question on Barcelona itinerary

Old Apr 21st, 2017, 03:50 AM
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question on Barcelona itinerary

I have planned to see Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and Sant Pau Recinte Modernista all in one day with a stop in Gracia for lunch. I have been told that I want to prebook tickets for all 3 of these. I only see an 11:00 English tour to SPRM and the latest tour for Park Guell looks like 12:30. SF has many options open. I have been told numerous times to book SF first thing in the morning but this is creating a challenge due to the other time options.I am traveling with 2 teens and this is our first full day in Spain after traveling from the states. I wanted to possibly start our day about 10:00 AM as not to have 2 tired teens running around Spain.

Can anyone suggest an itinerary for this? I'm assuming I want the audio tour on all of the above tours? Should I choose to see the museum in Park Guell? There is that option when I'm purchasing my SF ticket, wondering if it's worth it?

FYI we are staying in the Example area. Thank you for any and all advice!
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Old Apr 21st, 2017, 04:03 AM
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Perhaps see Sagrada familia at sunset, the light inside is spectacular and you will take it a little more slowly. http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/light-and-colour/

And Somodó in Gracia has perhaps got the best lunch deal in town, had an amazing meal here a few months ago: http://www.spottedbylocals.com/barcelona/somodo/
http://www.somodo.es/english/
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Old Apr 21st, 2017, 08:40 AM
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I don't understand why supposedly so many people told you to book Sagrada Familia first thing. What for? If you have a reservation time, what difference does it make. If you planned to walk up, I could understand that as a lot of places are not quite as bad first thing as mid-day. Who told you this and what was the reasoning? If the idea was it wouldn't be crowded inside, well, iot is very popular and since they limit the number at a time, I don't suppose that matters that much. I went there peak season without reserving and aside from the line to get a ticket, crowds didn't affect my enjoyment of the inside at all, it's not like shoulder to shoulder.

Do whatever you want, that's what I say and I'd ignore this mandate.

I don't really understand your concerns or what you want to do if not for this order. Sagrada Familia opens at 9. It's only 1 km from Sant Pau. SO I think you could go there at 9 and make that 11 am tour, but that obviously depends on how much time you want to spend there.

It sounds like what you want to do, but I'm not clear, is go to Parc Guell first thing, then Sant Pau, then Sagrada Familia. I don't see any reason you shouldn't do that, in fact, if anything, I think that park is better early in the day. That would seem like a better itinerary to me than whatever else you are contemplating (I"m not sure). Due to time changes, I always wake up early in the mornings anyway after just arriving in Europe. For me, starting the day at 10 is really really late, but I never don't do anything until that late in the morning, home or on vacation.

I can't say whether the museum-house at Parc Guell will be "worth it" to you or not. It's only a couple euro when added to the ticket, I enjoyed it but I like looking around older homes where people of interest lived. If no one thought it was worth 2 euro, I'd be surprised. You should know your group's taste for that type of thing. It's certainly not as dramatic as the big Gaudi houses/apts in the city, of course. It sounds like you personally have no interest in it, so drop it if you want.
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Old Apr 21st, 2017, 05:11 PM
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I felt absolutely NO need for a guided tour of Parc Guell – there is an audio guide that one can rent that I found more than sufficient to my needs. And I liked being there in the evening, after most people had left.

I planned my time at the Sagrada Familia for the late afternoon, and am glad I did, but I suppose the optimal time of day depends on time of year and angle of sun. I don’t see any reason to aim for first thing in the morning…
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 06:29 AM
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Thank you for response...
@kja I can certainly see SF in the evening. The problem that I am having is booking an audio tour of Sant Pau Recinte Modernista, Park Guell, and Sagrada Familia all in one day. From what I can see, the times cannot match up. I have been advised that this is a good schedule for one day so was trying to make it work. Any suggestions?
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 06:36 AM
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How many days do you have in Barcelona? Why do you have to do these specific things on day one? And have you considered how long you will spend at each of them? SF took me all morning, and Sant Pau took a couple of hours.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 07:12 AM
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We arrive thursday at 9:00 AM and depart Monday AM. So we have 3 full days and then the day we arrive also. That day we plan to take a walking tour and possible HOHO bus to get the lay of the land. I figure that we will need approx 1-2 hours at SF, we are not doing the towers and with all of my research, that seems to be what most people take there.

All I have booked so far is Camp Nou on sat at 9:30 and plan to spend all day Sunday in Montserrat. What would you advise? We are not into art and will have 2 teens with us. We want to see SF, SPRM, Park Guell, Camp Nou, Montserrat, Las Ramblas, Barri Gotic, El Born, Possible Casa Batllo, Magic fountains.

