I am trying to determine how much time to leave between our entrance to the basilica and the tower visit. We planned on entering at 9am. What time do we need to do teh audio tour portion? Should we set our tower visits to 10,11 or even later. I understand we can stay in teh basilica even after visiting the towers.
Meanwhile, does it make more sense to go in the later afternoon (5-6 instead). It will be our first visit.
I used the audio guide and skipped the towers, and I think I spent roughly 90 minutes in La Sagrada Familia. That included some wandering around and trying to get photos. The audio guide is briefer than most of those I encountered at Spanish churches (probably because they don't want people hanging around forever, crowding the church). Everyone is different in their level of interest, though; you might need less time, or more--plus whatever time required for the tower.
A fair amount of my 90 minutes was spent in the museum, not inside the church itself. There was no crowding at all in the museum, so I don't think it matters too much what time you get to the museum; that could be done after the tower visit in whole or in part. It would be nice to see the church at a less crowded time, if there is such a thing. I have no idea whether late afternoon would be better, crowd-wise, but the stained glass windows are lovely, and it would be a shame to visit too late in the day to appreciate them fully.
Since I didn't go up one of the towers, I don't know how far in advance of your ticketed time you must be at the tower. If you need to get to the tower 15 minutes before your appointment, 10 AM might be too early to schedule the tower; 10:30 AM might work well, assuming you do enter the church at 9 AM and are prepared to see the museum after the tower if necessary.
We did our tour first thing in the morning-9:15, I think. Anyway, we did not allow enough time to spend enjoying the quiet of the basilica. I think 10 would be fine for a tower visit. You can interrupt your audio tour easily to do the tower. By the way, if you are carrying a backpack, they make you put it in a locker before you go up. The lockers are right next to the tower elevator. A late afternoon/ evening visit should depend on what time of year you're going and what time the sun sets.
I would get entrance at 9, and tower at 10. Get there by 8:30 and get in line so you will be one of the first in... The first 20 min was magical with almost no one in there. You can always keep walking around too after you come down from the tower.
I agree with Kim. Reserve your tickets for the first entry time and get there early. We were the very first people to walk into the Sagrada Familia and it was absolutely amazing!
