Parc Guell and Magic Fonts Questions

Parc Güell is located on a hill and has several entrances, for a weird reason, most foreign guidebooks and also the TI recommend either the main gate (at the very bottom of the park) or the west gate -after a long steep hilly walk!. I always recommend the east gate instead, mainly because there are two bus lines that take you straight to the gate without having to walk uphill, and from there it's a flat walk to the Monumental area. Depending where you're coming from, those lines would be either #24 or #92. Check the city planner, choose the "bus" tab and tick on the two lines so you can see on a map their route.

I strongly advise to visit first in the morning, then walk down to the bohemian district of Gràcia, have lunch and walk to Sagrada Família from there in the afternoon. Check WED 16 and the map is here

Magic Fountain is not in Plaça Catalunya, which is several miles from there. Best time: when they're open. Check schedules. Best way to get there?, by metro, either L3 or L1 to Espanya. The restaurant at MNAC is Oleum BUT you won't enjoy the show... it's a water, light AND music show... no music and looses its magic You need to be BY the fountain, the restaurant is too far -same goes with the restaurants at the top floor of the Les Arenes Shopping Centre, in Plaça Espanya.

We are near the 24 Bus so that's what we'll take.
I think the escalatos I read about were from Placa Espanya but maybe they are to MNAC and not the Magic Fonts.
What time do you suggest going to the Magic Fonts?
We are staying in Eixample looks like we can take the 55, L94, L95 or H12 bus. We prefer bus over metro. Do you recommend one bus route over the others for an interesting ride?
Thank you

Yes they are probably those.

You should check the schedule of the Magic Fountain, it's only open in the evening. Other than that, any time is good albeit I personally prefer the first show, which is classical music. There are four shows, each 25'.

I don't know by heart those routes, sorry... but any will do. Buses tend to be crowded so you're unlikely to see much unless you are lucky to be able to seat by the window.

Maybe you want to take some time before/after the show to walk a bit around. Go up to the MNAC, sit by the stairs -like everybody else- and admire a piece of Barcelona. Walk then to the right and you'll see the Old Port from there. Also, a visit to the Les Arenes Shopping Mall, to the top floor terrace, will give you a different perspective.

Enjoy!

I just used those escalators last week--the ones going up to MNAC. They're actually on both sides of the fountains.

Google for pictures of MNAC if you don't already know what it looks like. If you don't see that building when you arrive at Plaça d'Espanya (I don't think it's visible when you exit the Metro), you need to walk a bit until you see it. Since the museum sits rather high, it may be obvious where it could be hiding; walk in that direction. If you need more help and aren't there too late in the evening, ask at the tourist information kiosk, which I think is staffed till 8 PM.

There's a pair of Up escalators on each side of the wide walkway/stairs that go up to MNAC. Another pair of escalators will take you to the second level, but those Up escalators are only on the right side of the stairs. (The down escalators are on the left.) Somewhere on the left there's a higher escalator that I assume avoids another set or two of stairs, but I only saw the top end as I was wandering around; I'm not sure how to direct you to the bottom of that escalator. I'm also not sure how far up you need to go to the see the light show. I suspect that you'd have a better view from lower down, but I'm not sure since I didn't attend the light show.

Note that within the last few days, someone posted here that the light show was very, very crowded. The fountains (when they're running--which is not all the time) are very pretty even without the benefit of special lighting.

Concerning Parc Güell, I don't remember much shade, so a visit early in the morning would be a great idea. I very much enjoyed the (rather long) walk down toward Plaça Catalunya through the Gràcia neighborhood, which has a large number of modernista buildings. Alternatively, one could head from Parc Güell to Sant Pau, another fabulous (and lightly visited) modernista site. Very highly recommended.

Thank you both for the input. We went to the Magic Fonts last night. Got there around 7:00 so we able to get actual chair seats right next to the large fountain. Great spot for people watching. There was a family of 4 who thought it started at 7 so when we told them it was 9:30 they left. By 8:30 all the steps were full and some breakdancers with music came to entertain. The fountain started white for a while without music but then the music started. The music was very low and not full songs. When the lights started and the water went really high it was great fun. Some woman tried to pawn her child on my husbands rudely which was very bizarre and dampened the experience a little.

This morning the 24 bus was a perfect route to the Parc Guell entrance. I had bought tickets for 8:30 but they told me I could go in early. I also enjoyed the audio app I downloaded the night before. I also would agree to get 8:00 tickets as by 9:00 the sun was very strong. It was fun taking pictures and also trading taking pictures with other visitors.

Thanks again for the tips.