Our cruise will bring us to Barcelona on Nov. 16 (Thursday); we will be in port for 12 hours (8 - 8)
NOT A LOT OF TIME; that is the problem!!!!
How would you spend your time?
When I do excursions on my own, I like to plan on being on the ship 2 hours prior to leaving, so realistically, we will be there from 9 ish to 6ish (9 hours!!).
THANKS!!
That's around the time they eat dinner, so do that. Then you should go clubbing til dawn like the locals do.
Dear OP,
24 clocks exist for reason.
Your personal interests will influence your choices. Given the limited time you have I would suggest getting a guide. We have used Tours by Locals both in Madrid and Barcelona. The guides have been very good and on the one occasion when a guide could not make the engagement last minute, the company stepped in and found us another. We’ve been to Barcelona many times. A do not miss is Gaudi’s nearly finished masterpiece La Sagrada Familia. You’ll not see anything like it. If you can hire a guide to visit the church, perhaps a walking tour of the old section of Barcelona, maybe Park Guell that would be a full day and allow you to not miss your departure.
1) I think your top priority should be to see La Sagrada Familia. Even though it is still being built, it is exquisite and must see. One of my favorite places I’ve been. I believe the experience is even better with a guide or audio guide to help you understand what you’re seeing. A walk up one of the towers would be the cherry on top, but you might forgo that so you can see more in Barca.
2) Depends on your interests. You could see a Picasso museum. You could see Gaudi masterpieces. You could wander the old town. You could see if FC Barca is playing (probably not time). You could go to Barcelonetta and beach. Shop until you drop. And much, much more.
I think with the time you have La Familia Sagrada is your top target. Anything else is gravy.
This is admittedly architecture-heavy but I just love art nouveau/modernisme…
IMO, Sagrada Familia is the must see of must sees, so check timed ticket avails. It’s Nov, so I imagine you’ll have options galore. It’s a half hour taxi from the cruise pier so if u can get an early time, do that first. -or- just spring for their excursion w the understanding that you don’t need a ride back. (1.5-2 hours)
Take Metro to Palau de la Musica Catalan (timed tour but shortish). Grab tapas lunch nearby after.
Taxi or metro to and start Rick’s Eixample Walk. Casa Batllo is amazing as a ticketed tour but time is short and just seeing the outside is fantastic too. Get souvenirs at the market in this walking tour. *You can also get good cheap conservas and paprika at a decent grocery you’ll walk past
Wrap it up w a visit to La Boqueria market for a vermut and people watching or find an outdoor bar that scratches that itch.
Wildcard
The Spanish Civil War walking tours by Nick Lloyd is fantastic but I don’t know if it works w your schedule. If you got a group of 12 folks from the cruise interested, he’d likely tailor one for your limited time if he’s not already engaged that day
Agree with the Sagrada Familia recommendations! I also enjoyed getting lost wandering the Barri Gòtic.
Chris: You state to take a 1/2 hour taxi ride rom pier to Sagrada Familia............do you happen to know if there will be plenty of taxi's waiting for us, OR, will there be a mad dash to get a taxi?
ALSO, approx how much is a taxi--do they charge per person or for a car load?
THANKS in advance!!
I’m in Barcelona now. A 30 minute taxi ride was 18.20 euros. You can share a taxi. You call or email ahead using the Barcelona taxi website.
Right now It takes about an hour to get one so prearranging is best.
They have small ones for 2-3 people and large ones I saw 5-6 people.
I’ve had two taxi experiences both very professional and pleasant!
There is overwhelming traffic due to the overwhelming construction causing detours and delays. Down at the pier where you enter the city it’s a stand still. Both my drivers alluded to this.
Also today there were planned demonstrations for Palestine being set up last evening causing more delays and detours for all. I’m avoiding all of these areas.
I suggest using www.toursbylocacals.com. I think they could help with getting you off the pier.
As others mentioned LaSagrada Famalia, market/tapas everywhere!, Parc Guell (book ahead on line), just walking around!
Enjoy.
I’m just learning the city has moved the cruise ships from the south end of Las Ramblas.
You’ll be at pier Moll d’Adosst more north.
I have not been there yet.
