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Sagrada Familia questions, Hop on Hop off bus times, which tour etc.


azzy73
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Cruising NCL Epic May 23-May30 and will be in Barcelona on May 27th. I have booked the Hop on Hop off bus and we are wanting to see Sagrada Familia first thing before it gets too busy. I was looking at Sagrada Familia site to buy tickets and it wants you to choose times for that date and earliest time is 10:30 am. Would this match up well with bus schedule and if we get to area earlier than that what other sites is there to see in that area. Second, I am unsure which ticket to book, tour, audio tour or basic, towers or no towers? Thanks for your input!

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It's our first time in Barcelona too, whilst I cannot answer your questions, I've booked the Sagrada Familia for 10.30, I've booked the audio tour for €29 including the tower and after reading up on Trip Advisor the Nativity Tower.

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Cruising NCL Epic May 23-May30 and will be in Barcelona on May 27th. I have booked the Hop on Hop off bus and we are wanting to see Sagrada Familia first thing before it gets too busy. I was looking at Sagrada Familia site to buy tickets and it wants you to choose times for that date and earliest time is 10:30 am. Would this match up well with bus schedule and if we get to area earlier than that what other sites is there to see in that area. Second, I am unsure which ticket to book, tour, audio tour or basic, towers or no towers? Thanks for your input!

I just visited Sagarda for the second time on April11.

We had purchased tickets online for 10:00 am to 10:15. with guide. We took a taxi from our hotel. The place was very crowded. Our guide was great and weaved us around some of the groups for a better views while she explained th finer details of the sturcture, stain glass, columns and statures.

It was a 50 minute tour both outside the nativity doors and inside and lower level.

If I were you I would get the guided tour.

The place can be overwhelming but stunning beautiful in so many ways.

Gaudi was a genius.

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Just want to give some feedback on the towers. If anyone in your group has a fear of heights, or tight spaces for that matter, I would not recommend them doing a tower. My husband has a fear of heights but has been able to climb a couple Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize. However, he was scared to death doing the tower and will never do it again. The problem is that on the way down you are going down a narrow spiral staircase, and it’s completely open in the middle. And the side near the opening isn’t very high. You can see down the middle all the way to the bottom, which is cool if you are not afraid of heights, but terrifying to someone who is. My poor husband was on the verge of tears. I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat, but I know I will definitely be doing it alone if I do because he would never even consider doing it again.

 

This is a picture looking down the middle.

 

a388e83d2c2c6a2ebe813272fa8962a7.jpg

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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I just visited Sagarda for the second time on April11.

We had purchased tickets online for 10:00 am to 10:15. with guide. We took a taxi from our hotel. The place was very crowded. Our guide was great and weaved us around some of the groups for a better views while she explained th finer details of the sturcture, stain glass, columns and statures.

It was a 50 minute tour both outside the nativity doors and inside and lower level.

If I were you I would get the guided tour.

The place can be overwhelming but stunning beautiful in so many ways.

Gaudi was a genius.

 

Azulann, did you book with Sagrada Familia directly or you used the tour company? If yes, which one please :) This will be our first time in Barcelona. Someone mentioned that is better to see it in afternoon because sun will hit the windows at that time.

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Sorry...but it's completely unnecessary to pre-purchase your HOHO tickets....You could just have easily bought them as you board. You might want to check but you may possibly have to exchange your email confirmation at their main location...as the individual driver/stops might need a voucher instead of your email.

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I purchased a skip the line ticket and was assigned 1045 am to enter. I am also unsure what else to see in the morning before this entry time. Since the day is short I want to maximize the time and get off the ship early but I need ideas of things open or available. I will be there on a Sunday which is probably also limiting the choices.

Taxi to Sagrada Familia from cruise port or try to make it to ho/ho bus and ride around in time?? For some reason the Barcelona port planning is stressing me out....

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We are planning to visit in early July when cruising on Indy. We are going to get HOHO bus to Sagrada Familia and plan to prebook tickets which include tower. My question is which tower would you choose - Nativity or Passion? I can't make my mind up.

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We are planning to visit in early July when cruising on Indy. We are going to get HOHO bus to Sagrada Familia and plan to prebook tickets which include tower. My question is which tower would you choose - Nativity or Passion? I can't make my mind up.

 

We chose to go up the tower of the Nativity facade, because it's the facade on which Gaudi personally worked, so it was an opportunity to get even closer to his work.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide. La Sagrada Familia is simply spectacular!

 

 

enhance

 

(from the Nativity tower, by turtles06)

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I purchased a skip the line ticket and was assigned 1045 am to enter. I am also unsure what else to see in the morning before this entry time. Since the day is short I want to maximize the time and get off the ship early but I need ideas of things open or available. I will be there on a Sunday which is probably also limiting the choices.

