From the outside the Sagrada Família is famous for its façades — the Nativity on the east, all encrusted stone and living things, and the Passion on the west, angular and stark. Inside it is a forest: columns that branch like trees into a canopy of vaults, and stained glass that runs from cool blues and greens on the Nativity side to reds and oranges on the Passion side. Morning sun lights the east windows; from around 3 p.m. the western glass sets the nave on fire. Choose your slot for the light you want.
Tickets are timed and sell out days ahead in high season, so buy online. The basic entry includes the nave, the crypt museum and the schools building; the audio guide is worth adding because the symbolism is dense and the building has almost no signage. Tower access is a separate add-on — you ride a lift up either the Nativity or Passion towers and walk down a tight spiral staircase. The Nativity tower has the better city views; children under six are not admitted to the towers.
Give yourself ninety minutes inside, then walk. The Eixample grid around the basilica is Barcelona's modernista showcase — Casa Batlló and La Pedrera are twenty minutes on foot along Passeig de Gràcia, and the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau, two blocks away, is the calm, underrated counterpart to the basilica's crowds.
Stay in the Eixample or Gràcia to be able to walk in; the Gothic Quarter and the beachfront are a fifteen-minute chauffeur ride. Note that the basilica is a working church — dress modestly, keep voices low, and expect certain areas to close for services.
Three things to get right
- Afternoon slots on sunny days give the best light through the western windows.
- Add one tower, not both — the Nativity tower for views, the Passion tower if you are photographing the city.
- Walk to Sant Pau afterwards; it is the least crowded modernista site in the city.
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