Sagrada Familia – How-to-guide

For more about the site itself – see my article on Sagrada Familia’s beauty. For more about Gaudi’s work in Barcelona see here.

Getting tickets

The tickets for Sagrada Familia are on sale on the far side of the cathedral (opposite where you would enter).  However, tickets are cheaper online, so that is recommended. Make sure to plan ahead to get tickets as they are all timed. To make that easy, they have the information right there for you to use if you didn’t do it before you get to the structure.   

If you can, get there early with an early tower climb or get there late with a late tower climb. Just try not to get stuck with a combo like 10 am entrance and 2:30 tower, because you’ll have to burn a lot of time there.

Ticket options

There are many options, starting with 3 basic options:
-no guide (I do not recommend this)
-audio guide (affordable and quite in-depth)
-human guide (for a more personal touch)

Each of these can be combined with a tower tour. The tour tour can be either Nativity or Passion, although some days only one or the other is open.  If you get an early entrance but can’t get an early tower time, check at the desk when you get in and see if they have any available there.  It also can be combined with the entrance to the Gaudi House Musem.

Security

You can only get past the line entry guard when it is the time on your ticket (each is for a 15-minute entry window).  Make sure to be on time.  You will go through a TSA-style checkpoint. No food or drinks are allowed (other than water), so plan accordingly.

If you want to go up either tower, know that the only way down may be the stairs. They are spiral and narrow and have no inner rail, so it can be a bit disorienting if you look down.

If you go up the tower, no large bags are allowed, and if it’s busy, small bags aren’t allowed either.  There are lockers right by the elevator, that you put a Euro coin in and it lets you lock the box. When you return and unlock it, you can get your Euro back.

Audio tour

The audio tour is quite good (and the human tour quality depends on the human and how well they speak your language – so look at reviews). One thing I noticed though is that in part 63 of the audio tour (there aren’t that many segments, this is just subsection 3 of location 6), the narrator says ” As He walks the road to cavalry” rather than “as He walks the road to Calvary”, which I thought was funny as clearly this was a well-reviewed and planned narration.  I was requested to do an in-person survey about the museum there (which is great) and told them about this gaff, so it may be fixed at some point in the future.

Museum

Make sure to visit the museum which is sprawled across the lower level. It has info on the selection of color for windows and how the building was designed. It also shows how the work has been progressing and what the finished building should look like.  They also have a view into a room where people are making 3d printed models to figure out how to keep building which is interesting.

Crypt

While you are there, you may also want to check out the Gaudi Crypt. It is in the lowest level of the building and was the only part complete when Gaudi died in an accident with a tram.  It is only open for services (about twice a day) so check the time on the sign if you want to see where Gaudi is buried.

For more about the site itself – see my article on Sagrada Familia’s beauty. For more about Gaudi’s work in Barcelona see here.