tips for Sagrada Familia?

We didn't do a tower. We spent a fair amount of time there. Some people don't realize that there is an interesting museum (and much less busy) in the basement. There is a large park by La Sagrada for nice pictures of the La Sagrada Familia

You may want to check out the crypt of la Sagrada Familia too, which is just below the main level of the basilica, there is located the tomb of Antoni Gaudí. The crypt however is only open to the public during hours of worship, but I'm not sure when those hours are.

Also, to complement your Sagrada Familia visit, you could also visit the Hospital de Sant Pau, which is just a short walk 10 min away. Hospital de Sant Pau is a Gaudi-esque modernisme complex built in the early 20th century as a hospital. It's now a museum and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sant Pau has significantly less tourists than La Sagrada Familia.

After highly anticipating our visit to the Sagrada and to the towers - we were awed by the actual cathedral (in and out)...the towers not so much.

As you leave the main church building, on the other side to the ticket entrance, on your left - within the precinct - is the Sagrada Família school, which is very worth visiting too.

We did the passion tower and we enjoyed it. I agree with a previous poster though in that the church itself was the best part so if for some reason you don’t manage to get tower tickets to the church itself is still an amazing attraction. We also did not use the audio guide because I hate audio guides in general and I really did not feel like I was missing out.

A general Barcelona tip, if you have three or four people in your party it is almost always cheaper to take a taxi than the subway. Taxis are plentiful, cheap, and well regulated. There is a taxi stand right across from the church.

My sister agreed with Tim. She loved the cathedral, but felt the tower visit merely added time and money to her visit, rather than being of any added value or enjoyment.

We went up the Nativity Tower and then crossed over to the Passion Façade. It's more about getting views of the city than getting another view of the cathedral. We didn't have to wait long and thought it was worthwhile, but agree that the cathedral is the highlight. I also can't imagine not getting the audio guide, for it's really the only way to get the full context of what you're looking at. There's very little signage, and while we normally don't get audio guides, we thought it was worth the time to get more of the history/symbolism in each area. You always have the flexibility to skip, if you've heard enough.

We saw the Nativity tower and walked over to the other tower. We scheduled the towers an hour and a half after entrance time and it worked out well. Be sure to take pictures of the church, the way the light plays off the walls and the windows is incredible.

DO get the audioguide, I'm amazed someone said not to, as it's the key to understanding Gaudi and his visions for the church as well as an explanation for all the symbolism around the cathedral. As another posted pointed out, you can always FF. Go and see the workshop and museum in the basement. Some cool photos and you get to see craftsmen working. It's probably my favorite cathedral simply because of how non-Gothic it looks.