no alt text

Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 10 November, 2022
Expert travel writer: Dana Facaros

In 1902, Eusebi Guell bought two farms set on a natural balcony and commissioned Gaudi to create an exclusive walled housing estate. It flopped, but Park Guell has never failed to enchant as a city park.

Enjoy the fairytale guardian’s houses, mosaic lizard, sinuous stone viaducts, 86-columned Sala Hipostila – the base for an extraordinary, broken tile-clad serpentine bench by Gaudi’s collaborator, Jujol – and sweeping panoramic views across Barcelona.

Gaudi actually bought one of the three houses in the park and lived there from 1906 to 1925, before moving to a hut by the Sagrada Familia. It’s now a museum.

Although it may seem whimsical, Gaudi and Guell loaded the park with allegories and symbolism, some personal, some Rosicrucian, alchemical and mythological. It is much, much stranger than it looks.

 

Recommended itineraries by our writers that include this experience

Price from: £6
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 4+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

You can take the metro to Lesseps station, but then it’s a 20-minute walk up a steep hill. A taxi may be a better bet (it’s a 10-minute ride from the centre), and it’s usually fairly easy to find one to take you home again. If you have a ticket for the hop-on-hop-off bus, it stops nearby on Travessera de Dalt. The paths in the park are accessible but some are fairly steep, and there is a steep hill from where the buses stop (including the hop on hop off bus) to the entrance.

Park Güell only allows entry to 400 people every 30 minutes, so book a ticket online well in advance or risk waiting around at the entrance (or not getting in at all). Once inside, you’re free to wander around at will – the park’s website offers an app guide and a map to download. There are some pretty cafes and souvenir shops in the streets just south of the park.

When to do it

Barcelona’s outdoor sights are mildest and most pleasant in spring and autumn – July and August get too warm for walking around in the heat of the day. Avoid the crowds by getting to the Park when it opens at 10am, or an hour before closing.

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

Guided Tour Sagrada Familia and Park Güell English, Spanish or French

Guided Tour Sagrada Familia and Park Güell English, Spanish or French

Barcelona

We will start with Sagrada Familia, the most interesting tour of the church. Our meeting point at Kurz&Gut, a cosy Bar- Restaurante situated...

€79 | Rating 4.73 / 5 [15 ratings]

Website >

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo
Skip the Line: Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia Guided Tour

Skip the Line: Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia Guided Tour

Barcelona

SMALL GROUP TOUR (Maximum 12 people). Enjoy priority access and visit two of the most relevant masterworks of Antoni Gaudí, the Sagrada Fa...

€99 | Rating 4.76 / 5 [1584 ratings]

Website >

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo
Barcelona Highlights + Sagrada Familia, Park Güell & La Pedrera

Barcelona Highlights + Sagrada Familia, Park Güell & La Pedrera

Barcelona

On this sightseeing tour, you will explore the best that this city has to offer - discover the rich history that spans thousands of years, g...

€275 | Rating 4.96 / 5 [92 ratings]

Website >

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo
Barcelona Highlights + Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and Casa Milà

Barcelona Highlights + Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and Casa Milà

Barcelona

On this sightseeing tour, you will explore the best that this city has to offer - discover the rich history that spans thousands of years, g...

€275 | Rating 4.92 / 5 [89 ratings]

Website >

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo

Our writer’s recommended tour operators to book with

Barcelona Event Organization

Barcelona Event Organization

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Can arrange corporate VIP services, hotels and restaurant bookings, private chauffers, helicopter transfers, tickets to Camp Nou, private shopping or personal assistants and yacht hire.

Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Hotel Seventy Barcelona

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Large but stylish and hip modern hotel with all the bells and whistles, in the heart of Barcelona’s shopping district.

Official star rating:

Sir Victor Hotel

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Glamorous design hotel near Barcelona’s best dining and drinking, with one of the city’s loveliest rooftops.

Official star rating:

Room Mate Emma

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

A strikingly modern concept, Room Mate Emma delivers good looks on a budget, in an enviably central location.

Official star rating:

Hotel Alma Barcelona

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

This chic, minimalist spa hotel in Eixample has smart rooms, a pretty secret courtyard and an indoor pool.

Official star rating:

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Barcelona

Catalonia, Spain

Spain’s cultural heart has unforgettable architecture, a pioneering arts scene, creative cuisine and nightlife that buzzes till dawn.

Website >
Overview >

Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Marking the culmination of his experimentation with natural forms, Gaudi’s landmark apartment building resembles a giant cliff face battered by the sea. Inside, a remarkable Gaudi-style apartment, an attic filled with architectural exhibits, and the extraordinary roof and chimneys.

Best for ages: 8+ | £25

Casa Batllo

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

The former home of the Batllo family, Gaudí’s shimmering, colour-drenched townhouse is a Modernista masterpiece.

Best for ages: 8+ | £32

Other worthwhile experiences near this experience if you have time or interest..

External facade showing the intricate detail
Experience

Casa Vicens

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

The first private home Gaudi designed, this bright Orientalist building only opened to the public in 2017, so it’s a relatively new addition to Barcelona’s Modernista scene – as such, its brightly-tiled and painted interior is often blissfully quiet.

Best for ages: 13+ | £12

Website >
Overview >
View of ferris wheel with view of city in background
Experience

Tibidabo

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Only Barcelona is crazy enough to put a funfair on a mountain, with hair-raising rides swinging over the void. There are majestic views over the entire city – especially from the ferris wheel or airplane ride.

Best for ages: Any | £25

Website >
Overview >
External view of the building
Experience

Disseny Hub

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Design is Barcelona’s middle name, and this museum is a temple to it, filled with old and new fashions, furniture, decorative and graphic arts.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

Website >
Overview >

La Rambla

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

A thrumming, lively street running through the heart of Barcelona towards the sea, is a magnet for outlandish street performers – and tourists.

Best for ages: 4+ | Free

Website >
Overview >