Taxi to Sagrada Familia from cruise port or try to make it to ho/ho bus and ride around in time?? For some reason the Barcelona port planning is stressing me out....

What time does your ship arrive? And how long will you be in port? Do you have a must see list of sites?

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We chose to go up the tower of the Nativity facade, because it's the facade on which Gaudi personally worked, so it was an opportunity to get even closer to his work.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide. La Sagrada Familia is simply spectacular!

 

enhance

 

(from the Nativity tower, by turtles06)

Turtles06. Your photo from the Nativity Tower is wonderful.

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I'm also looking for advice on Sagrada Familia. We are on RCI's Symphony which will dock at 5 am on Sunday to let off the passengers who started in Barcelona. Our cruise will have started in Civitavecchia, so we will re-board by 5 for a 6PM departuture.

 

DH and I have been to Barcelona, but didn't tour SF, only looked from outside. We are traveling with another couple who haven't been to Barcelona. Our top priority is to do the guided tour of the Familia Sagrada; the earliest appointment is 9:30AM.

 

Should we take a taxi or get the HOHO bus? I also want to show them the Gaudi houses La Pedrilo and Casa Battlo. Parc Guel , Las Ramblas, and La Boqueria(lunch?) are my other main sites.

 

We can have breakfast on the ship, then head out for the day; any suggestions on the order of the sights and the desired transportation mode?

 

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

Barb

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I'm also looking for advice on Sagrada Familia. We are on RCI's Symphony which will dock at 5 am on Sunday to let off the passengers who started in Barcelona. Our cruise will have started in Civitavecchia, so we will re-board by 5 for a 6PM departuture.

 

DH and I have been to Barcelona, but didn't tour SF, only looked from outside. We are traveling with another couple who haven't been to Barcelona. Our top priority is to do the guided tour of the Familia Sagrada; the earliest appointment is 9:30AM.

 

Should we take a taxi or get the HOHO bus? I also want to show them the Gaudi houses La Pedrilo and Casa Battlo. Parc Guel , Las Ramblas, and La Boqueria(lunch?) are my other main sites.

 

We can have breakfast on the ship, then head out for the day; any suggestions on the order of the sights and the desired transportation mode?

 

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

Barb

FYI...La Boqueria is closed on Sunday's.

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For those wondering what to do if they get to the church early, you can easily spend 30-60 minutes just admiring it from the outside. It is amazing.

 

For the OP who has already bought their HOHO tickets, do you know what time the earliest bus comes by the pier? I would suggest getting tickets for 1.5 hrs after that. This gives you time to get to the SF and spend time wandering the outside before your tour.

 

For others, you can grab the metro at the foot of Las Ramblas

 

https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/cruise-port/map-of-barcelona-port.html

 

 

Change trains at Diagonal

 

http://www.publictransport.barcelona/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/metrobarcelona_networkmap.pdf

 

 

And price wise, the best way to do this, is to get a T10 ticket (two people can share one ticket). You can buy them at 'tobacco' shops. Don't know if you can buy it at the metro station. We used buses during our visit.

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Azulann, did you book with Sagrada Familia directly or you used the tour company? If yes, which one please :) This will be our first time in Barcelona. Someone mentioned that is better to see it in afternoon because sun will hit the windows at that time.

We purchased our tickets on line from home. We used the guides provided at the Sagrada.

The first time I visited it in 2016 we used a local tour guide that took us to a Gaudi home and then Sagrada.

The second guide employed by the Sagrada was the best by far. The english gorup for our time frame had aobut 15 people inher group. We had audio boaxes to hear her speaking.

Does not really matter if you go in morning or afternoon. If it is sunny day the glass windows will cast their colors on the pillars, which is heavenly.

It could be a cloudy day but he church will still be very light and airy.

Have a wonderful time in Barcelona, one of my favorite cities of Spain.

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We purchased our tickets on line from home. We used the guides provided at the Sagrada.

The first time I visited it in 2016 we used a local tour guide that took us to a Gaudi home and then Sagrada.

The second guide employed by the Sagrada was the best by far. The english gorup for our time frame had aobut 15 people inher group. We had audio boaxes to hear her speaking.

Does not really matter if you go in morning or afternoon. If it is sunny day the glass windows will cast their colors on the pillars, which is heavenly.

It could be a cloudy day but he church will still be very light and airy.

Have a wonderful time in Barcelona, one of my favorite cities of Spain.

 

Thank you!! :)

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  • 1 month later...
Just want to give some feedback on the towers. If anyone in your group has a fear of heights, or tight spaces for that matter, I would not recommend them doing a tower. My husband has a fear of heights but has been able to climb a couple Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize. However, he was scared to death doing the tower and will never do it again. The problem is that on the way down you are going down a narrow spiral staircase, and it’s completely open in the middle. And the side near the opening isn’t very high. You can see down the middle all the way to the bottom, which is cool if you are not afraid of heights, but terrifying to someone who is. My poor husband was on the verge of tears. I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat, but I know I will definitely be doing it alone if I do because he would never even consider doing it again.

