The visit itself is easy. These four points decide whether it goes smoothly. Each links to the full answer.
There is no ticket desk. Timed tickets go on sale about two months ahead and carry your name: bring ID.
How tickets workBasic €26 with audio guide, €36 with a tower, €30 with a guide. Under 11s go free.
All prices and discountsShorts and skirts to mid-thigh, no swimwear, nothing see-through. Small bag only: there are no lockers for luggage.
Dress code and rulesSunny afternoons set the west windows on fire. Arrive 15 minutes early: late arrivals are not let in.
Best time to visitThe colour clock
The windows by Joan Vila-Grau are cool on the east side and warm on the west. Drag the sun to see what your time slot looks like.
Our tip: a sunny afternoon slot, about two hours before closing. For a quiet nave instead, take the first slot of the day.
Best time to visit
Morning: the sun rises behind the Nativity façade and lights the east windows in blues and greens.
Inside and out
Two façades that tell the beginning and the end of Christ’s life, and between them a nave Gaudí designed as a forest of stone, lit by coloured glass.
History
From a first stone in 1882 to the cross on the tower of Jesus Christ in 2026, a century after Gaudí’s death.
1882
On 19 March 1882, the bishop of Barcelona lays the cornerstone of a neo-Gothic church designed by Francisco de Paula del Villar, paid for by donations.
1883
Antoni Gaudí, 31, replaces Villar and starts to rethink the whole project, from a crypt already under way to a church of light, nature and symbols.
1914
Gaudí stops taking other work and devotes himself to the Temple, eventually living in his workshop on the site.
1926
Struck by a tram on 7 June, Gaudí dies on 10 June 1926, aged 73. Only one bell tower of the Nativity façade is finished. He is buried in the crypt, and Domènec Sugranyes takes over.
1936
At the start of the Spanish Civil War the crypt and Gaudí’s workshop are set on fire. Drawings are lost and plaster models smashed; architects later piece the fragments back together.
1954
Work starts on the west façade, from a drawing Gaudí made in 1917. Its bell towers are completed in 1976, and Josep Maria Subirachs carves its angular sculptures from 1987.
2005
UNESCO lists the Nativity façade and the crypt among the Works of Antoni Gaudí.
2010
On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrates the church and makes it a minor basilica. The nave, roofed at last, opens for worship.
2021–2023
The tower of the Virgin Mary (138 m), crowned by a lit star, opens in December 2021; the four towers of the Evangelists (135 m) follow in November 2023.
2026
The cross is placed on the central tower on 20 February 2026, a century after Gaudí’s death. At 172.5 m it makes the basilica the tallest church in the world. Pope Leo XIV blesses it on 10 June 2026.
On your own
€26 official, with audio guide
Book a timed ticket on the official site, take the free audio guide app and stay as long as you like. The cheapest way in, and the app is good. official Sagrada Família website
The ticket guideWith a guide
€54 to €120
A live guide reads the façades with you, explains the symbols and handles the timing. Tour companies hold group slots, so they often have places when official tickets are sold out. We mark which tours include the entry ticket.
All tours comparedSome links are affiliate links: if you book, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works
Entry ticket included N° 1
A 90-minute visit with a guide certified by Barcelona’s tourism board, in groups of up to 15. Ticket and museum included; towers not.
Live guide: English
Entry ticket included N° 2
Both façades and the interior with an official guide, in six languages. Regular groups are 20–30 people; a small-group option caps it at 10.
Live guide: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese
From · per person
Nov 2026
Entry ticket included N° 3
A 75-minute tour in your own language with an accredited guide, then free time inside the basilica. Groups of up to 15.
Live guide: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian
From · per person
Nov 2026
Entry ticket included N° 4
The longest of the standard tours, 1 hour 45, in groups of up to 12 with a radio headset. English only.
Live guide: English
From · per person
Nov 2026
Entry ticket included N° 5
Both façades, the interior and Gaudí’s life story, then free time for the museum. Towers not included, despite the web address.
Live guide: English
Entry ticket included N° 6
A guided visit you can upgrade with a tower when booking. Small-group option in Spanish or Japanese.
Live guide: English, Spanish, Japanese
Sorted by price, lowest first. Prices and inclusions from the Viator or GetYourGuide listing; the price at checkout is the one that counts.
Stay one step ahead
Almost all of them happen before the door, and none is hard to avoid.
How to avoid each oneEvery page shows when it was last checked.
The basic official ticket is €26 for an adult and includes the audio guide app. With a tower it is €36, with a guided tour €30, and with both €40. Under 30s pay €24 for the basic ticket, and children under 11 go free.
Not at a ticket desk. The official FAQ says tickets are sold online only; QR codes around the basilica let you buy on your phone, but only if places are left for that day, which is rare in high season. Book ahead.
Tickets go on sale about two months before the visit. From spring to autumn, and on weekends, book as soon as your dates are fixed; morning and late-afternoon slots go first. In winter a few days ahead is often enough.
The official estimate is about 1 hour for the basilica and museum, and about 1 hour 30 with a tower. The basic ticket has no time limit once inside, so many visitors stay 1.5 to 2 hours to watch the light change and see the museum below the nave.
For colour, go in the afternoon on a sunny day, when the low sun lights the warm red and orange windows on the west side and throws colour across the columns. For calm, take the first slot: since February 2026 the first hour, 9:00 to 10:00, is a quiet hour with earphones required.
Yes, it is a church. No swimwear, no see-through clothing and no bare feet; shorts and skirts must reach at least mid-thigh. Bare shoulders are not allowed in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and hats come off in the nave and museum.