benmia

So hard to get the feel of the "layout" of a city before you go. That's where the invaluable advice of you Fodorites comes in!!
We are in the process of planning our days in Barcelona in September.
I read that we should purchase tickets to Park Guell. I am wondering what its proximity is to Sagrada Familia. Does it make sense to purchase tickets for the same day? We have 10am entry to the Sagrada Famila and don't plan on going up in the towers. If I allow 2 hours there we could go to the park afterwards.

Christina

well, sure, you can do more than one thing in a day if you are visiting Sagrada Familia in the morning, I don't see any reason you can't go to the park in the afternoon as well as anywhere else.

If you look at a map of the city, you can see the park is to the NW of Sagrada Familia. It's about 2.5 km away (1.5 miles). There isn't a metro stop super close, but you can walk from the Lesseps metro stop. I never did that as I took a bus which drops you right off at the upper entry, but I would guess that's at least 1 km (from the metro stop) or 1.5 km. there is a bus that runs up Passeig de Gracia which goes to the park. If you don't mind walking, that could be convenient as you wouldnt have to get to the other transportation points.

The website does tell you these options on getting there http://www.parkguell.cat/en/how-to-get-here/
I think I took bus 24, but it does mention a bus 92 from near Sagrada Familia.

It stops about 5 blocks from there along Carrer de Indepencia, that would work. Here is the website of bus routes with maps http://www.tmb.cat/en/linia-de-bus/-...abo/dia-FEINER

benmia

Christina,thanks for all the good info. Did you buy tickets in advance for the park?
Of course, I know we can do more than one thing in a day. What I was wondering was are these 2 activities good to pair together in terms of their proximity.
Any other tips for Barcelona?

KTtravel

The Park Guell is quite a distance from most other activities you would likely be considering but it can pair quite well with the Sagrada Familia. We did a bus/metro combo to get and from the park but in hindsight wished we had just taken a taxi as the bus didn't drop us off in the most convenient location (perhaps we missed the best stop but we got off where the driver told us to) and the metro stop felt like a very long walk in the heat. Of course, the fact that I was in a walking boot probably doesn't help my memory of how long the walk felt!

We did get advance tickets for the Sagrada Familia but I don't believe we got them for the Park.

trvlgirlmq

We were in Barcelona for 5 days in June and did both sites but on different days. We paired Sagrada Familia with the Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella. Another day we went to Parc Guell in the morning. We did get advanced tickets and used the Lesseps metro stop and still had a long walk, much of it uphill, with lots of stairs (there are escalators but one set wasn't working). On the day we went to Parc Guell we had entrance tickets for 10 am and the same day tickets were not available until 2 pm so anyone showing up earlier either had to come back or wait a very long time.

kja

Christina has given you the facts and resources you need.

I got advanced tickets / reservations for both, but then, I don't like to risk finding that my plans are not workable. For the Sagrada Familia, I would strongly encourage advance tickets; whether you would need them is another question. When I visited Parc Guell (an early evening in late May), it was very nice to walk right by the very long line awaiting entry.

benmia

OK, so we did them both on the same day. Took a metro to Sagrada Familia for 9:30 entry and used the audio guide. Then a cab to the Park for 12:30 entry to the monument zone. Had time to walk around in the park before entry time.

After this we went to the waterfront area and had a lovely late lunch at Barceloneta restaurant.

Wonderful day.