Sagrada Familia Towers

I've been to the Sagrada Familia several times but my last trip was about 5 years ago. I enjoyed the towers because you get viewpoints of the city and the cathedral itself that you wouldn't otherwise get. The stairs are extremely narrow and it's a lot of waiting to let people pass, so they're slow going. Probably just a few flights from my recollection but again, it's been a few years.

I think we did an audio guide for the Sagrada Familia. You need that or a guide to get the best experience. Plan on being there at least half a day, maybe more.

I recommend buying tickets for the guided tour. It lasts about an hour and was very informative. I did it last year and my husband did it this year. We both thought it was better than an audio guide because you could ask questions.

I walked down the Passion Tower in May. It is between 200 and 300 steps. If my memory is correct, there is no true rail and during parts it is open on one side so you have to be careful. I didn't really hit any traffic going down other than twice. Both times I just moved to the side to let people pass me.

I recommend getting tickets as soon as possible. There were much more tourists this year than last year and things were selling out.

I remember it was a very twisty climb up into the tower. Not too much trouble getting past people but there wasn't actually a huge number of people, at least in the tower portion, when we went there in April 2011. I am not a big fan of heights in buildings, but you do get a wonderful city view as well as a great view of the architectural details. When we did Sagrada Familia, we just waited about 1/2 hour in line--not the big crowd that they may have today. And we just walked around on our own with a guide book.

Hi,
When I went to the Sagrada Familia in late 2016, you had to take an elevator to the top of the tower….don’t remember which one…and walk down.
No elevator down for anyone, so not good for disabled/mobility challenged folk.
This was to promote a good flow of people I would think.
It may be different now.
I don’t know how many “stories “ the towers are equal to in height.

Edit: just looked it up…there are 504 steps to get back down…I’d say that would be approximately the same as maybe 25 stories?

https://sagradafamilia.barcelona-tickets.com/sagrada-familia-towers/

I really don’t like heights, and to me, it was a very long walk down and was quite scary.
You might be ok with heights.
The spiral stairs were open to the centre so you could look down, and the “rail” on the open side was just a low wall.
My friend and I clung closely to the full height wall on the opposite side as we slowly crawled all the way down.
I would not want to do it again.

In Copenhagen, there is a church with an outside staircase all the way up the steeple….when I saw that I quickly turned away!
At least the SF towers are indoors!

Hope you can find out some current information.

I thought the tower add-on was okay, but it really paled in comparison with the actual main cathedral. Do it if you want but Don’t stress either way.

The highest point visitors reach in both the Nativity Tower and the Passion Tower is 295 feet. So, the descent down the 500 or so stairs would be about 29 stories. Hopefully, there’s a cafe to stop at halfway down the staircase.

Now I’m realizing my Passion Tower ticket means penciling in an extra hour for Sagrada Familia!
Since the staircase is a medieval-like spiral staircase— the descent may seem to be an eternal one.

As usual, I am richly rewarded for reaching out to the RS Forum community - thank you all for your advice! Decision made, we will skip the towers. I doubt I will be sorry by the sounds of it!

Thanks to all of you!