in the heat of the day!
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
3071 posts
@snap2012, this is the post Valerie was referring to... check WED16 at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187497-i44-k7350676-First_Timers_Help_With_5_Day_Itinerary-Barcelona_Catalonia.html#57433425 and the route I mention is detailed here: http://bit.ly/DIYroute-pg-sf
Note that in summer, especially August, is C-O-M-P-U-L-S-O-R-Y to pre-book most attractions in Barcelona. Period. The number of visitors this year has increased (again!) and the hordes in Sagrada Família and elsewhere could look a bit like this, LOL! -hint: this is not actually a line for the Sagrada Família, huh? :)))
Posted by
Midwest
2768 posts
If you pay more you can get "VIP" tickets at Casa Batllo and Casa Mila - these are untimed, you just walk in the reserved door whenever you want. I used these because with timed tickets on a day with several sights you risk having to rush to get there or scheduling too much time one place so you are waiting around wasting time.
Of course Sagrada Familia and Park Guell are timed. So you could do these early and late, with untimed visits in the middle where possible.