Barcelona - sagrada familia

My partner and I are going on one of the Viking Ocean cruises and we will be stopping overnight in Barcelona.

Like most visitors, one of the attractions we will want to visit is the Sagrada Famila basilica (we plan to be going on our own, not via a Viking excursion).

I have a question and wondered if any Viking cruisers who have been to this attraction can help?

I am only interested in visiting the main building and thus require only the "Basic Ticket". My partner, who is keen on churches and religious buildings, he would like to see the main building as well as going up one of the Towers , thus he would require to purchase the "Top VIews" ticket at a different price.

Our concern is that we will "lose" each other if we separate and will find it difficult to meet up again. We plan to visit the Park Guell together after the Sagrada Familia .

If he goes up one of the towers in the basilica, does anyone who have been to the Sagrada Familia know ,if he will come back down to the same place , or near the same place , where he went up? I think visitors to the tower go up and down on an escalator don't they? If he comes back down to the spot where he goes up the tower, I could just wait for him downstairs and meet him when he gets down. If he is required to come back down through another area, or worse, upon return, he is required to exit the building, then we may lose each other.

Also, how long is the added-on excursion to visit the tower?

If some or any of you can help us with the information we are seeking, we would be very grateful.

I cannot remember where the entrance to the tower is: inside or out.

If inside, just find a pew and sit there while your friend does the tower view. Love wacthing the light flow through the awesone stain glass windows.

If it is outside, meet maybe by the "school" building. There is a nice shaded area with benches for waiting for your friend. This is outside the church door across from the entrance door to the church where you entered.

Also post this on the Ports of Call: Spain for the best expert advice for anything about Spain, Barcelona and its attractions.

I cannot remember where the entrance to the tower is: inside or out.

If inside, just find a pew and sit there while your friend does the tower view. Love wacthing the light flow through the awesone stain glass windows.

If it is outside, meet maybe by the "school" building. There is a nice shaded area with benches for waiting for your friend. This is outside the church door across from the entrance door to the church where you entered.

Also post this on the Ports of Call: Spain for the best expert advice for anything about Spain, Barcelona and its attractions.

Thanks for your response.

Yes, we will post this on the Ports of Call: Spain page as well, as you suggested. That is a good idea.

My partner and I are going on one of the Viking Ocean cruises and we will be stopping overnight in Barcelona.

 

Like most visitors, one of the attractions we will want to visit is the Sagrada Famila basilica (we plan to be going on our own, not via a Viking excursion).

 

I have a question and wondered if any Viking cruisers who have been to this attraction can help?

 

I am only interested in visiting the main building and thus require only the "Basic Ticket". My partner, who is keen on churches and religious buildings, he would like to see the main building as well as going up one of the Towers , thus he would require to purchase the "Top VIews" ticket at a different price.

 

Our concern is that we will "lose" each other if we separate and will find it difficult to meet up again. We plan to visit the Park Guell together after the Sagrada Familia .

 

If he goes up one of the towers in the basilica, does anyone who have been to the Sagrada Familia know ,if he will come back down to the same place , or near the same place , where he went up? I think visitors to the tower go up and down on an escalator don't they? If he comes back down to the spot where he goes up the tower, I could just wait for him downstairs and meet him when he gets down. If he is required to come back down through another area, or worse, upon return, he is required to exit the building, then we may lose each other.

 

Also, how long is the added-on excursion to visit the tower?

 

If some or any of you can help us with the information we are seeking, we would be very grateful.

Wish I could help answer your question. But will offer encouragement to go there. I was there last Spring as part of a choir tour. We toured parts, surely not all of the building, ending with doing a concert inside. It was truly a glorious experience.

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If I remember correctly the tower entrance was from the inside. I think it won’t be difficult to reconnect. It is spacious but identifying a meeting point that is recognizable would be fairly easy.

Be sure to purchase your tickets online ahead - you will have a window of time that you can use to bypass the long lines. It works very well.

We used hoho to get to Sagradia as well as Parc Guell, but we were staying several days in Barcelona prior to our cruise.

We were there a year ago and we did the tower--and loved it. The view from the top is amazing; you are up close and personal with the exterior details. It is elevator up and walk down (and my leg muscles hurts for three days afterwards because I was not used to walking down so many steps--but oh so worth it). If you have bad knees don't even consider the tower because walking down is the only choice.

The steps do not let out in elevator lobby (but also do not force you to exit the building), so I would arrange a meeting place inside the main sanctuary to where you will each return at a specified time. If I remember correctly, there was a bench near the elevator lobby and just as you walk in. Do not omit the lower floor; there is much to see there. More photos of SF.

Going down the steps:

Look at the facade from the tower --

Actually it was the facade that remains in our memory. So much fascinating detail. It really is an extraordinary building!

We were there a year ago and we did the tower--and loved it. The view from the top is amazing; you are up close and personal with the exterior details. It is elevator up and walk down (and my leg muscles hurts for three days afterwards because I was not used to walking down so many steps--but oh so worth it). If you have bad knees don't even consider the tower because walking down is the only choice.

 

The steps do not let out in elevator lobby (but also do not force you to exit the building), so I would arrange a meeting place inside the main sanctuary to where you will each return at a specified time. If I remember correctly, there was a bench near the elevator lobby and just as you walk in. Do not omit the lower floor; there is much to see there.

Thank you for the information. You have been very helpful and we appreciated that.

It is also useful to know that they do an excellent job with crowd control. It is not like Times Square on New Year's Eve. You would easily be able to find each other at an arranged meeting place in the main hall or outside across the street from the entry.

Just a suggestion, use your cell phones! My husband and I have T-Moble. We've found they have coverage throughout the world. We just text each other (free) when we are in diff places. We do call as well. Texting is easy for us. I think other providers do as well.

Parc Guell has limited entry by time slot. Make sure you buy a ticket before you go out there and know your entry time.

We are aware of that. All the same, thanks for letting us know. Just like for the Sagrada Familia, we intend to purchase the tickets for Park Guell beforehand.

We were there last January and did not buy tickets ahead of time. Given the season, I didn’t think we’d have trouble getting into Sagrada Familia. Wrong! We’re going back next month and have repurchased our tickets.

I just read ‘Origin’, Dan Brown’s new novel. A good portion of the book takes place in Barcelona and in Sagrada Familia. It’s worth a read before you go.

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If I remember correctly the tower entrance was from the inside. I think it won’t be difficult to reconnect. It is spacious but identifying a meeting point that is recognizable would be fairly easy.

This. We went last year with another couple, and having walked up and down the tower on a previous visit, we decided to sit it out while they went up. They entered from inside, and I believe you walk up one tower and down the other, so they didn't come out at the same place.

There was a lovely little cafe in the wide median of the street outside the church, and we just sat and had a beer and a coffee, having told our friends to come there after their tour. I believe they were gone about 45 minutes. I had actually left too much time between the Sagrada Familia reservation and the Parc Guell entry reservation and that left us without time to really enjoy the Gothic Quarter. I think I had two hours between them, but I can't remember for sure. We took a taxi from one to the other.

We did the tower as well and walked down. Beautiful views!! Another idea about meeting places...there are numbers throughout the building identifying different attractions and coinciding with your earphones. You could arrange to meet at number 4 for example. Pick a place with a bench! When we got to Barcelona we went straight to the ship and dropped off our luggage, then took a taxi to Sagrada. We had purchased our tickets online ahead of time. We tried to get in a little early, but no go. I think they let us in maybe 10 minutes prior to the time on our tickets. And there were no tickets at all available for walk ups. Have fun!