Sagrada Familia - Which tower should we go up?

Hello Gina, I went to Barcelona and saw the cathedral in October.

My general advice is go as early as possible. We were in the 9:15 group and despite the crowds outside the cathedral itself inside felt quiet and was amazing. I was shocked that many people could walk inside and it could still feel quiet and calm. It's completely different from any cathedral I've been in but stands alongside any of them.

With no direction to which to choose we went up the Passion facade tower because it was the taller of the two. What I'm about to say may be herersy to some but I found the tower tour unimpressive. At least on the Passion facade the views aren't really ever unobstructed. You get a better look at some of the details of the cathedral itself but you don't get sweeping views of either the city or the cathedral.

So I guess my advice is to try the Nativity facade and if it's wonderful you chose correctly and if it's just okay you should know you didn't choose poorly.

By the time we got out of the tower it was about noon and by then the cathedral did feel overrun so my advice is to go early and enjoy the tranquility.

Just my opinion but I hope it helps,
=Tod

Hi Tod,
Thank you so much for your input! We will definitely shoot for the earliest time slot possible. :-)
Gina

I agree with the above poster. We also booked early entry tickets, but booked our tower tickets for a time soon after. In retrospect, we should have allowed more time to enjoy the church while it was quiet. I am glad we did the tower, but I wasn’t as wowed as I was by the church. I don’t think it makes much difference which one you choose.

From what I've read here and elsewhere, the towers are not about the views, whichmapparently are not exceptional; they're about getting a closer look at some of the architectural elements.

We went up the Nativity tower and as another poster said, it's not really the views as it may or may not be obscured by scaffolding but the details on the top and roof as we could see some decorations that looked a bit like a colorful pineapple and so on.
I scheduled our tower tour an hour or so after we arrived. It gave us a chance to do the audio guide a bit and then come back if we missed something after the tower. Do be aware that the towers have spiral staircases coming down and the railings are low. I got a bit dizzy going down.

Try to get an early spot as by 10:30 or 11am the place is mobbed with tour groups and your pictures will have 25 strangers in them.