Last minute! La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Montserrat with kids

Are you already in Europe, so jetlag is not a factor? If so, and if you can snag tickets before they're sold out, you can certainly manage La Sagrada Famila and Parc Guell on Tuesday. I don't know that it's practical to attempt Montserrat. It's about an hour by train, but first you have to get to the Placa de Espanya station, buy your ticket (vending machine) and wait for the next train. Then at the end of the train trip you have another travel stage (two choices there) before you even reach the monastery. I'd expect the entire trip to take more than half a day for most tourists, based on what I've read, and it seems that you probably won't have that much time.

I haven't ascended a tower myself. You don't have to do that just because it's possible.

If Tuesday is the morning you arrive in Barcelona after an overnight flight from the US or Canada, take my advice: Don't spend the money for four advance tickets to sights you probably won't feel like visiting in your jetlagged, sleep-deprived state.

Good point about the jetlag. Yes, we arrive Barcelona from Chicago at 12:00 Tuesday, and will need to be to Zaragoza by 18:00 on Wednesday for a concert. Any thoughts on combinations of these attractions?

La Sagrada Familia
Park Guell
Montjuic
LaBoqueria

Oh, gosh, I'm brain dead on my arrival day. I know some people are able to sleep on planes and are pretty perky (plus there's the excitement of being in Europe!). I am not one of them. All I want to do is crawl into bed. That's bad for killing jetlag, though. It's really best to stay outside. So Parc Guell is not a bad idea except that you may be a walking zombie and it's not exactly free. From what we're hearing (I was in Barcelona 3 years ago), if you just show up at Parc Guell you're likely to be in a very long line. You may well find that you need to keep moving to stay awake.

I feel like your choice is to commit the up-front money by buying Parc Guell tickets or find something different to do. I'm cheap, so I'd head for the Barri Gotic (medieval) or the Eixample (modernista) and look at the (free!) exteriors of the buildings. La Boqueria is a good place to get food if you're hungry at a time outside the local norms.

You can also head to La Sagrada Familia to see the outside of the building.

I'm sorry not to have any specifically child-friendly suggestions, but I don't have kids.

Hello, with roughly 24 hrs starting on your arrival day, I feel you could do two things:

Parc Guell on Tuesday afternoon and La Sagrada Familia on Wednesday morning
or
Barri Gòtic/La Boqueria on Tuesday afternoon and Montjuïc (maybe MNAC too?) on Wednesday morning

Of course you can mix and match sites, but these are the potential combinations I would do.

Regarding transportation to Zaragoza the AVE high speed train is the fastest, most comfortable, and efficient option, as it takes you from city center to city center and the travel time is roughly 2 hours. I would be at Barcelona Sants Station about 1 hr before the train departure, as one has to go through a bit of security.

No, its not possible. Do the park & church. Park first as its difficult to time. Do not try to get to the park by public transport. Either take a tour or a taxi and (I don't know quite how to put this) make it clear to the taxi that you do want to go to the main entrance to the park but to the entrance that is at the highest level of the Gaudi works. That way you walk downhill to the exit which is then at the main entrance.

Thanks for all the feedback. The only way to fit LSF in was to buy tickets for Tuesday late afternoon. Then we me have Wednesday up until our 15:20 AVE ride to Zaragoza.

So that leaves a good part of Wednesday to explore... We can buy tickets for Park Guell at 9:00. If we do that, what to do after?