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Help with itinerary

Posted by (Chicago) on

Thanks to all who replied previously when I asked about hotels etc for Barcelona. We are all set and will be staying in the Eixample area. While I really wanted the Gracia area, using my points for another hotel really seemed smart. We normally do not stay on hotels when we travel but could not pass this up. We arrive On a Tuesday early morning to Madrid and will be taking the train to Barcelona. We plan to arrive about 2pm in Barcelona head to hotel get organized and then let our bodies tell us the next plan for that day. Most likely we will eat late and retire. Here is my remainder itinerary/ideas.

Wednesday/ La Sagrada Familia (timed ticket bought 11:15 and tower 11:30)
Walk on over after to Sant Pau Hospital/Lunch/Head back towards Eixample and explore

Thursday/grab small bite at La Boqueria/Explore Barri Gotic area and head then to Picasso museum/lunch El Born area/maybe afternoon shopping a bit and more exploring
Friday/Park Guell and La Pedrera lunch in Gracia area and exploring/Plaça de España and magic fountain at night
Saturday/Biking in Citadel park possibly/Barceloneta exploring and lunch/Casa Batilo and maybe Casa Lleo Morera
Sunday/Leisurely morning exploring and Sardana dances at noon. Head possibly to Montjuic and then lunch and a bit of shopping.
Monday/fly back to the states
While this is a rough draft I feel like I can fit more in. Thoughts?

Posted by
28802 posts

Casa Lleo Morera has been closed since at least August 2016 and is not expected to reopen. Be very careful about depending on information printed in a guidebook that is as old as your source apparently is.

Posted by
39 posts

Try to fit in a tour or performance at the Catalan Palace of Music. It’s a gorgeous place. You will love Barcelona.

Posted by
44 posts

Thx for heads up on Casa Morero. RS 2017 Spain is my current reference. Anyone have thoughts on Sagrada Familia times ticket entry? It looks like there is only 15 minutes between when we need to enter the tower. Not sure if that’s enough time. The Palace of Catalan music is definitely a must see and will fit that in. We are traveling for the first time with our youngest daughter who is the last one home now. At 15 I am also trying to make sure I have some fun things for her to do. She of course wants to shop but also has interest in possibly a cooking school? Loves architecture so that is covered! Any other ideas for a teen would be great. With only 5 full days to explore we are not planning a side trip and will happily explore Barcelona solely.

Posted by
28802 posts

I believe the ticketing procedure at La Sagrada Familia is intended to have folks holding tower tickets enter the church and immediately line up to ascend the tower. Having an 11:15 AM entry time to LSF doesn't mean you'll get through the door at exactly that time, and one can easily spend 90 minutes or so seeing the church--excluding the tower--if you include the small museum. (Probably some people spend more time; I'm sure many spend less.) No one anticipates that you'll see the church before the tower.

I don't actually like the way it is structured. If you don't care about ascending a tower, you can buy a ticket for the first entry time and walk into an empty church with no holdovers from earlier time slots, making for a relatively uncrowded experience until holders of later tickets are able to enter. It's an opportunity to be relished in Barcelona. If you want to go up a tower, you don't have any way to see the church without crowds (except for those few minutes to look around you while you are lined up).

Edited to add: I meant to give you the link to Rick's guidebook updates. It's always good to check here since it's impossible for a published book to have totally up-to-date info on everything. https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/guidebook-updates

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