Tickets for the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona are the cheapest and best bought online as skip-the-line timeslot admissions or as part of fast-track-entry guided tours.
Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia church is one of the top sights to see in Barcelona and one of the most popular attractions in Spain. Admission to the Sagrada Familia is only on specific timeslot tickets and these are cheapest and best bought online in advance. Tickets for the Sagrada Familia sell out most days making queuing at the church often futile. Buy tickets online at least two days in advance and much earlier during busy periods. Guided tours and combination tickets with further Barcelona sights, including many Barcelona city cards and passes, are good savings options and may give easier admission to the Sagrada Familia at very busy times.
How to Buy Online Skip-the-Line Tickets for Sagrada Familia
Buying advance reservation skip-the-line time-slot admission tickets online for the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona is essential and the cheapest way to gain admission to the famous Gaudi-designed church. Tickets often sell out and the high season in Barcelona is increasingly long making it sensible to buy tickets as early as possible.
All admissions to the Sagrada Familia are only per specific timeslots, whether as individual travelers or as part of a tour group.
During the high season, and even much of the lower season, tickets for Sagrada Familia sell out every day and no amount of queuing will ensure admission without timeslot tickets.
Ticket options for the Sagrada Familia include time-slot admissions only (with free audio guide app on own mobile), time-slot admission with an official guided tour, time-slot admission with an audio guide and tower access, fast-track admission for guided tours, and fast-track admission for guided tours that include further activities.
The cheapest tickets for the Sagrada Familia are directly from the official website but skip-the-line tickets are also available from many resellers including Tiqets and GetYourGuide. Note that tickets may still be available from resellers when the official site is sold out and cancelation conditions are usually more generous. The most basic ticket is just for timeslot admission and tower access is extra.
Seeing the towers (elevator up, stairs down) is optional but must be booked at the time of buying the ticket – it cannot be added later.
Many Barcelona city cards and passes also include access to the Sagrada Familia.
Tips on Tickets Visiting the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
Opening Hours and Visiting Times for the Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia opens daily at 9 a.m. (Sundays only at 10:30), which is also the best time to visit. It closes at 18:00 from November to February, 19:00 in March and October, and 20:00 from April to September.
The Sagrada Familia is open every day of the year but closes at 14:00 on 25 and 26 December as well as 1 and 6 January.
The last admissions are 30 minutes before closing for a very rushed visit. The standard tours are around an hour but many visitors spend much longer here – two to three hours are common. Add at least half an hour when visiting a tower.
Tickets for the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
The basic admission ticket for the Sagrada Familia is €26 and includes an audio guide app (use own mobile device). General admission with access to one of the towers is €36. An official live guided tour adds only €4 per ticket (and also includes the audio tour app). Other guided tours are more pricy but may include further sights and have better availability. Barcelona city cards and passes may also be good value to include other sides and/or public transportation.
Youths (11 to 29 years), students, and visitors over 65s receive a small discount.
Admission is free for children up to 10 years old but they do need a free time-slot ticket as well. The minimum age for tower access is 6 years.
The official dress code is for modest dress. Strictly speaking, that means no bare shoulders while shorts and dresses should cover at least the knee but this is generally not too strictly enforced. However, if the personnel says no it remains no.
The Best Times to Visit the Sagrada Familia
The best time to visit the Sagrada Familia is first thing in the morning, i.e. 9:00, not 10:00. A very good alternative is after 15:00 but before sunset, as darkness certainly spoils the light while the rays of the setting sun could be magical and great for photos. An advantage of a late afternoon visit is that the church will get progressively quieter rather than busier, as is the case in the morning.
Visitors ascending the towers may particularly find afternoon visits more pleasant, as a descent from the tower first thing in the morning will certainly bring the visitors into a much busier church than it was before going up in the elevator.
Note: It is essential to stick to the exact 15-minute timeslot. Admission is almost never given to anyone turning up outside the specified time slot. Similarly, group tickets may only be used if entering together as a group not as a late-arriving individual.
Book Guided Tours for the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
The cheapest guided tours of the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona are the official church guides. These 45-minute tours sell out fast, as they are offered only a few times per day.
An astonishing number of guided tour options for the Sagrada Familia are available to see the church as part of a private group tour. These groups typically assemble at the tour operator’s office near the church and then proceed as a group through the fast-access group entrance – miss the group and no admission is possible without being in the specific group.
These tours typically last from just over an hour to two hours with the longer tours often hardly more expensive than the express tours. At the end of the tour, it is of course possible to remain behind in the church to explore further. As for solo admissions, early morning or late afternoon is better than mid-day.
Guided tours are by qualified guides and all use earpieces, as it would otherwise be impossible to hear the guide in the crowded church. Guides are surprisingly easy to lose in the busy church – best to take photos after the tour has ended.
Guided Tours of the Sagrada Familia and Towers
Private guided tours of the Sagrada Familia church often include one of the towers – either the Nativity tower (55 m / 180 ft) or higher Passion tower (75 m / 250 ft). (The price is the same so if given a choice many opt for more is better.) These guided tours end at the elevators, as guides are not allowed to ascend. Visitors take the elevator to the top of the tower and then walk down via the spiral staircases.
The views of Barcelona from the towers are not particularly inspiring. The main attraction of ascending is to get close to the architecture and to enjoy the views of the church building on the way down. The towers certainly are less overwhelmingly impressive than the marvelous interior of the church itself.
Save with Combination Tours and Tickets of the Sagrada Familia and Barcelona Sights
A wide variety of combination tours are possible that add further Barcelona sights to a visit to the Sagrada Familia. These may often add more value and savings compared to just a guided visit to the church.
It is important to note carefully what is included and what not in these guided tours. Tour operators are keen to tell just how much is included, so unless a skip-the-line admission ticket for a sight is specifically mentioned, assume it is not. Some tours only include time-slot reservations meaning visitors still have to buy further admission tickets. A photo of the church also does not mean it is seen from the inside: it is quite possible “to marvel at the Sagrada Familia” without entering but anyone may do so from the outside at any time for free.
If planning to stay for longer in the church make sure the tour ends at the Sagrada Familia, or if preferred at a sight such as the Park GĂĽell where it may be fun to stay longer than the tour.
