Advice on visiting the interior of Sagrada Familia

My wife and I will be in Barcelona prior to cruising on the Eurodam in September.

Our flight arrives at BCN at 11:30 am on Tuesday. Hotel check-in is at 3pm.

We have arranged an all day tour of Barcelona and Monserrat with Barcelona Day Tours on Wednesday. I have checked with them and the tour does not include the interior of the Sagarda Familia, which looks amazing from pictures I have seen.

Our cruise departs Barcelona at 4 pm on Thursday. I am not sure of embarkation time but would think it will be late morning or possibly noon.

We would like to see the interior of the Sagrada Familia. When should we purchase tickets for? Should we drop luggage at our hotel on Tuesday (we figure to be quite tired from the red-eye flight) and tour the Sagrada. Should we try to squeeze in a visit on Thursday morning before embarking? We could check out of hotel and ask them to hold our bags, but I am not sure what time the included transfer from hotel to the pier is.

Thanks for your advice.

I can only speak for myself, but on the day of embarkation, I want to get to the ship. I worry if we are headed off somewhere else beforehand, but that's just me. I would probably visit the afternoon that you arrive. I realize you'll be tired, but the best thing is to spend a few hours doing something, especially if your room isn't ready yet. You could drop your bags and head over to Sagrada Familia. The web site says it's open until 8pm in September. Which just gave me another thought -- what about visiting late on Wed. after your BDT tour?

Another potential option: is your tour with BDT on Wednesday a private tour --- that is, are you controlling the itinerary, or just going with whatever group they've put together? If the former, you can have them personalize the tour to do whatever you want, including an inside visit to the basilica. (We did exactly that with them a few years ago. It will of course mean there's other stuff you can't see; for us, that was our second time in Barcelona, so it worked well for us.)

I suspect folks will tell you that you can do it Thursday morning, but with having to go back to the hotel to get your bags, that's a lot of running around.

A final question -- is this your first visit to Barcelona. If so, do you really want to spend half of your only full day there visiting Montserrat? Because you won't be doing justice to Barcelona in four hours... Just a thought.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip!

(photo by turtles06)

Thanks for your insights Turtles06.

This is our first time in Barcelona and we currently have a group tour booked. Your suggestion is a good one and I will look into the cost of a private tour of Barcelona that would include the interior of Sagrada Familia, possibly forgoing Monserrat.

Montserrat is a fine choice, one of the top sights in the region, and I don't see anything wrong with going there on one's first visit to Barcelona (especially if there is no second visit planned in the foreseeable future). It sounds like the OP has time to visit Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon, and their tour on Wednesday also includes Barcelona (not just Montserrat). And they also have time for more city sightseeing on Thursday morning before boarding.

OP, it would help if you told us where your hotel is. And what time you want to be on board (i.e. do you want to get your cruise started as soon as possible, or do you want to maximize your time in Barcelona and board in the afternoon?)

I would book tickets online, get hotel to arrange a taxi to be there when they open at 9.00.

Taxi pick up back up approx 10.30 then back for bags. If transfer is earlier, which I doubt , then same taxi to pier with your cases instead of cruise transfer.

Otherwise Barcelona is fairly easy to get about on public transport so you could go Wednesday evening on your own. No need for a guide as headsets are provided with a full tour.

But defiantly buy online as queues are very very long

I just sat down to start a thread on Barcelona's Sagrada Familia and found this one, lucky me.

We will be in Barcelona Tuesday 11 October and want to take the Metro from the port to the church. Can anyone tell me how long of a trip this is? My guide book says that tickets for a particular time are needed...we would certainly appreciate any advice on arranging this excursion.

Gràcies, Steve

The metro part of your journey should be very fast: 4 stops on the L3 (Drassanes to Diagonal), then 2 stops on the L5 (Diagonal to Sagrada Família). This shouldn't take more than 20 minutes or so, assuming you don't get lost in Diagonal station.

But from the ship to the metro station, you have to take the port shuttle, and you may end up waiting up to 10-15 minutes for that (plus the very short ride, about 5 minutes).

If all goes well, you can exit the cruise terminal and be at the basilica in 30 minutes. If you end up waiting a while for the port bus, or if you take a little extra time figuring out where you need to go next, etc., it could be more like an hour.

Be sure to buy your tickets for Sagrada Familia in advance. Our first time in Barcelona we failed to do this and had over an hour wait in line to get tickets. With advance tickets you get right in at your reserved time. If you have time go up in one of the towers for a great view of the construction that's underway (requires a separate ticket).

Depending on how close your hotel is to a metro stop, it is easy to get to the church by metro. There is a metro stop just across the street from the Nativity façade.

We will be back there in a couple weeks and although we don't plan to go inside the church this time we will take the metro there to walk around and see how much new construction there has been in the 3 years since we were last there.

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Hawkeyetlse- We will be staying at the Gallery Hotel near Paseo de Gracia and Plaza Cataluña. We would like to start our cruise as soon as possible and would like to feel settled and relax on Thursday.

If we stick with our tour of Barcelona and Montserrat on Wednesday it seems that we should see the interior of the Sagrada Familia on Tuesday afternoon, jet lag or not.

Nice location! You can walk to the Sagrada Família from there in about 15 minutes, or two stops away on the metro.

Since you already have a transfer to the port arranged on Thursday, the timing is kind of out of your hands. Once you find out what time they're taking you to the ship, you can decide if you can squeeze in any more sightseeing that morning. Just walking around the streets in that neighborhood is a treat, if you're into urban architecture.

