Travel bucket list idea:

Park Guell

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Bucket List Experience

Gaudi’s Park Guell

Last updated: 06 February, 2024

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.

Logistics

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.

Who to go with: organised tours

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

Park Guell & Sagrada Familia Tour with Skip the Line Tickets

Barcelona

SMALL GROUP TOUR (Maximum 12 people). Enjoy priority access and visit two of the most relevant masterworks of Antoni Gaudí, the Sagrada Familia (1882-still under construction) and the Park Güell (1900-1914) in a semi-private guided tour (maximum 12 people) to ensure a more intimate experience with your guide. In both places, you will learn the history of the temple and the park, the details of its architecture and about the ideas that the famous architect shaped on them. This tour will introduce you closer to the personality of Gaudi, the person he was, and what the times were like when he lived in Barcelona at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

Price: €104

Min age: 0

Rating 4.78 / 5 [3168 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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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, get acquainted with the most iconic buildings and sites of the city and soak in the breathtaking views from atop Montjuic and Tibidabo. Your guided tour gives you skip-the-line access at La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, and La Pedrera and includes guided visits to the Gothic Quarter and Montjuic. This tour will take you to the must-see attractions of the city and is a great introduction for first-time visitors. Head straight through the entrance at La Sagrada Familia, one of the city's most fascinating UNESCO World Heritage sites. Continue on to Park Guell, the famous city gardens and visit La Pedrera, the zenith of Gaudi’s work. Enjoy personalized attention, with no more than 15 people per group, from a professional and friendly guide who will explain to you the history of the city and how Antoni Gaudi left his mark on it.

Price: €275

Min age: 0

Rating 4.95 / 5 [101 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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Barcelona Highlights + Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and Casa Milà

Barcelona

Price: €275

Min age: 0

Rating 4.90 / 5 [99 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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Guided Tour Sagrada Familia and Park Guell

Barcelona

We will start at 1:00 pm with the most interesting tour of the Sagrada Familia. Our meeting point is at Kurz&Gut, a cosy bar-restaurant situated just 3 minutes away from the monument. The 1-hour and 15-minute guided tour guarantees skip-the-line access to this unique attraction, along with a personal, local, and passionate expert who will take you through the history and architecture in the most detailed and enthusiastic way possible. Once this tour concludes, you will have free time to transport yourself from the Sagrada Familia to our meeting point for the Park Güell tour at Carretera del Carmel 23. At 4:00 pm, we will continue with the Park Güell. The guided tour is limited to a maximum of 20 people per group. Let's discover this magnificent park, designed by Antoni Gaudí more than 100 years ago. You will visit the area with magnificent bridges and viaducts included in the monumental zone. After finishing the tour, you will have free time to enjoy this park.

Price: €79

Min age: 0

Rating 4.68 / 5 [35 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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Barcelona Small Group: Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and La Pedrera

Barcelona

On this sightseeing full day tour, you will explore the best that this city has to offer - discover the rich history that spans thousands of years, get acquainted with the most iconic buildings and sites of the city and soak in the breathtaking views from atop Montjuic and Tibidabo. Your guided tour gives you skip-the-line access at La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and La Pedrera and includes guided visits to the Gothic Quarter and Montjuic. This tour will take you to the must-see attractions of the city and is a great introduction for first-time visitors.Head straight through the entrance at La Sagrada Familia, one of the city's most fascinating UNESCO World Heritage sites. Continue on to Park Guell, the famous city gardens and visit La Pedrera, the zenith of Gaudi’s work. Enjoy personalized attention, with no more than 15 people per group, from a professional and friendly guide who will explain to you the history of the city and how Antoni Gaudi left his mark on it.

Price: €275

Min age: 0

Rating 4.96 / 5 [30 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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SEE ALL RECOMMENDED TOURS & TICKETS

Who to go with: tour operators

Our writer’s recommended tour operators to book with

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.

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Destination guides

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Barcelona

Catalonia, Spain

Close up of the spires of La Sagrada Familia

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

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