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Park Guell, Barcelona - plan ahead!

Posted by (California) on

It's always good to plan ahead in general, but often you can get away with going somewhere 'on a whim'. This is not the case in Park Guell, Barcelona!

Some other plan fell through and I found myself with a few hours free in the afternoon in Barcelona. So I googled the address, and hopped on the #24 bus which took me "right to the entrance". So many things were wrong with this plan!

1) there are numerous entrances to Park Guell. The entrance I casually found with Google Maps was a 'satellite entrance', not the main entrance. This alone wasn't all bad, as this 'satellite entrance' was uphill from the main entrance, which meant my wanderings within the park were generally downhill.

2) Being a satellite entrance meant it wasn't a 'full service' entrance - the only way to buy tickets was online. No problem, I had my phone, but - the cell signal was useless at this location. No problem, the entrance had its own wifi signal, but my iPhone refused to connect to it due to some security concerns. No problem, there was a helpful park employee who somehow got me connected, but I could not navigate the purchase process (I'm an IT guy familiar with online services, but this was a real challenge). Eventually, after about 20 minutes of trying, I got my ticket and thus, gained entry.

3) There were no paper maps on offer at this entrance. No problem, they had a QR code for a electronic map. But this map must be the worst map ever produced; it was a funky 3-D presentation of the park, and I could not make head or tail of it (plus, it took forever to download over the poor connection). So I just basically wandered around and followed the signs that were sporadically placed around the park. After about an hour of wandering in the hot sun, I finally found myself at the main entrance, where most of the 'interesting' stuff is located. What a zoo! it was unbelievably crowded (and this was in late October).

So overall, I did enjoy seeing the park but I deeply regret not giving it more thought ahead of time, and not buying tickets in advance to avoid the nightmare experience I had trying to buy a ticket 'at the gate'.

Posted by
1460 posts

Aargh! It makes a great story, though, Chris. We have our eight tickets for December 26th. I hope we get some of your hot sun.

Posted by
26 posts

I had cell signals there as well! I was trying to google public transit directions from the Park back to our hotel in Gracia and it was so frustrating. Ended up just walking back. Glad to see it wasn't just me!

Posted by
625 posts

We were there at the start of our trip. Had tickets in advance. Took a cab which for three is pretty cheap to the main entrance. It was a rainy day to start. Lots of people. Signage is terrible. My daughter works at a large zoo & really notices these type of things. Said it was the worst she has seen. Very hilly and in rain can be very slick on the stones.

We followed the crowds most times to find the key places. The gift shop is very nice and gives you a chance to see inside one of the buildings.

It was a nice visit. We spent about four hours there. Make sure you enter and exit the main entrance. We had a hard time getting back to it.

Posted by
97 posts

Signage is terrible.

Did you take a look at the map (either paper or online)? I'm a map-nerd, and to me it was the most useless map I'd ever seen!

Posted by
625 posts

Not sure if meant for me, but we tried looking at a map on line and it did not help. Service was not good at the park. We did not have a paper map of the park. Normally wandering is ok with us but it was rainy and slick for most of the time we were there. Hard to walk with umbrellas with the steep inclines. We also had raincoats on.

Posted by
386 posts

We went to Park Guell this past June. Our visit started rather inauspiciously. We had timed tickets and had some sort of misunderstanding when two gate attendants gave us conflicting directions. I think one of the attendants was tired of dealing with tourists, which is understandable.

Nevertheless, we finally made it into the Park, and had some trouble navigating with the online map that was provided (and my husband is generally very good with maps and way-finding). I can’t remember if poor cell signal was part of the issue. There was no paper map available, I asked at an information stand. Once we got going it was fine, and it helped to use Rick’s guidebook descriptions along with the provided map on the phone. Overall it was an amazing place to see, but the day had its frustrating moments as well.

You definitely can’t do anything about the topography. It didn’t bother us, but it’s good for people to realize there’ll be elevation changes and steps to navigate. It was very crowded, as many places in Barcelona were. All to be expected.

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