 

This is a picture looking down the middle.

 

a388e83d2c2c6a2ebe813272fa8962a7.jpg

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you so much for this. As someone who has a fear of heights this view terrifies me. I shalll stay athe bottom.

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I agree:

 

1. you want the earliest entry possible. In our case, they opened at 9:00 am. This will SIGNIFICANTLY cut down on your crowds for the first hour. If the sun is up, you'll enjoy the light coming through the windows. My pictures (below) were taken between 9:00 am and 10:00 am.

 

2. you probably don't want to count on the HOHO bus getting you to the basilica in time for your entry. Miss your 15 minute window and they will not let you in. A taxi or metro would be a better idea.

 

While we explored totally on our own, others have expressed how great the official tour guides are --- as well as how good the audio guide is. You apparently can't go wrong with either.

 

Here's my quick review:

 

The #1 tourist attraction in Barcelona is Sagrada Familia, a basilica unlike any other in the world. Designed by Antoni Gaudí, its a work still in progress. While the exterior is genuinely unique --- my wife thinks it looks something like a sandcastle --- it's the interior that is jaw-dropping. Nothing really prepares you for the experience that awaits once you set foot inside.

 

We bought the "Basic" self-guided tour tickets (€15 pp) online at their official website for the 9:00 am entry time, which is when they open. All tickets are time-controled and they only let a set number of visitors in at 15-minute intervals. Miss your interval and you will be refused entry. However, once in, you can stay as long as you like. And they do have restrooms in the complex, but outside of the basilica on your way towards the museum, souvenir shop, and exit.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/barce...dafamilia2.jpg

Note that you cannot upgrade your tickets upon arrival. So if you want an audioguide, a guided tour, and/or wish to climb the tower, you need to make this choice online and pay for it in advance. We bought our tickets online over a month in advance of our early May visit. No tickets were available on site the day we visited. It had sold out online. If you enjoy sightseeing without the crowds, I highly recommend you get tickets for 9:00 am.

 

We got off the ship at 7:30 am and shared a taxi with 2 other couples (€30 total / €5 pp) to Sagrada Familia. We arrived before 8:00 am and got a good look at many of the statues on the exterior prior to getting in line at street level for security which opened about 8:30 am. We queued a second time in the courtyard one floor above security.

If you prefer to take the metro, and the Cruise Bus is running, take the Cruise Bus to the Christopher Columbus statue. Then walk NW 2 blocks from the Christopher Columbus statue to the Drassanes Metro station. It's located just the other side of the Comandància Naval de Barcelona building. Take the green L3 metro 1 stop to Paral-lel station, then change to the L2 Purple Metro and take it directly to the Sagrada Familia stop. The Sagrada Familia can be seen immediately upon exiting the metro.

 

At 9:00 am the Sagrada Familia doors opened and welcomed the first group of ticketholders. There is some massing just inside the door as you become enthralled at the grand beauty and begin capturing the first of over 400 pictures. Thank goodness for digital photography! The beautiful colored light you see in my photos is natural sunlight coming through stained glass windows. The colored glass and window placements were carefull conceived and orchestrated to provide a changing light show from sun up to sun down. No artificial colored lighting is used, and most of the pillars are actually white.

 

We spent close to 2 hours exploring the basilica, watching the lighting change as time passed, and visiting the museum displays below the church. The church was practically empty for the first 15 minutes, but got fuller every succeeding quarter-hour. There were maybe 100 visitors when we arrived and few thousand (inside and out) when we left about 10:45 am.

Here are my detailed notes on Barcelona and other ports we visited in the Mediterranean:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/medit...n-secrets.html

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just want to give some feedback on the towers. If anyone in your group has a fear of heights, or tight spaces for that matter, I would not recommend them doing a tower. My husband has a fear of heights but has been able to climb a couple Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize. However, he was scared to death doing the tower and will never do it again. The problem is that on the way down you are going down a narrow spiral staircase, and it’s completely open in the middle. And the side near the opening isn’t very high. You can see down the middle all the way to the bottom, which is cool if you are not afraid of heights, but terrifying to someone who is. My poor husband was on the verge of tears. I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat, but I know I will definitely be doing it alone if I do because he would never even consider doing it again.

 

This is a picture looking down the middle.

 

a388e83d2c2c6a2ebe813272fa8962a7.jpg

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I can’t tell by the photo.....are there handrails?

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  • 2 weeks later...
I can’t tell by the photo.....are there handrails?

