Buy in advance tix req'd? Places in Sevilla and Barcelona

For Barcelona is difficult to say as it's an all year long destination. Not only there is internal tourism (within Catalonia), especially schools and seniors, but also international congresses -atendees tend to do tourism in the city as well-, special events, festivities, etc. So while I could say that getting tickets to the most popular attractions a couple of days in advance in Sept is unlikely to be a problem, well, I can't because one never knows. It only takes a cruise or a few dozen buses of visitors willing/needing to visit the same attractions that you on the same day and at the same time to throw your schedule in disarray. So the reflection is: how important to you is visiting this or that? and then decide whether is worth risking it.

Also note that by late Sept there's the festival of La Mercè, which attracts a lot of visitors, both local and foreign alike. Last year, the 4 days that this festival lasts gathered 1.8 million attendees. The festival includes 600+ activities, including some open-days for some attractions. The program will be published a couple of weeks from now at http://lameva.barcelona.cat/merce/en

Having said all that:

1.) Sagrada Família... better book at least a week in advance if you can.

2.) Casa Batlló and La Pedrera have different tickets that can overcome a last minute flood of visitors. For a small premium you can get a ticket with no specific date/time.

3.) Palau de la Música Catalana and Park Güell: I doubt you'll have much trouble booking a couple of days in advance.

But again, this is only gut-feeling as a born and bred Barcelonian... but there's no guarantee since, as I said, Barcelona is an all year long destination.

Enjoy!

The Tarjeta Dorada discount is 40% Monday-Thursday and 25% Friday-Sunday. Enjoy the extra savings! I'm afraid I don't know about the risk of a sell-out on Saturday. I bought all my train tickets at the station after arriving in Spain. Atocha is a challenging place to buy, to put it charitably. Lines can be very long, and if you go in the evening, you may find they have stopped issuing numbers long before closing time. You can try the ticket machines (change language to English), probably paying with cash because of reported issues with US credit cards. If you have difficulty with that and are short on time, I wouldn't hesitate to use the El Corte Ingles ticket agency in the station, though there will be a service charge of some sort.

When I was in Barcelona a few weeks ago, I asked the tourist-office folks how far ahead I needed to book La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell in order to get in when they opened. I was told that 2 days ahead would probably be OK for the church and one day ahead for the park. But no guarantees were given. I wasn't booking a tower, though; coordinating the tower with the general entrance to La Sagrada Familia would complicate things a bit. Still, I think if you're not wedded to a specific date and time and have several days in Barcelona, you should be OK. Going early in the day to those two sites does increase the likelihood that they won't be excessively crowded.

The tourist office sells tickets to many of the places you list, but not tower entry for La Sagrada Familia. If you're going to stop by there early in your visit anyway, you can buy a lot of your tickets in person if you're ready. There's a 2-euro-per-ticket service charge. It was worth it to me for the convenience of getting the tickets there.

A friend booked our 5 PM English-language tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalana several weeks ahead, but I assume that much advance notice isn't necessary. You don't want to miss it, though. I'm not sure the tourist office sells tickets to this site.

The Casa Battlo folks seem determined to get as many people into that building as they can. There can be a line, but that's not the only problem. Even if you buy tickets in advance, conditions inside are likely to be very crowded. La Pedrera is also very popular but wasn't quite as mobbed when I was there. At the end of your visit you'll find lots of information about Gaudi's other buildings, including those located in other cities. If you choose to, you could probably spend 2-1/2 hours at La Pedrera.

For a beautiful mondernista site that gets very few tourists, try Sant Pau. This is a multi-building site, so you want decent weather. Self-guided tours cost only 10 euros, a real bargain compared to a lot of other places in Barcelona. Allow plenty of time to see the upper floor of the main building, which comes at the end of the visit. Don't go late in the afternoon!

There is a small Renfe office at the airport. The agent there will sell you both the TD and a ticket for the next available Sevilla train. You will also get a free ticket on the Cercanias train to Atocha. The agent takes into account the Cercanias timetable and allows for time to get to the AVE train. You really have no idea if your plane will be on time or how long it will take you to get through the airport, so it's not a good idea to buy tickets in advance. I just looked at the schedule for this coming Saturday, trains every hour or two, none sold out. I wouldn't worry about that.

In Sevilla, the royal apartments are only open in the mornings. I believe you can only sign up for a visit (by guided tour only) once you have entered the Alcazar. When you get to the entrance to the apts, you sign up and they put you on the next available tour. Sometimes there are lines to buy the general tickets, sometimes not.

BTW if you are 65+, ask for discounts at all sights. Most have them, only a handful are restricted to residents.

