During Best of Spain Barcelona itinerary, The tour visits Gaudi buildings in Example neighborhood. Does the tour group enter any of the buildings or just pass by exteriors? If not, any thoughts on coming back during free time? Casa Batillo looks intriguing. Is it worth the Euros spent for tix? Any others?
Posted by
Walnut Creek, CA
557 posts
We went on this tour in October 2022. The only Gaudi building we entered and toured with the group was Sagrada Familia. We used our free time to visit Casa Vicens. We have previously visited both buildings -La Pedrera, which we liked more than Casa Battlo. The admission was expensive. I recommend visiting the palau de la musica catalana or Hospital Sant Pau over casa battlo.
Posted by
Washington DC
27188 posts
I, too, preferred (slightly) Casa Mila/La Pedrera to Casa Batllo. Both will be very crowded, but for me Casa Batllo was just a bit worse in 2016. I don't think either could be worse today than they were back then, because the fire marshal surely would not permit it. I assume they are selling out earlier, however.
"Worth it" is in the eyes of the beholder. I'm an Art Nouveau junkie but didn't have to pay today's prices to see Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. I'm in no hurry to return if I have to pay so much. (I will go back to La Sagrada Familia on my next trip.) I wouldn't recommend going to both Casa Mila and Casa Batllo unless you are nuts for that sort of architecture (in which case you wouldn't have asked the question).
To me Casa Vicens (while blessedly uncrowded) is much less interesting that the other Gaudi sites in Barcelona. There weren't very many restored rooms in 2019, and they lacked the over-the-top decor of Casa Batllo and Casa Mila. I'd definitely opt for Sant Pau or the Palau de la Musica Catalana over Casa Vicens, and some people prefer them to Casa Mila and Casa Batllo--a matter of stylistic preference; I love them all. Sant Pau and the Palau may well be a bit cheaper, too. The Palau's English-language tours can sell out, so it requires a bit of planning ahead, but it will not be packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Sant Pau was still getting only very light tourist traffic at the time of my 2019 visit, and I haven't read anything here to suggest that has changed. You can just walk up to the ticket counter, buy a ticket, and go right in. Don't try that at any of the Gaudi sites!
Posted by
Paris
6918 posts
The Gaudí buildings tickets are horribly expensive these days IMO. Barcelona is really milking the Gaudí cow - and I won't blame them.
Hospital de Sant Pau is still expensive for what you can see, but it was pleaseantly uncrowded in my December visit and it is a remarkable building complex (even for someone like me who is definitely not an art nouveau junkie!).