For the short amount of time that you will be in Barcelona, I also recommend that you hire a private guide. A private guide will be better than a group tour, if you can afford it. Sometimes with a large group it’s difficult to hear the tour guide unless everyone has headphones. But, regardless of whether it’s a private guide or a group tour, I think you will be able to see the most in one day with a guided tour.
Check the excursion times for the cruise line. They're going to go to many of the places suggested here - if you make your own arrangements or hire a private guide, this will be helpful so you can (maybe) visit before or after the big hordes are there. The docking schedule indicates there are three ships docked in Barcelona on November 16 so you will not be alone. Recent threads on this topic indicate your cruise port location has been pushed farther away from city center, taking precious time away from your visit. It may be that a ship excursion (that includes transportation) will price out more favorably cost and time wise.
I would prioritize Sagrada Familia as well, it is a unique and singularly Barcelona icon.
That half hour taxi wait makes public transit a more attractive option, but that means a bit more walking from the ship. (No idea how much)
Im circling back to the shore excursion idea to kick off your day.
Does anyone know how much walking? I walk 4 miles daily just for the sake of walking.
So the cruise ship is now further away from town (ugh), you mentioned public transportation.......I assume these are buses.....does anyone know how long the walk would be (approx) to get to a bus? AND then, how far would I stay on the bus to get to Sageada Familia?
Could I walk from the new pier location (Adossat Quay I believe) to LaRambla? I'd also enjoy LaBouqueria
I used the CityMapper app (recommended) to figure this out...
Unfortunately, Moll Adossat is nearly 2 miles from the nearest Metro stations, Paral-lel and Drassanes.
Option 1: CityMapper estimates 37 minutes to walk to the Paral-lel Metro Station and 2 minutes to get down to the Metro platform. You'd then wait for the next subway train (Line 2), travel six stations north to the Sagrada Familia Station (taking about 10 minutes), exit the station (3 minutes) and walk to the church (another 3 minutes.
Option 2: Walk to Drassanes Metro Station (35 minutes) and descend to the platform (2 minutes). Wait for the next northbound Line 3 train and travel four stations north to the Diagonal Metro Station (6 minutes), exit the station (2 minutes) and walk to the church (19 minutes).
Other options require bus + Metro and don't seem to be better. CityMapper isn't identifying a bus stop much closer to Moll Adossat than the Drassanes Metro Station. There's a bus stop called "Les Drassanes" about a 30-minute walk from the quay, but you'd probably have a wait for the bus and then later a wait for the Metro.
The CityMapper app is helpful in identifying bus stops, though in this case buses won't save much, if any, time unless there are buses CityMapper doesn't know about.
It would be worthwhile to see whether Google Maps comes up with a better solution.
For both apps, it's important to specify when you want to make the trek. Bus routes and frequencies can vary a lot by time of day and day of week.
THANK you for all of your advice!!!!!!
I think I'll take Acraven's advice and walk to Train station since we both love the outdoors and both love to walk, (and that it is a 30 minute taxi ride). I'd rather walk and see the sites slowing than through a taxi window.
BUT, do any of you know, is that 37 minute walk from the ship to the train station (Paral lel Metro), is that mostly an industrial walk & yucky scenery, or is most of it an enjoyable walk?
I'm not very techy, so this is why I REALLY appreciated the exact details of Acraven....I can follow details like that!! WHEN I GET TO THE train station, is it easy to buy tickets?
After seeing the Sagrada Familia, I would like to to see:
1. Park Guell
2. Casa Batllo (I understand a few minute walk from Placa de Catalunja)
ARE THESE places walkable from Sagrada Familia, or would I need to take a Taxi (prefer bus or local train)? AND, what order makes sense to see these places?
THANKS AGAIN for all of your kind responses to this NOT TECHY lady!!
Take a look at Google Maps. It appears that much of the walk will be along the quay. I'm doubtful the first part of the walk will be very interesting. However, it wouldn't surprise me if you'd need to do that first part anyway, in order to reach a taxi.
Google Maps may allow you to see pictures of the walk you'd need to take. I don't do that very often, so I may not have this exactly right, but if you fiddle around with it, you'll be able to figure it out:
Buying Metro tickets will be easy. The vending machines will have an English-language option (look for the British flag if you don't see an "English" button). I don't remember hearing about issues with using US credit cards. If you have euro currency, that should be usable as well. There may also be a staffed ticket booth. Note: Some subway stations now allow you to ride by just tapping your credit card on the entrance gate, so you don't have to go through the step of buying a ticket. I don't know whether Barcelona allows this. You should be able to find that info via Google. I haven't used public transit in Barcelona since 2016 and am not up on the current procedure.
