Barcelona - How much Gaudi?
 

next may my wife and i will be spending 3 days in barcelona as we begin our 5 weeks of wandering spain and portugal. question: how much gaudi should we see? don't want to spend 90 euro or so touring the inside of sagrada familia, park guell and casa mila. if you wanted to see them all but only go into one. which would it be?

thanks for your help

It depends on whether you find Gaudi too gaudy.

How much ice cream should you eat?

It isn't a question anyone but you can answer.

i was hoping that someone had been there and would answer the question - which one of the 3 would you tour?

I have been there and will answer your question, albeit inadequately since I have no idea of your interests except to save money.

#1 Casa Mila because photographs cannot prepare you or substitute for the entire building and the location of the apartment within it; the scale, particularly of the rooftop appurtenances; the rooftop views; and the turn-of-the-century conventional bourgeois furnishings.

#2 Parc Guell because of the eccentric layout, structures, seating, the other visitors, and the views over the city to the Mediterranean. It's all up hill from the bus, not just to the entrance but the entire park. Take a taxi. Don't go if it is rainy or misty.

#3 Sagrada Familia because of the turn-of-the-century febrility of much of the sculpture. It's like reading large doses of Francis Thompson. It is also a building site and probably will continue to be for many, many years. You can probably see stuff today that you won't be able to see in ten years, and you certainly can see things today that you couldn't see a year ago. But " certainty" doesn't apply.

Two other notable buildings are the Palau Musica, in the Gaudi style but much less restrained, and the very severe reconstructed Pavilion from the 1929 World's Fair, where the Barcelona chair was first shown.

Does that help?

Parc Guell is free, except for the monument area, which you can see from above in the free area.

The inside of Sagrada Familia was worth seeing to me--the light coming through the stained glass was amazing--and I'm not usually a cathedral lover.

+1 what elberko said.

We did Familia Sagrada 1st, the stained glass windows had just been completed [2014] and then took the bus to Parc Gruell. We paid for the tickets to get inside and really enjoyed our wanderings.

We did a tour in FS and also went up into the tower and walked down. Recommend both. We spent time in the cathedral before and after the tour, on our own, as well.

I would say Casa Battlo and Sagrada Familia, but you should see some of the other Modernisme sights in Barcelona as well, it wasn't all Gaudi, although he gets all the press these days.

I was in Barcelona last fall, and found Casa Mila disappointing - it's all about the roof and is way overpriced. At Casa Battlo you see the owner's apartment on the piano nobile, and although it's unfurnished it is a great sight. But I also recommend visiting two other buildings in the same block. And consider the palace of Catalan Music and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

For my take, with pictures, start here (links at the top of the page):

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...casa-amatller/

I didn't visit the park this time, I saw it in 2004 and Barcelona has gotten a lot more crowded since. With only three days I'd skip it.

I would put Sagrada Familia first. I have been in many churches and cathedrals but this one was so different and interesting. It really is a work of art. I took one of the tours offered by the site and was glad I did.

I liked Parc Guell but it didn't amaze me the way Sagrada Familia did.

I must admit we didn't go inside Casa Mila but admired it from the outside.

Another vote for the Palau de la Musica Catalana. Google Images to get an idea of what's there.

As for Casa Mila/La Perdrera, I'd go there if you do only one Gaudi/Modernist house. Of course you could do none.

It's a good idea to buy tickets ahead of time on the Internet for anything you especially want to see.

Caveat: I love the Modernism movement and just ate this stuff up.

thank you so much for the helpful advise. yes, not spending too much on tours is a concern since i am a retired teacher and travel about 20 weeks a year. have to be selective on where money is spent.

OK, they are so completely different from each other, I feel you do not get any sense of the breadth of Gaudi's vision if you see only one. You spend so much money just to get to Spain and Barcelona, IMHO, this would not be the place I would save a few euro and miss out on great sights that you can see only in Barcelona and may never have a chance to see again.

OTOH,
If you can see only one Gaudi work, see the church and then see Palau de la Musica.

Sagrada Familia: unlike any other church or cathedral you will ever see. First, IMO, it is indescribably beautiful and elegant and ethereal. It is like being in a sculpted forest. Learning about and seeing the construction methods is very fascinating. I say, allow plenty of time and see as much as you can.

I loved Casa Mila. It is like a lovely, flowing dance in concrete, metal and wood. You do get a sense of it from the outside, but you only understand the intimacy of the spaces by being in them. That being said, I am a huge architecture buff and absolutely loved thinking about Gaudi's work compared with Frank Lloyd Wright. Each so unique, but when you see the works of both, the uniqueness of their individual vision is even more apparent. If you have any interest at all in such things, you should see it.

Parc Guell is fun and whimsical, a huge child's toy - like being inside a gigantic version of a little hand made, hand painted whirligig. I was with a group, so had only a couple of hours total. It was plenty to experience it, but would have been fine to linger and relax.
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Palau de la Musica Catalan is much less about supporting sculptural form like Gaudi and more about enveloping you in reflections of glass and color. It has the rich color of Parc Guell and the romance of Casa Mila, but is super elegant with surface decoration that brings to mind jewelry with fine settings and lots of colorful stones. A circus gone extremely upscale and elegant

Casa Battlo and the outside of the Sagrada Familia is impressive enough without going inside. I thought the park was just okay. Definitely don't miss the Palau de Musica.
I can only take so much Modernisme.

The Sagrada Familia is something special, "a cathedral for our times": https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-for-our-times

I highly recommend the guided tour, the same price as the audio guide. http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/tickets/

And I too recommend Gaudí's contemporary architect Domenech i Montaner's moderniste Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Was here a few weeks ago, not far from Sagrada Familia, and a very interesting story around the place as well. Barcelona entrepeneurs and city planners from the mid 19th century really meant business! https://santpaubarcelona.org/en

I would visit all three with Sagrada Familia being the most important. They are eaxh so different from each too. 90€ as part of the cost of your whole trip is not a lot of money. Don't miss the opportunity to visit these important places in architectural history.

i know that 90E isn't that much but also 90E in Granada? Cordoba? Seville? Lisbon? Porto? Basque region? also so much great food and wine. our $8000 planned trip would soon become $12000.

<i>Sagrada Familia: unlike any other church or cathedral you will ever see. First, IMO, it is indescribably beautiful and elegant and ethereal. It is like being in a sculpted forest. Learning about and seeing the construction methods is very fascinating. I say, allow plenty of time and see as much as you can.</i>

Yes. These are my thoughts exactly. I went to Casa Batllo, Palau Guell and Parc Guell, and enjoyed them all - very interesting. But La Sagrada Familia absolutely blew me away. I've seen a lot of cathedrals, and this is like no other.

Obviously, depending on your interests, your mileage may vary. But it's hard for me to imagine not seeing the church. And I would absolutely spend the extra nine euros on the guided tour; you'll get so much more out of it. If it comes down to it, I'd skip one of the houses and pay for the tour.

I don't get the preference for Casa Mila over Casa Battlo. Someone care to explain? Both roofs are interesting but the apartment in Casa Battlo is way, way better.

@toledodd - for the Gaudi sights I highly recommend booking online ahead of time. Also for the Palace of Catalan Music. Not necessary for the other sights mentioned. If you're retired you may be old enough to qualify for the senior discounts.

"Both roofs are interesting but the apartment in Casa Battlo is way, way better."

That was one of my points, Thursday. Such a plain, really quite boring apartment within the elaborately realized spaces. Worth seeing.

Also, thanks for elberko's noting that Parc Guell is mostly free. That was my memory, but I didn't trust myself enough to say it. Maybe I went off season.

I second Ackislander's list.