Sagrada Familia-risation

We’re planning to visit Barcelona in the summer and want to visit the Sagrada Familia.  You need to book in advance, but there are various options when booking.

Is a guided tour worth booking?  I usually tend to just meander around places like this, but I wondered if the tour’s worth paying extra for.

Any other tips for must-dos/sees in Barcelona?

We just meandered, plenty of bat$h1t mentalness to gawp at.

Make sure you use official site to book, I nearly paid a premium on a very official looking site.

The French bakery about 10 mins walk away on cl cartagena, obrador I think it’s called, does the best almond croissants ever.  Sit outside for a coffee and pastry.

We visited last week and pre booked about 3 weeks in advance via official site. Was about £130 for family 4 with audio guide and trip up towers. Pricing but definitely worth it. Other highlights are usual suspects Park Güell, the modernista casas and Montjuïc. Was a pricy trip bur memorable for kids who really enjoyed it.

Really liked https://inici.palauguell.cat/en/ Palau Guell, was hardly anyone there, it’s a toned down version of Gaudi but still very ornate and interesting.

We’ve stayed near Eixample a couple of times, and just sitting at the edge of the local square watching the world go by is great.

I prefer the outside of Sagrada, the inside didn’t do it for me.

+1 for Palau Guell and sitting/staying in Eixample watching the world go by

Is a guided tour worth booking?  I usually tend to just meander around places like this, but I wondered if the tour’s worth paying extra for.

Possibly but when we visited unguided I was happy that I wasn’t having to follow anyone around. I’m a big fan of cathedral visits on trips, I love the architecture but I’m not especially into the detail of who/when/why at the time, I’d rather read about it later and experience the impression they can make. The Sagrada Familia was a stunning place to be and I just sat in a few places taking it all in. We went up one of the towers, that was also good.

I’d recommend going to see a good flamenco performance. Don’t laugh .. I wasn’t so into the idea but my OH wanted to see one. But I was blown away by it, they were incredible. We went to a place called Flamenco Barcelona SL, just off the Placa de Catalunya. The collective performing there were said to be some of the best artists in Spain – I thought ‘sure, I bet they all say that..’ and then they started up .. wow. You know how any live performance can be great if it’s done with real feeling and gusto? That x100. Some other people we met while there went to another show venue as part of a tour and didn’t seem very into it.

We did the audio guide + towers

Don’t bother with the open top tour busses, they’re a expensive and traffic is pretty bad. Just get the metro.

Cafes (outside of tourist traps)  are like most of Europe, cheap and great.

We hiked up the hill towards the theme park (we got as far as the top road), worth doing after my introverted social battery was drained from 2 days of city stuff, saw hardly anyone, and spectacular views back over the city.

Watch for pickpockets (same as any tourist city), although the only one my OH’s ever lost something in despite walking everywhere with her handbag open and phones and purse hanging out.

We were there this spring, I would say Yes the tour is worth it.  I certainly found it pretty interesting.

All the Gaudi stuff is worth doing in my opinion.  We also did a bike tour with Steel Donkeys which was very good indeed.

Barca is great for “vibes”.  Not sure the pickpockets are any worse than any other city with the exception of Las Ramblas, which you feel lucky to get to the end of with all your phones and wallets…

Watch for pickpockets (same as any tourist city), although the only one my OH’s ever lost something in despite walking everywhere with her handbag open and phones and purse hanging out.

Friends of ours got done by the bird poo trick.

Walking along and a “bird” poos on them. Suddenly some couple walk up to them, point it out and insist on helping clean it off. Nice little exchange, lots pleasantries and laughs.

Got to a cafe and realised that both their phones were gone and the lady’s purse. The guy had his phone in his pocket. She had her stuff in a bag.

Best cathedral I have visited, but think the interior is the star. No tour. Sit in a quiet spot to watch the light move. Move to another after a while. Given the number of people the mood is actually quite tranquil. The movement of light through the stained glass is amazing. One side is essentially a red/orange palette, the other green/blue. In some respects the interior design, quite plain compared to the outside ,  is even more impressive than the exterior.

Casas are good.

Decent craft beer scene. Blacklab near the marina was good.

I’ve been twice around the Gaudi buildings all of them are an absolute delight of detail

Went into the Sagrada Familia on my first visit probably 2003 and its my wish to revisit if it gets completed in my lifetime

Worth a visit to the medieval quarter cathedral and the roof

Modern art museum is great as is the picasso museum

Sitting and having a few beers in a bar can be ace in the tight part of town

Is it finished yet? We used the audio app and bimbled around at our own pace, sometimes listening in to group tours as we passed.