You can use Google Maps as described above to plot the path from La Sagrada Familia to Parc Guell and from Parc Guell to Casa Batllo. The short answer is that Parc Guell isn't really within walking distance when you have just one day in the city. It's uphill on the way to the park; on the way back to the center of the city, it's a pleasant and interesting downhill walk, but not really short enough to be practical for you. Even taking the Metro may not be advisable, because the Metro station is a lot lower than the park. There are buses (Google Maps will provide routing info if you click on the train icon at the upper left) that get you closer to the park than the Metro does, but in your position I'd take a taxi from the church. Barcelona taxis are not terribly expensive, and your time is valuable.
Casa Batllo is walkable from La Sagrada Familia at just over a mile, if you decide to visit Casa Batllo before Parc Guell. The Eixample is an attractive neighborhood, and you might bump into other Modernista buildings along the way in addition to the obvious ones in the same block as Casa Batllo. Google Maps will give you public-transit options that would save a few minutes if you don't get lost on the way to the Metro station or bus stop. (I'd walk.) I can't guarantee there will be a ticket-vending machine at a bus stop, so it would be smart to plan your transit use ahead of time and buy more than one ticket at the first Metro station you encounter.
Out of space. Continued in next post.
Continuing...
You're going to have a scheduling issue. All three of your target sights require pre-purchase of time-specific entry tickets. If you show up without a ticket at any of them, you are likely to be in an extraordinarily long line; it could be hours long. So you need to figure out/estimate how much time you'll want to spend at each location and how much time it will take you to get to the next stop on your itinerary. This is made more complicated by the fact that you may well not get inside a sight at precisely the time shown on your ticket. Casa Batllo was unbelievably crowded in 2016, and they appeared to be metering people in based on how many people had just left.
Don't forget you'll need lunch somewhere along the way.
Honestly, I'd be inclined to skip Parc Guell this time around because of the logistical issue. It is interesting, but there are many interesting things to see in Barcelona. You could instead walk from either La Sagrada Familia or Casa Batllo down to the Barri Gotic, seeing at least the fabulous exterior of the Palau de la Musica Catalana along the way. The Palau offers English-language tours which, unfortunately, often need to be prebooked because they can sell out.
It's too bad that so many of the top sights in Barcelona require pre-committing to an entry time, because it makes it difficult to create an efficient sightseeing schedule. One sight that does not require purchase of tickets in advance is the Recinte Modernista de Sant Paul, a modernista former hospital complex with multiple buildings that's located only about 1/2 mile from La Sagrada Familia. You can walk right up, buy a ticket and go inside.
Merryvm do you have a smart phone with a map app? You mention you are not tech person, but all of your recent questions about cruise stops with minimal time mean you're going to need to be very, very efficient with your time and minimize getting lost. Tech tools are going to be essential (IMHO). Also as acraven has very accurately laid out, you need to pre-purchase tickets for many of the sites you want to see, and you really should buy tickets asap since your cruise starts in two weeks.
You have stated you prefer walking and using public transit, but are you willing to sacrifice precious time figuring out how to get around when you only have 9 hours to visit one of the world's most beautiful and interesting cities? If you had several days I wouldn't hesitate to advise walking and transit, but you don't have that time. Again, I'd suggest looking at the cruise ship offerings. Depending on your own personal priorities, Barcelona might be one stop where an excursion maximizes your time and gets you entrances to the places you want to see. But that's just my two cents - you do you. Enjoy your trip.
Park Guell is not doable on your schedule.
A short walk from Sagrada Familia is the fantastic St Pau Hospital if you want a good substitute. In that case, you’d be skipping the awesome Palau de La Musica Catalana (unless you made this your first stop). St. Pau is a more spread out site and has no crowds so that’s nice.
Battllo is amazing, it’s peak Gaudi.
You can’t go wrong with any of those places
WOW, THANKS to all of you who have taken the time to help me out!! I DO have a smart phone and I KNOW that I don't utilize it like I should. I just don't always understand what I need to do. I guess I will download google maps (my children tell me that I NEED to use google maps when getting around town. I started to use WAZE and like that but I guess "this old dog will have to learn new tricks!!"