We had a wonderful half day tour of Barcelona with BDT that did not include the interior of Sagrada Familia. We went back on our own, waited in line about half an hour and loved it. I strongly suggest going inside. I would say you need to plan on a minimum two hours for it unless you have tickets already.

Merci, hawkeyetlse (practicing my français for our visit to Québec next week). It seems that we should book our tickets for 10:30 to give us time to explore the neighborhood a little. Does this seem to be a good plan?

Thank you, Steve

Here is one other thought. We are doing a half day tour with BDT and realized that we would not see the interior of La Sagrada Familia. I talked to BDT and they suggested that we make a reservation for the interior tour for approximately 1/2 hour after the conclusion of their tour. They said that they would drop us off at La Sagrada Familia at the end of the tour and we could see the interior at that time. If they are open until 8 PM on the day of your tour this could work. I would check with BDT.

Last time I was in Barcelona, my sister, BIL, and I arrived the evening before and went directly to the hotel to sleep. The next morning my sister and I hopped the Metro to tour the La Sagrada while the BIL slept in.

We had pre-purchased our tickets including the tower. We were in/out in under three hours and had time to have a light lunch before heading to the ship.

Unless you are the type that reads every plack/sign, and contemplates each pane of stained glass, or sleeps into 9:00, you can do it in a morning. Besides, they normally do not let you start boarding until 10 or 11:00. Get a later boarding slot, like after 12:00...

Don't want to hijack the thread but we will be doing a private tour with BDT three weeks from today (squeal!!!!!) and arranged to go inside Sagrada Familia giving up some of Barcelona to do so but this is our only time as we get in late afternoon on Friday and board the ship on Saturday. My question is is there a dress code similar to the Vatican or are shorts acceptable?

Thanks!

Don't want to hijack the thread but we will be doing a private tour with BDT three weeks from today (squeal!!!!!) and arranged to go inside Sagrada Familia giving up some of Barcelona to do so but this is our only time as we get in late afternoon on Friday and board the ship on Saturday. My question is is there a dress code similar to the Vatican or are shorts acceptable?

 

Thanks!

From the LSF web site:

From the LSF web site:

 

Behaviour and clothing

 

Out of respect for other visitors and in order to maintain an atmosphere of contemplation suitable for a place of worship, you are asked not to raise your voice during your visit. During the visit you are asked to behave politely, and refrain from forming crowds or running on the site.

 

Visitors are asked to conduct themselves respectfully and dress decorously.

Hmmm, that certainly leaves things wide open to interpretation doesn't it? Thanks for posting it.

Hmmm, that certainly leaves things wide open to interpretation doesn't it? Thanks for posting it.

Yes, it does ... much like dress codes on a ship, wouldn't you say!! ;) LOL

We'll be there in mid-October and I'm planning to wear capris, a top with sleeves, and comfortable shoes which is exactly what I wore to the Vatican and pretty much every church, synagogue, and mosque we've visited anywhere we've traveled.

we're doing similar...consider doing the interior on the day you arrive. You'll need to burn some time doing something as you likely won't be able to check in early. I'm betting BDT can help arrange this...p/up at airport and drop at Sagrada though you may need to pop by hotel and drop luggage for storage.

How late is Sagrada accessible on a Thursday evening? We're considering on going back after our half day to do the interior. TIA. Enjoy:)

Disregard, I found that it is open until 8. Would two hours be sufficient to tour the interior?

Are men allowed to wear bermuda type shorts ?

Check out Viator.com. They give prices and times

We dock at 8:00 am on June 1, 2016 in Barcelona and spend the night, debarking on June 2, 2016. There will be six adults.

Take a taxi(s) to Sagrada Familia for a 9:00 am guided tour of the inside. Get outside pictures while waiting for our tour. Finish tour no later than 10:15 am.

Take taxi(s) to Park Guell for 10:30 am or 10:45 am entry. Take plenty of pictures for later. Leave no later than 11:30 am for private tour of Montserrat getting there by 1:00 pm to hear the choir and see Montserrat afterward.

All replies will be greatly appreciated.

Instead of a guided tour just get an audio tour so you can go at your own pace.

We had an audio tour of the interior Monday and I felt sorry for those being herded around in a group. They couldn't spend extra time anywhere and if they were at the end of the tour's line I don't know how they heard their tour guide.

We had an audio tour of the interior Monday and I felt sorry for those being herded around in a group. They couldn't spend extra time anywhere and if they were at the end of the tour's line I don't know how they heard their tour guide.

I'm sure the audioguide is good, too. Even walking around with a guidebook would be fine. The main thing is to go see it. It seems pricey, but there's nothing else quite like it.

.... A final question -- is this your first visit to Barcelona. If so, do you really want to spend half of your only full day there visiting Montserrat? Because you won't be doing justice to Barcelona in four hours... Just a thought....

Agree. A half day for each Barcelona and Montserrat, is not enough for either. Last month we spent 4 full days pre-cruise and 2 days post-cruise in Barcelona, and is was not nearly enough time.

We normally don't do hop-on-hop-off buses, but we did use it in B'lona post-cruise to save our feet. Saw Casa Batllo in the morning, then did both loops of the gray line hoho (the all red buses) with a long stop at Montjuic to see the castle and Miro Museum.

For S.F., definitely get tickets in advance, and the earlier in the day the better. Our pre-cruise apartment was a half block from the S.F. We could see the lines everyday and they were crazy long from late morning on. Go with the self-guided with audio so you have flexibility. You can see the interior without the towers in an hour, another half hour for the outside. A morning visit on the day you board should work if you can store your luggage at the hotel. We did something similar visiting Parc Guell. Taxi to the park, 2 hours visit, taxi back to pick up luggage, taxi to the ship and we were on board by 1:00.