Barcelona Sagrada Familia Tickets and Visits

The Sagrada Familia is Gaudí's masterpiece and the most recognisable element of Barcelona's skyline. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world and it goes without saying that it is a must-see on your trip to Barcelona.

It's very easy to visit the Sagrada Familia as a tourist, but visiting it as a local has a few tricks that I'm going to detail in the following paragraphs. Read on and make a note of my recommendations, you'll thank me later!

The most comfortable and economical way to discover the most important building in Barcelona is to visit it at your own pace and dedicate as much time as you want to each of the architectural and artistic details of Gaudí's great masterpiece. To do this, you can book the basic ticket option for the Sagrada Família for around 30 euros.

But if you want to add a little extra, with the skip-the-line tickets with access to one of the towers you can also see the best views of Barcelona from there.

Thanks to the audio guide that you can download with your ticket, you can learn about the history of this unique cathedral that has yet to be completed. But you also have access to the interior museum where you can learn more about its construction.

• Duration: As long as you want
• Recommended: If you prefer to visit the monuments at your own pace and don't want to miss the incredible views of Barcelona from the Sagrada Familia tower.

This guided tour will give you access to Barcelona's imposing Sagrada Familia and inside you'll enjoy narration from an expert guide on this iconic Basilica. You'll learn about Gaudí' s architectural genius and the deep religious passion behind each piece that makes up the church.

The great advantage of this tour is that you'll also gain access to the Gaudí museum, inside the same building, where you'll discover more drawings and photographs of the artist's life and works. Of course, it includes admission to the Sagrada Família.

• Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Recommended: If you want to skip the queue for the Sagrada Familia and visit the highlights of its interior with a local guide.

with access to the tower

If you want to extend your visit to the Sagrada Familia with access to the tower, this is the tour for you. You will be able to visit all the accessible parts of the interior of the church, and enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of Barcelona from the top of one of the Sagrada Familia's towers open to the public.

In return, the tour group is a little larger, with a maximum of 30 people, although fortunately the visiting hours are specially chosen to access the Sagrada Familia when there are fewer tourists, around lunchtime.

As with the previous experience, you'll be narrated by a guide who knows the Sagrada Familia inside out and will be able to tell you all about the history of this impressive church in great detail. Entrance tickets are included.

• Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Recommended: If you have already visited the Sagrada Familia on another occasion and would like to extend the typical tour.

This is the most complete tour of Barcelona, as it includes entrance to the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell. You'll get to know in depth two of the city's must-see sites, Park Güell, along with a visit to its most important building, the Sagrada Familia.

In addition to the full attention of a local Barcelona guide for you and your group, this tour includes transfer by private vehicle to Park Güell and Sagrada Familia. Entrance fees to both sites are included.

• Duration: 3 hours and a half
• Recommended: If you are visiting Barcelona in a group or if you can't stand crowded tours for tourists.

What you will see

The Sagrada Familia receives more than 4 million visitors a year, so it's important to know a few things about the entrances so that your experience doesn't turn into chaos.

Types of tickets

To avoid crowds, all entrances have a fixed time, with a 15-minute interval between each distributed entrance. Once inside, you can stay in the Sagrada Familia for as long as you like.

The queue

The queue to buy tickets to the Sagrada Familia at the ticket office is one of the most impressive I have ever seen at a tourist attraction. Admittedly, the last time I went to Barcelona it was in the middle of July and I passed by the church at midday, but even so the queues that form at almost any time of the day can easily exhaust your patience.

Access to the Sagrada Familia is through the Nativity façade on Carrer de la Marina. There is a small queue to enter the church, but it is not comparable to the queue to buy tickets.

There is no way you should wait to buy tickets to the Sagrada Familia at the ticket office: the queues are endless and as they are subject to a fixed time it is possible that once you go to buy them you will find that there are no seats left for the time you want and you will have to buy them for the next day.

Tickets for a specific date are available online up to two months in advance, so my recommendation is that you book them as far in advance as possible. Since the only advantage of buying them on the spot would be the flexibility you would have to choose on the spot, but in this case you lose all the guarantees of securing your ticket for the day and time you want, buying in advance is the smarter option.

How to get to the Sagrada Familia

The best way is to take the metro to the Sagrada Familia stop (L2), but you can also take bus 50 if you're in the area around Passeig de Gràcia or several buses from Plaça Catalunya.

Other buses that take you to the Sagrada Familia are lines 19, 33, 34, 43, 43, 44, 51, B20 and B24. Not all of them leave you in a street adjacent to the church, so check the route before you get on, check Google Maps, or just ask the driver. In any case, most lines will get off at the Sagrada Família stop, so you'll know which one it is.

Sagrada Família opening days and times

The Basilica is open to the public 365 days a year, but opening times vary depending on the time of year:

Duration of the visit

It usually takes between 45 minutes and an hour to visit the interior of the Sagrada Família if you only visit the ground floor of the basilica. If you go up the tower, it will take you longer, as the climb up, the descent and the time you spend enjoying the views will mean that you will be in the basilica for at least an hour and a half.

We assume that near the Sagrada Familia you will find mostly restaurants for tourists, but it is possible to find some gems where some will end up by chance, but you will be able to go because you know they are worth it. Here are three recommendations:

As this is such a touristy area, there are fast food restaurants of all kinds near the Sagrada Familia, so if you prefer them you have this option too (which is not the same as my approval, it's a crime to eat in a McDonald's while on holiday in Barcelona!)

Dress code

There is a dress code for entering the Sagrada Familia, which requires you to remove any head covering (except for religious or medical reasons) and to wear clothes that cover your shoulders, back and chest. Trousers and skirts must cover up to the knee and no transparent clothing or cleavage is allowed, as well as no shoes.

Although the dress code is often not strictly enforced due to the high number of visitors to the Sagrada Família, it is best to try to comply with etiquette so as not to risk being turned away.

Photography inside

You are allowed to enter the Sagrada Família with a camera and take pictures inside, so remember to take it with you if you want to have some souvenirs of the temple. And finally, my most important recommendation is that, although the interior is impressive and well worth spending a long time admiring, the exterior façades of the Sagrada Familia are insane.

Exterior details

The church has three façades, each representing a stage in the life of Jesus: Nativity, Passion and Glory. The Nativity façade, in Catalan Art Nouveau style, has enough detail to get lost in for hours, while the Passion façade is almost the opposite, clean and minimalist but full of symbolism. The Glory façade is still unfinished, so it doesn't offer the interest of the other two.

Alex's Traveller Tip

The Sagrada Familia has two towers that you can climb. If you have the choice, climb the Nativity Tower as you can get a close-up view of the façade from the top.

If we are talking about Barcelona, it is almost essential to immerse yourself in Gaudí's architecture and urban planning. One of his most outstanding works in the city is the Park Güell, and to visit it I recommend you to read our guide of Park Güell in Barcelona Tickets and Tours where I tell you all the tips for visiting it.

Likewise, you won't want to miss the artist's most iconic buildings, so here you have my guide of La Pedrera in Barcelona Tickets and Tours and my guide to Barcelona Casa Batlló Tickets and Visitswith the best tips to organise your visit.

For football fans, visiting the Camp Nou is an experience that can be very interesting as in the Camp Nou Experience you can explore the trophy gallery, a space dedicated to Messi, a very interesting audiovisual area and of course the stands, the changing rooms and the press room. You have all the details in this guide: Barcelona Camp Nou Stadium Visits.

And finally, you have my guide of Barcelona Museums which will help you choose the most interesting collection for you and make sure you get the most out of your trip.