This summer I was in Barcelona for a weekend only.
First, I’ve been on funicular (they call it Teleferic), amazing way to go uphill to Montjuic as a panoramic viewpoint to the city. Another my choice was a segway tour, by my opinion it was the best idea to cover central part of Barcelona to see sights and get brief info about the city. I got 2h tour but definitely, next time we will go on 3h. I was completely satisfied with eurosegway.es.
The second day we were on a bus tour, but if you're only in the city for 12 hours, not sure if this would be a good idea, it's a bit hectic.
merryvm just noticed your updated comment re: using Waze. I am not sure if it works overseas (do some research) but it's definitely going to require a data connection on your cell phone. Not sure you've thought of that yet, but you'll need some kind of international plan on your current phone - your kids can help figure that out so you don't get hit with a huge phone bill :) BTW I also second acraven suggestion to use CityMapper - it works very well especially for public transportation in big cities (Barcelona is covered).
If your phone allows use of an eSIM (Google "Samsung S23 Ultra eSIM", subsituting the model of phone you have), you can buy one and install it (it's not a physical SIM card, just a short software download) and do the basic set-up before you leave home, if you want to.
If your phone is eSIM-compatible and you want to explore this option, give us a list of all your cruise ports and we may be able to help you.
To Bill Sinclair:
there are two funiculars to montjuic ;)
One of them exact cable car called Teleferic
We just returned last night from a vacation in Spain that started with 4 days in Barcelona and was wonderful.
My first question would be how active & fit are you? While walking between the sites takes time, and it also would require a little extra logistical work to line them up properly, Barcelona is much better experienced on foot.
Regardless, my short list would be to put Sagrada Familia (interior tour especially for the stained glass) first on the priority list. A strong second on the list is the Palau de la Musica Catalana (interior tour as well). Next would be doing either a self-guided walking tour OR a guided bicycle tour. I'd finish with interior tours of one of the Gaudi homes like Casa Vicens or Palau Guell. We didn't do the Casa Battlo or La Pedrera-Casa Milà interior tours, but the Vicens and Guell homes were enjoyable (liked Palau Guell better). I didn't find Park Guell all that worthwhile especially as the weather was great and many folks were visiting. I'd skip it if it meant keeping the other options on my list.
From a timing perspective, get off the cruise ship ASAP (8am if possible). There should be a very short (free) shuttle bus ride from your ship to a bus area right next to Placa de les Drassanes, so you won't be hoofing it from/to Mol Adossat. That's pretty close to the bottom end of the Ramblas, so you could easily start and/or end your exploration with a bit of the Ramblas. Since many of the suggestions are on or close to the Ramblas (RS's walking tour included), you'll have lots of time to decide if you want to spend more or less time walking it beyond using it to get around.
Also, there should be options for tapas and pinxtos, and you can easily pop in and out of places trying just a few (or many) with no huge time commitment. Pinxtos especially are quick and easy, so peak in and see if there are some interesting ones, have a few, and move on (or have a beer/wine and stay a while).
With good sunlight, the inside of the Sagrada Familia was beautiful (maybe less so in darker/overcast days), and likewise the Palau de la Musica Catalana, and we were lucky enough to also take in a concert which made us appreciate the acoustics as well as the beautiful interior. The bike tour we did covered a LOT of town in 2.5 hours and was a great orientation for us, and started/ended at Placa de la Catalunya which is not too far from the cruise ship (~1 mile up the Ramblas). If you aren't planning on going inside all the different Gaudi sites, a ride will cover several of them, so you could easily see just the outside of them (often most interesting parts) just on that ride. And RS's Eixample walk will likely take you past some open bars/restaurants that you can pop into for food.
Have FUN!
So Tom, since you just were at the Sagrada Familia, please tell me how busy they were........were there people lined up to get tickets? I looked on line and there are plenty of tickets for Thursday Nov. 16.
I just hesitate buying those timed tickets because I have no idea when we'll get off the ship. Someone told me to wait until the afternoon because the crowds are basically gone. Did you find this to be true?
