Sagrada Familia

Absolutely - the lines in June could be extremely long!

No, it's not beneficial....it's m-a-n-d-a-t-o-r-y if you want to visit it at all.

We visited he Sagrada in September 2014 and were incredibly grateful that we had purchased our tickets in advance, especially when we saw the long, long lines to get in. We met someone at our hotel that missed getting access to the towers because she didn't get tickets in advance. As posted, it really is best to get tickets in advance. We loved the Sagrada, an amazing place! Enjoy!

When I remember back to my first visits to the Sagrada Familia in 1989 and 1990, I think how it seemed just a handful of people were visiting at the time. Even on my last visit in 2009 I didn't have to pre purchase tickets, I just got there soon after opening. Boy how times have changed.

I can also recommend you to buy tickets before! I lived very close to Sagrada Familia for a few month and I saw this awesome long line everyday.
You can buy the tickets on the official website of Sagrada Familia: http://www.sagradafamilia.org/es/tiquets/
There you can schedule your visit. You will book a certain day and time , and you will have to go exactly on the time of this appointment. It´s working very well- no waiting times!
I also recommend to book this at least some days before you want to go there.

Good luck!

I would recommend booking the first time (9am when we went) and the tower climb about an hour later. Then get there 30 minutes early to be in the front of the line to get in. Those first 20 minutes or so when there is almost no one in there were priceless.

Kim

Listen to Enric. He's always right.

We did the same thing Kim recommends, except we scheduled our tower earlier. Follow Kim's advice. It was quiet when we went up the tower and crowded when we came back down. I wish we'd scheduled our tower visit for later to enjoy the semi-silence.

Also, if you plan on carrying a backpack, make sure you have a 1 euro coin. They make you put the backpack in a locker and you need the coin for the lock. Someone said you get it back when you take your stuff out. I have a hard time hanging on to my 1 euro coins.

Yes, it's the ONLY way to go. I was there last week, and had tix for 9:00. We showed up 15 mins prior, showed the tix and were one f the first people inside that day. What's really cool is that the morning sun pours in through the blue and green stained glass and fills basks everything in spectacular light.

Enjoy your visit!
-RF

thanks everyone for your good advice. we made reservations

I saw the 9 am advice somewhere else on the RS forums and it's the best decision we ever made. When you're one of the first ones in, you can enjoy it for a bit before the crowds show up. By 11 am it was elbow-to-elbow and almost impossible to get a good picture without a bunch of people in it.