When I last went, a very long time ago, it was just a few euro to wander about as you pleased. Under the bemused gaze of a few workers, mostly just flicking fag butts into cement mixers.

The free wander wasn’t he best approach as soon discovered what crippling vertigo felt like.

Sounds like it’s a bit more organised now!

Any other tips for must-dos/sees in Barcelona?

Keep your wallet in an inside pocket or a zipped bag, and don’t leave drinks unattended.

The Segrada Familia seemed a valid project 30 years ago when I visited (women over forty wearing black etc) but rather incongruous in modern Spain where church going has taken a massive nose dive.

Make sure your travel insurance is up to date and get a good level of cover. 😉

I normally ignore dire warnings about crime etc having been all over the place, thinking a bit of common sense is all you need never mind being as streetwise as I obviously am…

We’ve been to barcelona five times including with kids and later with teenagers on the loose and it’s a great city full stop, and a great place to visit with no itinerary bar get up, have breakfast, go for a wander, hit the beach and then a bar.

However,  it is the only place I’ve visited where I have had to claim on travel insurance having lost my wallet and I still don’t know how, somewhere between the airport and our hotel. So I suppose there is that.

Went last year, bought tickets from the offical site a few weeks beforehand. I’ve some photos but in all honesty they don’t quite capture the nature of the thing quite like being there in person. Being inside of it was like being inside a spaceship created by aliens who’ve heard 2nd hand about God from a deranged priest. (in a good way)

I found Barcelona no worse than any other city for pick-pockets, footpads. Scallywags and ne’er-do-wells. TBH

A local supermarket bag is a better bet than a zipped bag or any other kind of bag but Cougar’s advice about drinks is good.

Money pouches you hang around your neck they grab the strap cut one side and they’re away with it. Same with shoulder bags.

A money belt tucked in your trousers is pretty good.

I used to carry a spare wallet with just a few notes in to hand over if mugged and as easier pickings for pick pockets

No watch or visible wealth, cheap phone, scruffy clothes.

Anyone gets close or tries to distract – NO TOCAR! and start jogging.

If you don’t like an area turn around, the cathedral area at night used to be an area to avoid. The nearby market used to be great but now is mainly a tourist trap with stuff for tourists.

Anyhow, we survived a year of working on Rambla Cataluña and commuting on the trains but Madame Edukator’s American colleague just spent a weekend in Barcelona and got robbed twice.

I can’t say I like the place, I prefer Leon, Reus or Tarragona, or almost anywhere else in spain for that matter.

Positives? The olympic pool is great, Sitges is a nice train ride to a nice day on the coast (we lived in Sitges and commuted in), The view from any of the hills around the town you can walk up.

You might think this post is OTT, but forewarned is forearmed.

Oh, and you’re 30 years too late.

I’ve had a long-time fascination with Gaudi’s architecture, and having him featured in Bill Gibson’s Count Zero is a double plus! Never been particularly interested in Spain as a destination, but with the Sagrada Familia due to be finished in 2026 (allegedly), I intend to go to Barcelona and finally get to see as much of Gaudi’s work as possible.

You’ll have to see a bit more of Spain to see as much as possible, Countzero. We came across Gaudi buildings walking St James ways in Comillas, Leon and Astorga.

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A local supermarket bag is a better bet than a zipped bag or any other kind of bag but Cougar’s advice about drinks is good.

Money pouches you hang around your neck they grab the strap cut one side and they’re away with it. Same with shoulder bags.

A money belt tucked in your trousers is pretty good.

I used to carry a spare wallet with just a few notes in to hand over if mugged and as easier pickings for pick pockets

No watch or visible wealth, cheap phone, scruffy clothes”

This.

I’ve been a good few places but Barcelona is the only place I’ve had the pleasure of someone trying to remove my wallet from my front jeans pocket.

Yes, and as for ‘it’s no worse than any big city’, that’s plain bollox. The thieves are a prevalent as gulls on a seaside pier, only it’s not chips they’re nicking.
Do NOT underestimate the level of street crime in Barcelona. (I speak from bitter experience. Bag snatch, cop-shop, British consulate, the works).
Follow Edukator’s advice, it’s a lovely place but be careful.