Barcelona: Palau Guell or Park Guell

I would do that. I was impressed by palau guell. Park Guell did not do that much for me compared to the rest of Gaudi’s work. And Barri Gothic is very charming

Well Joanne, are you aware that the Guell family moved away from Palau Guell because it was so dark, and moved out by Park Guell? I went to both, and neither was in the top tier of my sites and experiences. Palau Guell is elegant and lovely, but quite dark, lots of dark wood paneling. stairways. etc. I got quite tired climbing several long flights of stairs, and almost left before the roof. Glad I did not, because the roof was the best part in my opinion, light of course, and creative and colorful. It was almost as if Gaudi followed Mr. Guell's more traditional orders in designing the house, then was allowed to do his own thing on the roof! (By the way, two different Palau Guell staff steered me toward Tapas Guell, almost across the street, and I found the food and drink there great and reasonably priced.) Park Guell is the opposite, almost all outside, and quite creative and whimsical, not really a building. With limited time, I would certainly take that time to stroll around the neighborhoods of the old city. There might be better sites and experiences there than taking a couple of hours in the Palau Guell, IMHO.

I enjoyed both places and don't have a strong preference either way. Being able to see the Barri Gotic in addition to the Palau Guell would be a plus.

Are you aware that Parc Guell almost certainly requires a pre-purchased ticket to avoid a lengthy wait in line, and the same often applies to Palau Guell?

Most cruise lines offer shuttle bus transfers from the distant berths to Colon, at the bottom of the Ramblas. Try for this schedule.

13:00 Disembark & take ship’s shuttle to Colon
13:30 Walk Ramblas from Colon to Palau Guell
15:30 Continue along Ramblas for Metro Line 3 (green) from Liceu to Lesseps
16:30 Arrive for timed entry to Park Guell
18;30 Park Guell closes

Another suggestion is Runner Bean free Walking Tours. We enjoyed the Gothic Quarter Tour. The tour guide was knowledgeable and passionate. They have a 3 pm tour in October. It's a 2.5 hr. tour.
runnerbeantours.com.

Thanks all for your helpful advice. And yes, acraven, I am aware of the need for pre-purchased timed tickets for both options. We learned that the hard way on our earlier trip to Barcelona when we traveled all the way to Park Guell by metro, (and it's a long, uphill walk from the station to the park) without a ticket. Bad idea! Won't make that mistake again. We will book tickets online.

Expanding on Larry's point... actually, Park Güell was initially intended as a gated community for the bourgeoisie of the city.

Background

For centuries the city, like many others in Europe, had a wall -actually Barcelona had three, which where built progressively as the medieval city expanded- to protect its citizens from attacks: Barbarians, Vikings, pirates, Moors, Turkish, Genovese, French, Spanish(Castilian)... you name it. However, by the early 1800s, with the generalisation of more powerful weapons, namely cannons, the practicality of a wall ceased to exist and also the demographic explosion required more space, so most cities tore down theirs.

Here in Catalonia however, after having lost the war against the Spanish a century before (1701-1715), the population was being submitted by the Spanish and in order to limit its expansion, its capital city Barcelona was not allowed to grow. Constricted by its medieval walls, Barcelona was suffocating and this caused terrible overcrowding problems which led to several health plagues which affected a large chunk of its inhabitants. To top it up, in early 1821 a boat from the Americas brought the Yellow Fever to the city and by September that year, some 350 people were dying every day.

Still, the Spanish did not allow the Catalans to expand their capital to alleviate this overcrowding. It wasn't until 1849 when the fed-up citizens of Barcelona were about to once more revolt against the authoritarian Spanish authorities that led to being finally allowed for the wall to be demolished and the city to expand. A public tender was issued and seven projects were presented. Initially, Antoni Rovira's was chosen as his project presented a more modern approach, in line with Paris's Haussmann plan or Viena's residential ring, but the Spanish authorities vetoed it and Idelfons Cerdà's project was chosen instead giving what's today known as l'Eixample district.

The first to move out of the crowded Old City district were the bourgeoisie which erected beautiful homes across l'Eixample (ie Casa Batlló, Casa Elizalde, Palau Robert....). Those richer even had "summer villas" further out, in the towns and villages of the plain -today's neighbourhoods of Gràcia, Horta, Carmel and Sant Gervasi.

Count Eusebi Güell, one of the richest industrialists in the city and patron of the arts, embarked on a real estate project to build a gated community for the super-rich in one of his estates, today's Park Güell. He commissioned his friend Antoni Gaudí to design the housing. Initially, the plan intended for 60 plots in the forest of this hill known as El Carmel. They would be interconnected by a myriad of trails and staircases and there would be some common grounds for the neighbours to meet and socialize. Today we'd probably build a pub and a pool but at the time, flower gardens, a marketplace and a large square with views over the city to celebrate events -like this gathering in 1906 to dance the sardana, the National dance of Catalonia- was preferred.

Unfortunately, the complex conditions for sale of the plots, under old emphyteusis (lifetime leasehold) contracts, the lack of a suitable transport system and the highly exclusive character of the development all made it unviable. A lack of buyers led to the works being abandoned in 1914, with only two of the sixty houses envisaged having been built. Eusebi Güell died at his house in 1918, and his heirs offered the park to the City Council, which agreed to purchase it. It was opened as a municipal park in 1926.

Enric,

How interesting. Thanks for sharing the history.