Time Necessary in Park Guell and Gaudi buildings

I just counted how many Gaudi buildings we visited in Barcelona and it was 5! We stayed there
five or six nights. Park Guell? A couple of hours.
We were busy every day but also spent time at the beach one day.

Park Guell has many interesting features that aren't apparent just walking around. For instance, it was built with rain water catch system, and the large mosaic bench that is built to be comfortable. I highly recommend having a guide, or do serious research before visiting to get the most of your visit.

Does anyone recommend a guide or tour for Park Guell?

There is a guided tour option on the website. I have not looked at reviews. https://www.parkguellonline.cat/pg_muslinkIII/venda/index.jsp?lang=3&nom_cache=PARC&property=PARC&grupActiv=2&_ga=2.210472476.840538705.1705117946-605908064.1704911066&_gl=1*1cv0g9e*_ga*NjA1OTA4MDY0LjE3MDQ5MTEwNjY.*_ga_V26ZEF0C62*MTcwNTExNzk0OC4zLjAuMTcwNTExNzk0OC4wLjAuMA..

Parc Guell has both the paid-entry section and the free section. I haven't been to the latter and don't know whether there are any special architctural elements there. I'd guess 2 hours would be sufficient for the fee section, but that doesn't include travel time to and from. Parc Guell is not near the other Gaudi sights. You'll need the Metro and a walk (uphill going to the park), a bus or a taxi. Barcelona taxi rates are reasonable.

For Casa Mila and Casa Batllo you need to be careful, because the crowding will really affect your ability to move around; you won't be able to rush. I'd allow 2 hours, but you may finish up in 1-1/2. As expensive as those tickets are, I wouldn't want to have to leave one of them early to be on time for another ticketed entry elsewhere in the city. Don't forget to allow time for travel between stops, not to mention lunch.

I spent more time at Casa Mila because (this was in 2016) there was an interesting exhibition on an upper floor with photos and probably also videos of other Gaudi buildings, including some in other cities you won't have the chance to see on this trip. I found that very interesting and probably spent about an extra hour there. However, I have no idea whether that was just something offered temporarily or is part of the permanent display.

I don't recall exactly how much time I spent at La Sagrada Familia, but I'd guess close to 3 hours, and I didn't ascend a tower or spend very much time taking photos. The church has an interesting museum, I think on the lower level, focusing on the design and construction of the building; that takes quite some time. There has been considerable additional work done since 2016, so I'd probably spend a bit more time at LSF if I returned this year.

The Sant Pau complex has multiple buildings and nice grounds. Even if you don't spend any time reading the information panels about Sant Pau's years as a hospital, it will probably take more than 2 hours to see everything, maybe even more than 3. When you think you've finished, you haven't; there another floor of a large building to explore.

For someone interested in architecture, I'd recommend at least La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila and either the Palau de la Musica Catalana or Sant Pau, ideally all four of those. Parc Guell is worthwhile, but recent reports have it overrun to the point that you can hardly see the Gaudi elements, and it does take extra time to get up there.

At the time of my 2016 visit the tourist office (with a convenient branch beneath Placa de Catalunya) had a free city map and a better map for 1 euro (probably more costly now). I bought the 1-euro map and found it marked a lot of modernista buildings not open to the public but with interesting facades. Another way to get similar information is to check out the Ruta del Modernisme website. There are photos of about 120 modernista buildings in Barcelona you can click to obtain an address and a bit of additional information. You can slightly modify your walking path as you go from sight to sight and see some of those buildings.

https://rutadelmodernisme.com/en/modernisme-work/

I was on RS Barcelona/Madrid tour in Barcelona in April 2023. We did 4 days in Barcelona area prior to the tour. Two days were day trips and other days we did planned quite a bit and a variety. Not sure we would be returning and wanted to get a good overview. Lots of walking and used the metro except for one taxi.

Familia Sagrada was included but definitely not enough time allowed. We had a local guide with a good tour of main level but only given 15-30 minute break to see anything else when that was finished. After a brief scurry to the altar area and a quick toilet break, I didn't have time for more than a fast cruise through the museum part which looked very interesting and no time for towers. If I had known the of the short scheduled time, I would have booked a ticket to go back on free time. I think a minimum of 3 hours would be good there. I wished the RS tour activities for the day ended at Sagrada and we would be left to stay however long we wanted after the tour portion.

Casa Mila was also included on the RS tour. That was really just a rushed walk through, no site guide. It was very crowded and staff was telling everyone to move on. The attic and roof, especially the roof, were unique and I'm glad I saw it, but not sure I'd recommend considering the admission cost. I think we spent more time waiting (even with timed, tour purchased admission) to enter than the time spent inside.

On our own time, we saw Sant Pau Hospital complex. No crowd, maybe saw 10 other people there. It is unique and interesting about how decorative it was made to be a place of comfort to patients. Several buildings, courtyard, underground walkways. Probably spent 2 hours there. No guide but there was printed information. Taxi from Catalunya Plaza was €15. As others posted noted, no need to buy tickets ahead of time.

We also did Palau de la Música Catalana on our own. A very beautiful unique building. We did that with an English tour guide that we booked in the morning for the afternoon. English tour was sold out when we stopped the previous day. It is located very central to other 'tourist' things so you could stop by a day early for tickets. (We were there in April.) Some tour members had purchased tickets for an evening performance and were very pleased with the experience.

Are you going to be there on Sunday? Traditional Sardana dancing in Cathedral Plaza at noon was fun to watch. (Tourists did not join in.) It starts out with circle groups of citizens. It is quite a strenuous dance. As time went on, more people (that seemed to know each other), joined existing circle groups and then towards the end we noticed more 'senior' people joining in. It was very festive. I watched from steps so I could get a good view of all. https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/cultural/dancing/catalan-dancing-sardana.html

Enjoy your time. I really did and wished had more time in Barcelona.