 

 

In the photo there appears to be a handrail in the top left hand corner.

 

Otherwise it looks completely open on the outside edge so guess it's wise to hug the wall and hold onto the rail.

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I agree:

 

1. you want the earliest entry possible. In our case, they opened at 9:00 am. This will SIGNIFICANTLY cut down on your crowds for the first hour. If the sun is up, you'll enjoy the light coming through the windows. My pictures (below) were taken between 9:00 am and 10:00 am.

 

2. you probably don't want to count on the HOHO bus getting you to the basilica in time for your entry. Miss your 15 minute window and they will not let you in. A taxi or metro would be a better idea.

 

While we explored totally on our own, others have expressed how great the official tour guides are --- as well as how good the audio guide is. You apparently can't go wrong with either.

 

Here's my quick review:

 

The #1 tourist attraction in Barcelona is Sagrada Familia, a basilica unlike any other in the world. Designed by Antoni Gaudí, its a work still in progress. While the exterior is genuinely unique --- my wife thinks it looks something like a sandcastle --- it's the interior that is jaw-dropping. Nothing really prepares you for the experience that awaits once you set foot inside.

 

We bought the "Basic" self-guided tour tickets (€15 pp) online at their official website for the 9:00 am entry time, which is when they open. All tickets are time-controled and they only let a set number of visitors in at 15-minute intervals. Miss your interval and you will be refused entry. However, once in, you can stay as long as you like. And they do have restrooms in the complex, but outside of the basilica on your way towards the museum, souvenir shop, and exit.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/barce...dafamilia2.jpg

Note that you cannot upgrade your tickets upon arrival. So if you want an audioguide, a guided tour, and/or wish to climb the tower, you need to make this choice online and pay for it in advance. We bought our tickets online over a month in advance of our early May visit. No tickets were available on site the day we visited. It had sold out online. If you enjoy sightseeing without the crowds, I highly recommend you get tickets for 9:00 am.

 

We got off the ship at 7:30 am and shared a taxi with 2 other couples (€30 total / €5 pp) to Sagrada Familia. We arrived before 8:00 am and got a good look at many of the statues on the exterior prior to getting in line at street level for security which opened about 8:30 am. We queued a second time in the courtyard one floor above security.

If you prefer to take the metro, and the Cruise Bus is running, take the Cruise Bus to the Christopher Columbus statue. Then walk NW 2 blocks from the Christopher Columbus statue to the Drassanes Metro station. It's located just the other side of the Comandància Naval de Barcelona building. Take the green L3 metro 1 stop to Paral-lel station, then change to the L2 Purple Metro and take it directly to the Sagrada Familia stop. The Sagrada Familia can be seen immediately upon exiting the metro.

 

At 9:00 am the Sagrada Familia doors opened and welcomed the first group of ticketholders. There is some massing just inside the door as you become enthralled at the grand beauty and begin capturing the first of over 400 pictures. Thank goodness for digital photography! The beautiful colored light you see in my photos is natural sunlight coming through stained glass windows. The colored glass and window placements were carefull conceived and orchestrated to provide a changing light show from sun up to sun down. No artificial colored lighting is used, and most of the pillars are actually white.

 

We spent close to 2 hours exploring the basilica, watching the lighting change as time passed, and visiting the museum displays below the church. The church was practically empty for the first 15 minutes, but got fuller every succeeding quarter-hour. There were maybe 100 visitors when we arrived and few thousand (inside and out) when we left about 10:45 am.

Here are my detailed notes on Barcelona and other ports we visited in the Mediterranean:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/medit...n-secrets.html

 

Thanks for all the information and detailed notes.

 

I think we will take a taxi to get to Sagrada Familia to have an early ticket then purchase the HOHO ticket to see the city.

 

Were there taxi when you exited the ship? Or did you have take the cruise shuttle to exit the port area then get a taxi?

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  • 6 months later...
On 6/18/2018 at 10:10 PM, CG3H said:

 

Thank you so much for this. As someone who has a fear of heights this view terrifies me. I shalll stay athe bottom.

Me too!  So glad you posted that photo. I had a panic attack years ago on the cable car at Gibraltar!

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On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 12:07 AM, koernert said:

I purchased a skip the line ticket and was assigned 1045 am to enter. I am also unsure what else to see in the morning before this entry time. Since the day is short I want to maximize the time and get off the ship early but I need ideas of things open or available. I will be there on a Sunday which is probably also limiting the choices.

Taxi to Sagrada Familia from cruise port or try to make it to ho/ho bus and ride around in time?? For some reason the Barcelona port planning is stressing me out....

You can easily spend the time walking around the outside of S.F. While you can see both facades from inside the gate there are views that your ticket doesn't cover (e.g., the sides and the view from the park across the street.)

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