Barcelona · the Nativity facade, the nave and the towers
Sagrada Familia: tickets, hours and what to see
Gaudí's basilica is still being built, and you can visit it. Here is how to choose your ticket, when to go and how to arrive.
In short
- You enter the Sagrada Familia in a time slot. You choose the day and the hour when you book, and the ticket is valid only then. If you arrive late, you do not get in.
- The basilica is open every day. It opens at 9:00 from Monday to Saturday and at 10:30 on Sunday. It closes at 18:00 from November to February, at 19:00 in March and October and at 20:00 from April to September, except on Saturday, when it closes at 18:00 all year. On 25 and 26 December and on 1 and 6 January it closes at 14:00.
- You can add a tower to your ticket when you book. You go up in a lift and come down on foot, and the view over Barcelona is the reason to do it. Children under 6 cannot go up.
- Short on time? The entry ticket with the audio guide is enough. Want to understand what you are looking at? Choose a guided tour. Planning a whole day with Gaudí? Pick the tour that adds Park Güell or his other buildings.
The Nativity facade: where the visit begins
The entrance is on the Nativity facade, on Carrer de la Marina. It has three doorways, for Hope, Faith and Charity, and above the central one a stone cypress with white doves, the tree of life.
Look at the base of the columns: one rests on a sea turtle and the other on a land turtle.
The nave: a forest made of stone
Inside, the columns rise and branch like trees, and the stained glass is bluer on one side of the nave and more orange on the other. The central vault is 45 metres high.
Stop for a minute in the middle and look up.
The towers: Barcelona from above
With tower access you go up in a lift to one of the towers and see the grid of the Eixample and the whole city. You come down on foot.
Choose it when you book: it is not part of the basic ticket.