As Enric said, you don't need to book weeks in advance (except SF), but if you only have a short time in Barcelona, you should. You won't want to mess around with buying tickets while you're in Spain seeing other places, and you may not have time to do it once you're in Barcelona (if I understand from your other posts, you will only have 2-3 days in each city). If you are nearby, you can stop and buy tickets at the Palau de la Musica in the morning for a later tour. The groups are small, so chances are, you won't be able to walk up and get places on the next one.

A few weeks ago I bought Park Guell tickets a day before. I was able to get 8:30. 8:00 were gone. If you are traveling soon and it will still be hot buy the earliest timed tickets as you can as there is no shade. The 24 bus was a great way to get up there as it drops you off right in front and also drives down the street with Casa Batilo making for a pleasant ride.
As far as waiting to buy Dorada or buy promo tickets I would buy promo tickets. My experience is if you can buy 60 days ahead they are often cheaper than Dorado. Buying tickets at Atocha is a hassle. There are long lines and trains can sell out while you are in line. It happened to me. If you do opt to buy tickets at Atocha and the lines are long, there are machines to buy tickets. They only take cash.

Gracias everyone for the replies.

I'm concerned about getting train tickets for the trip from Atochas to Seville. We arrive at terminal 4S, and I understand there is a train ticket office in terminal 4, but I cannot find it on the airport map, so I'm not sure if that's current information. I also read about Americans having credit card issues when trying to buy tickets. Will there be a person selling tickets, or just a machine? Will the queues be long at the airport like they are at Atocha?

I would buy ahead online just to avoid the hassles, except I have no idea how long it will take to get through immigration, baggage claim, taxi to Atocha, etc. A good thing is we arrive on a Saturday at 7am, so the traffic should not be awful at that time. I just checked our same flight for today's arrival time, and it was 43 minutes late.

I'm thinking with a 7am scheduled landing, we should be able to make a 10am train out of Atocha. I'm less concerned with discounts (don't get me wrong, I like discounts) than I am with getting to Seville in a timely manner and making good use of our precious time there. I don't want to end up sitting in a train station waiting needlessly for hours after flying all night. But I guess there are no sure things.

Maybe I should just purchase flexible tickets for the 11am train in advance. Worst case, I'd be able to change it if seats are left on earlier or later trains? To change a ticket, must one stand in line?

(We are advising the bank of our trip so they will provide PINS and also hopefully not block our cards due to suspicious use in Spain.)

I've never had to change a train ticket in Spain, but I assume you do have to deal with a human being to do that. I saw people at counters who seemed to be doing that.

I took the bus into the city and didn't actually see the train station (in Terminal 4), but I would be really surprised if there isn't a staffed counter there that can sell you the Tarjeta Dorada as well as tickets to Atocha and from Atocha to Seville, as Chani said. Stop at an ATM first to get cash so you can use a ticket-vending machine if necessary (but you can't purchase the Tarjeta Dorada this way). If the ATM isn't a BBVA machine, you should make multiple 40-euro withdrawals so you get 20-euro notes. I've read (but haven't confirmed) that the vending machines do not accept larger notes.

There are fast trains leaving for Seville at 9:45 AM, 10:40 AM, noon, 1:30 PM and 2 PM. (Those times are for Saturday, September 3.) I'd wait to buy the ticket till I was in Spain since you just never know what will happen with flights.

From looking at the Barajas map, you take a shuttle train from 4S to the main T4. The Cercanias train stops there and there's a manned ticket agent for Renfe. Just follow the airport signage to the trains. Signs usually show a picture of a train. It's kind of in a corner at the end of a terminal hall. It's really pretty simple. I just looked at the Renfe site for trains for tomorrow (Saturday) and it's 11.30 am in Spain, none of the AVE trains are sold out. I wouldn't worry about that at all. The worst case scenario I can think of is that you miss a train by a few minutes and have to wait an hour or two at most.

City train stations have long lines because there are lots of people buying tickets. At the airport, it's only those tourists who have just landed who may need to buy tickets. Locals will use the machines and many people will not need or want the train - even tourists.

Small correction to what Chani said, you can get tickets to tour the royal quarters at the Alcazar in Seville online--link is https://oberonsaas.com/realalcazarsevilla and you want "cuarto real alto." We were there in July and it was great to beat the long lines to get into the Alcazar plus while we were waiting to enter the apartments, several visitors tried to and were turned away since the time slot was full.

I'm so impressed by and grateful for the wonderful responses you have all given me. You're the best! Thank you so much. It really helps to ease the stress of traveling by knowing things in advance.

I'm so excited I can barely wait for this trip to Spain. It has been numero uno on my bucket list for years!

Last October I bought my Tarjeta Dorada at the RENFE counter at Terminal 4. They also sold me my discounted ticket to Salamanca, as well as the commuter train ticket to Chamartin station to catch the Salamanca train.

The place you buy the Dorato at Atoche is a different line from where you buy tickets. Its's like a center kiosk.