Sagrada Familia & Passion Facade Elevator?

[World Gallery]

We will only have from about 8:00AM to 10:15AM, to see the Sagrada Familia before our flights out of Barcelona on June 15. I just read that they don't open until 9:00AM in Rick Steves book. We were hoping to do one of the 2 elevators, probably the Navitity Facade, but it seems that we may be pushing it in regards to time. Is it possible to get there about 8:15, see the outside, buy tickets as soon as they open and be finished by 10:00 and get to the airport at 10:30 (we have a 12:30 flight)?

If not, are there any recommendations for 2 hours pre-flight in Barcelona? We do have a private transfer to the airport and they said we can do a short tour before being dropped off, but I guess they didn't realize that the church opened at 9:00. We have 5 kids ages 11-18. Wish we had longer but it was not an option in regards to flight costs.

[Silverwing]

If you do decide that you are going to try to get inside - it certainly is amazing and well worth seeing - then buy your tickets online first. We did that in May last year. There is a special entrance which we walked straight through (much to the annoyance of people waiting in the hot sunshine!)

 

It will be very busy in June and you won't be able to just arrive, buy tickets and walk in. The tickets you buy online are timed. We bought 10am tickets and walked past a huge queue. We asked how long the wait would have been if we had needed to join the queue and were told three hours! The queuing apparently starts well before opening time. If you can prebuy 9am tickets and have a car waiting to take you to the airport, then you might just manage it.

 

Good luck!

[4774Papa]

We will only have from about 8:00AM to 10:15AM, to see the Sagrada Familia before our flights out of Barcelona on June 15. I just read that they don't open until 9:00AM in Rick Steves book. We were hoping to do one of the 2 elevators, probably the Navitity Facade, but it seems that we may be pushing it in regards to time. Is it possible to get there about 8:15, see the outside, buy tickets as soon as they open and be finished by 10:00 and get to the airport at 10:30 (we have a 12:30 flight)?

If not, are there any recommendations for 2 hours pre-flight in Barcelona? We do have a private transfer to the airport and they said we can do a short tour before being dropped off, but I guess they didn't realize that the church opened at 9:00. We have 5 kids ages 11-18. Wish we had longer but it was not an option in regards to flight costs.

I think you are pushing your luck on going up the elevator. We had to wait 45 minutes just to go up and the walk down takes a while. You could probably go to see the inside and still make it.

[Hlitner]

I think you are pushing your luck on going up the elevator. We had to wait 45 minutes just to go up and the walk down takes a while. You could probably go to see the inside and still make it.

 

We agree and its also pushing your luck to try to visit inside. It can get very crowded around the cathedral in the busy tourist season and you can assume there will be plenty of organized bus tour groups also planning to tour as soon as the place opens. Seeing the outside would be no problem although it is a deviation from the route to the airport and will add another 30 min (plus the time you spend at the Cathedral) to your time needed to get to the airport.

 

Hank

[World Gallery]

If you do decide that you are going to try to get inside - it certainly is amazing and well worth seeing - then buy your tickets online first. We did that in May last year. There is a special entrance which we walked straight through (much to the annoyance of people waiting in the hot sunshine!)

 

It will be very busy in June and you won't be able to just arrive, buy tickets and walk in. The tickets you buy online are timed. We bought 10am tickets and walked past a huge queue. We asked how long the wait would have been if we had needed to join the queue and were told three hours! The queuing apparently starts well before opening time. If you can prebuy 9am tickets and have a car waiting to take you to the airport, then you might just manage it.

 

Good luck!

 

Can you prepurchase the elevator tickets? Also, where online to you buy the tickets? I was on their website last night and didn't see a link for purchasing tickets in advance but I was looking to pre-purchase the elevator tickets.

I will gather a bit more information and then decide I guess.

[usermom]

Can you prepurchase the elevator tickets? Also, where online to you buy the tickets? I was on their website last night and didn't see a link for purchasing tickets in advance but I was looking to pre-purchase the elevator tickets.

I will gather a bit more information and then decide I guess.

 

Here is the web site to buy your tickets for the inside of the church. With 2 hrs you can do the outside and a good portion of the inside, but not the entire inside. Even if I had limited time, I would do both and skip the elevator since you can only buy tickets for the elevators there. It is an amazing church. Either do the audio tour or read as much as possible ahead of time so you understand what you are looking at. We did the Nativity Facade and there was a specific time we had to show up. If you are late, they did not honor the ticket. We were very disappointed in the elevator to the Nativity facade with all the construction going on, the visibility was poor when we were there is October. But we would go back for a visit to Sagrada Familia in a heartbeat. Have a wonderful time!http://www.servicaixa.com/nav/landings/en/mucho_mas/entradas_sagrada_familia/entradas.html

[sanjim]

I agree with most people that you don't have enough time, Barcelona airport can be a real mess. However, if you go inside the church it seems like everybody waits in line for one set of elevators, there is another set of elevators that when we were there that did not have a waiting line, we bought our ticket and went straight up . However I don't think you have enough time to do this even without a wait. It really takes quite a while to walk down, its a narrow winding staircase and you really cant go to fast without tripping Seeing the church itself is a must, and all you would miss is a view of Barcelona and a close up of some of the cement carvings

[World Gallery]

I agree with most people that you don't have enough time, Barcelona airport can be a real mess. However, if you go inside the church it seems like everybody waits in line for one set of elevators, there is another set of elevators that when we were there that did not have a waiting line, we bought our ticket and went straight up . However I don't think you have enough time to do this even without a wait. It really takes quite a while to walk down, its a narrow winding staircase and you really cant go to fast without tripping Seeing the church itself is a must, and all you would miss is a view of Barcelona and a close up of some of the cement carvings

 

This makes sense. I think we will buy tickets to see the church only, no elevators. I was considering the elevators because I have 5 kids ages 11-18 and they tend to like more active, unique things over visiting the inside of churches but this church seems different and very interesting.

 

When you say the airport can be a real mess, what do you mean? Is 2 hours before good enough? We are flying directly to Copenhagen, not back to the USA yet.

[sanjim]

When My wife and I flew out of BCN, we flew Continental. We had stayed a day after the cruise. I do not like to rush to the airport after a cruise, to much can happen. Staying over one night really is a good idea. Before leaving for BCN I had checked with Continental and found out our flight was going to be 2 hours late. We did take the auto bus which is very convenient to Hotel Continental, so we where not in a hurry. However the check in line was long and the security line was longer. It did take at least an hour and a half to get to your gate, Well I said we where not in a hurry so we had plenty of time. had a chance to spend our last euros in the food stands before our flight. Yes it was a mess, I would find out how many cruise ships are in port the day you leave, if its more than one I would allow more time.

[World Gallery]

When My wife and I flew out of BCN, we flew Continental. We had stayed a day after the cruise. I do not like to rush to the airport after a cruise, to much can happen. Staying over one night really is a good idea. Before leaving for BCN I had checked with Continental and found out our flight was going to be 2 hours late. We did take the auto bus which is very convenient to Hotel Continental, so we where not in a hurry. However the check in line was long and the security line was longer. It did take at least an hour and a half to get to your gate, Well I said we where not in a hurry so we had plenty of time. had a chance to spend our last euros in the food stands before our flight. Yes it was a mess, I would find out how many cruise ships are in port the day you leave, if its more than one I would allow more time.

 

That is a good tip about finding out how many ships are in port. Is there a reliable website that would show this? I have always used Cruisett dot com for Carribean cruises but for some reason, that website is not listing any other ship the entire month of June other than NCL, the one we are on. I know that this cannot be accurate.