We are staying in the Eixample area. Any suggestions with how to "lump" activities together is greatly appreciated!
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 07:35 AM
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@kja I want to take an audio tour of Park Guell and I was trying to book that now. It looks like the latest appt. I can make for that is 12:30. Do you know if i can just arrive later in the day and take a tour with audio?
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 11:04 AM
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I know I had an advance reservation for Parc Guell, but I don't remember whether I had to specify, in advance, that I wanted an audio-guide. I think I just got it when I was there, but things could have changed. And again, I wasn't taking "a tour" -- I just roamed around the place on my own and used a map with numbers that I was given to know what to punch into the audio guide.
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 08:21 PM
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@kwar Our visit will be in June, but there have been a number of threads about just this subject on the TA Barcelona forum and we are planning to follow their advice.
We aren't planning on audio tour of Parc Guell and won't make the guided tour of Hospital Sant Pau this way, but it sounds like a nice day and one of the BCN destination experts even posted a google walking map of the route. We will start by taxi to Parc Guell probably 1030 or 11 (we don't get going early on vacation) -- haven't prebooked yet. Then after about 1.5 hours take very leisurely walk through Gracia on a weekday when stuff open, have quick lunch, and meander to Sant Pau. Figure on 1.5 hrs there on our own, and then 10 minute walk to SF. Allowing time for wandering, stopping along way, getting lost and snacking, I am figuring on about 5 pm SF reservation with audio guide. This might be too slow a pace for kids, but I think will work for us. Hope that helps. Many suggest this direction and order as it's reportedly downhill.
Maybe others who have actually done this route will weigh in on the merits of this plan.
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 08:36 PM
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@ alison -- I'm sorry, but that plan makes no sense to me!

Parc Guell is open after most other things in Barcelona close, and -- even better -- is often much less crammed with visitors in the evening than at any time during the day. Why anyone would argue AGAINST the very informative audio guide is hard for me to understand. I would encourage ANYONE who wants to see it to do so during the evening, and with the benefit of the audio guide. JMO.

In contrast, the guided tour of Sant Pau is really the ONLY way to truly appreciate its details, IME -- and for context, I studied 6 different guide books in advance of my visit, so I don't think you can claim that I was particularly ill-informed. And I generally hate joining guided tours. Even so, I learned, and saw, things that I had not anticipated. Personally, I would make the time for Sant Pau Recinte Modernista a VERY high priority, and do anything possible to take full advantage to the time one has there. YMMV.

JMO.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 02:42 AM
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@Alison I have been struggling with my first full day there. After much research, I have been told to see Park Guell, lunch Gracia, San Pau and SF. The orders I was told to do it in were one of 2 ways...

option 1-SF@9:00, SPRM@11, walk to Gracia for lunch and take bus to Park Guell bat 4:30 and use the audio

option 2- Park Guell, Gracia, SF, SPRM

I am like you in that I want to start my first full day at 10:00, not 9:00 as I am traveling with 2 teens so I would like a leisurely morning. My hopes were that I can see Park Guell @ 10:00, SP @ 12 on our own but with audio, Gracia for lunch and then Sagradia Familia at 5:30. I am just not sure if this will create any unnecessary backtracking. Noone has suggested this route to me so I am a little apprehensive. I would really like to fit in the 11:00 guided tour of San Pau Recinte Modernista but it is causing trouble. @KJA I was told to either go to PG either early or late but not in the mid afternoon as it would be quite hot. Logistically speaking, does this plan make sense?
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 05:32 PM
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When I visited San Pau Recinte Modernista, I don't believe there was a audio-guide option. Perhaps my information was mistaken, or perhaps things have changed since I was there?

Sorry, but I honestly don't think I am in any position to plan your day -- our styles and circumstances are simply too different. But I would say that you should plan what works for you and your family, whether anyone else suggested it or not! I don't believe I've ever intentionally followed anyone else's suggestion for a route. ;-)
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 08:17 PM
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I did mention I haven't done this yet and was just following advice from the TA forum. I agree very little written info available on SPRM, but I did photocopy something from a library guidebook. I also emailed SPRM from its website checking that, indeed, the only English guide tour is at 11 am, but they did not respond.
For me I like the idea of walking "downhill " rather than taking the bus, so will probably stick w plan.
@kwar the destination experts on TA swear it's only 10 min walk between SPRM and SF so your plan should work.
@kja is one of the best planners around, so I would never discount her advice. But for us, if 11 am is only tour of SPRM it just may not work for us and we'll settle for "half a loaf."
We are going in June and I will report back!!
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 08:37 PM
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You can use googlemaps to get travel routes and times -- even for walking! I think I took about 15 or 20 minutes to walk from San Pau Recinte Modernista to Sagrada Familia, but I stopped for a LOT of photographs in that short route (which googlemaps puts at about 11 minutes).

Thanks, alison, for your kind words, and please accept my apologies if I seemed overly harsh upthread. You are absolutely right in noting that we all have to give up some things to gain others -- and that is, indeed, part of the challenge of travel.

Whatever each of you choose, I am sure of one thing -- you will see and experience some wonderful things!
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 02:33 AM
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Thank Alison and kja. I was told to see 3-4 sites per day so with this plan and allowing my teens to sleep in that morning, it seems like it will work just fine. SPRM seems very interesting so I guess I need to decide if I want to make time for that at 11 or take my chances and hope they have an audioguide!
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 04:27 AM
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Who told you that? I think four sites a day is overdoing it, especially with teens.
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 04:43 AM
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A book we used on our visit in September was Frommer's 24 Great Walks in Barcelona.

It's pretty old (2009), but still provided several very nice self-guided walks in the city, without too many out-of-date issues.

You can find it online, used, for about six bucks.

ssander
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 06:20 AM
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I did the English guided tour of Parc Guell last year...it was not worth the trouble, I'm afraid. Don't know if it was just the guide we had, but it wasn't very informative and too many adjustments were made for a couple who arrived with a child/stroller.
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 04:01 PM
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BTW, I think part of what has been throwing me is the idea of fitting this particular set of sites into the SAME day. I'm sure both kwar and alison have reasons for doing so, but it might be worth considering options to shift Parc Guell to a different evening. It might open up some options that you aren't currently considering. Just a thought....
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