I think not buying a ticket in advance is risky. Will you be crushed if you can't go inside the church? You could buy a ticket for a safe time later in the day; La Sagrada Familia doesn't necessarily have to be your first stop. Even if you had the first entry time (I assume not safe for someone off a cruise ship), within 15 or 20 minutes the second group would show up, and then the third... The top sights in Barcelona always seem to be slammed. The good thing about La Sagrada Familia is that much of what you're looking at is above people's heads, so you still have a decent view. Believe me, the Picasso Museum is a totally different situation; it's hard to get close enough to the wall to read the labels.
Hi, to clarify some misunderstanding:
There is ONE funicular going up to Montjuïc and TWO cable cars, one departing from Barceloneta and reaching the "middle" of Montjuïc hill, and another one departing from nearby this last stop to the top, where de fortress is located. "Funicular" is like a train ascending slopes and "telefèric" is a mid-air suspended cabin on a continuously moving cable driven by a motor at one end of the route.
Funicular: https://vesping.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/funicular-monjuic.jpg
Telefèric del Port (cable car): https://yourguidebarcelona.com/cable-car-port-montjuic-barcelona/index.jpg
Telefèric de Montjuïc (cable car): https://pro.static.holabarcelona.com/images/1885/resize/296/526/5.jpg
@merryvm - we had timed entry for 3:30pm (15:30) on Wednesday Oct 18. There were "crowds" milling around inside and out but definitely not full capacity but, to me, larger than I normally expect from mid-shoulder season travel on a weekday afternoon. Since we had a timed entry ticket, I didn't look at the queue for tickets (and likely would still skip that line and buy online anyway "day of" if possible), but don't recall it tripping my memory as "those poor folks waiting in line for tickets" like other sites around Barcelona did.
Our bike ride earlier took us to a short-ish stop to wander outside the church where you could fairly easily see and photograph the exterior, so if you're only/mostly excited by that bit (exterior), I think the "risk" is fine to wait to try to get a timed entry ticket (online as you prepare to leave the ship or in the queue at the church), but the guided tour and the tower ticket options might be more likely to sell out (?) if you wait too much. We found the interior - especially the afternoon sun lighting the huge stained glass windows and casting light on the relatively uncluttered interior - to be the best part of our visit to the church, so I'd encourage folks to go inside.
Not knowing when you will get off the ship or even the weather that day does complicate the "timing it optimally", but realistically, if the Sagrada Familia is #1 priority, anything after 10am (10:00) is generally a safe bet to me if you are getting off ASAP and taking a cab/uber/other to go clear across the heart of town to the church (say 30 min to get off & find transport and 30 min from there to the church). Walking is a solid hour from Placa de les Drassanes - but would give you much/most of a Ramblas experience, and also a chance to snack, shop, and sightsee along the way - including some other Gaudi & contemporary architects plus parts of RS's walking tour.
Of course, you could also cab/uber/metro to the church for a morning visit, and then walk back from there taking in the other high priority stops along the way and include lunch as well. A wander starting at the church, then stopping at Casa Mila, Battlan, Musica Catalana, Boqueria market, & Palau Guell ending at Placa Drassanes (with Ramblas and lunch/snacking/shopping along the way) would eat up a nice 4+ hours - maybe 6-8hrs if getting tours of a couple of these other stops (definitely try for the Palau de la Musica Catalana guided tour @ ~1hr & maybe the Palau Guell tour also @ ~1hr).
Long story short, though, I don't remember long lines or huge crowds (there were plenty of people, though) for a MID-week, MID-afternoon visit to the church.
Folks also have recommended the Picasso museum in Barcelona. This is a huge "it depends" to me.
Why? It depends on the rest of your cruise & land itinerary as Picasso has nice museums scattered about that area, so I've yet to have a "must see" one, but rather have found it nice to see his works along the way depending where we are and time options. This trip we visited his museum in Malaga (likely cruise stop) - lovely and not too crowded. Last year in Madrid (possible land stop for you) was Guernica at the Reina Sofia museum and that has other works as well beyond Picasso. And Nice, France might be a stop for the ship, and the Picasso museum in Antibes is not too far down the coast and also was (in the past) less busy and had a lovely location.
IOW, Picasso was prolific and also "local" to the Spain/France area you might be visiting on the cruise beyond Barcelona, so maybe not the top of the list for "general" art fans (vs deeper Picasso fans) when the other museums are available too.
