Updated Nov 21 2023
Park Güell is without doubt the best known park in Barcelona, and it is named after its commissioner, Eusebi Güell. As he had done on other occasions in the past for his various projects, the well-known politician and industrialist commissioned the great Catalan modernist architect Antoni Gaudí with the design of the park.
How and where to buy tickets to visit the Park
Many people ask this question, whether it’s the locals who live in Barcelona or the thousands of tourists who visit the city. There are two ways to buy tickets, online in advance or at one of the many points of sale in and near the park, on the day itself.
Visit the Park Güell at your leisure
Gaudí Bundle: Park Güell + Sagrada Familia
When you buy the ticket you need to choose a time slot in which to go, in order to avoid the crowds. A maximum of 800 visitors are allowed in the monumental zone each hour, so during the summer months, other busy times of the year and at peak times we recommend that you buy your ticket online in advance, to avoid disappointment.
Online tickets
General admission: €13.50.
Concessions: €9 for children between the ages of 7 and 12, over 65s and holders of the ‘Targeta Rosa Reduïda’ (a discount card held by Barcelona’s senior citizens).
Free of charge: Children under the age of 7 and holders of the ‘Targeta Rosa’ card.
Tickets from the ticket offices
General admission: €10.
Concessions: €7 for children between the ages of 7 and 12, over 65s and holders of the ‘Targeta Rosa Reduïda’ (a discount card held by Barcelona’s senior citizens).
Free of charge: Children under the age of 7 and holders of the ‘Targeta Rosa’.
Ticket offices
You can buy tickets in the ticket offices situated at the two side entrances on Carrer Olot, in the automatic machines within the park and at the metro stations of Vallcarca and Lesseps.
* The ticket to the monumental zone does not include access to the Gaudí House Museum. In order to visit it, you will need to buy a separate ticket in the house itself.
Once you leave the monumental zone to visit the rest of the park, it’s not possible to return again.
Guided tour Park Güell and tickets
We think that the best way of visiting Park Güell is to book onto one of the guided tours, during which you’ll be accompanied by an official guide who will show you the all the details of the monumental zone, as well as the rest of the park.
Direct access with the guide
The guide will tell you the key information about this impressive work by Gaudí, as well as giving you a few anecdotes and facts that aren’t so well known, that you wouldn’t get if you were to discover the park at your leisure.
If you buy your tickets online it’s important to take your booking confirmation with you when you visit (all the details you need are included during the booking process, and/or in the email confirmation that you will receive).
Guided tour of the park
General admission: €24.
Languages: English and Spanish.
Duration of the tour: 1H30 min.
Highlights about the Park Güell of Antoni Gaudí
Declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the construction of Park Güell began in 1900 and took 14 years of hard work, although it wasn’t until 1926, which coincided with Gaudí’s death, that the park was opened to the public.
The park’s original concept was as a utopian housing development, inspired by the English garden city movement, in the district of Gràcia, in the upper part of Barcelona. The idea was to build a total of 40 houses into the natural forms of the design, but the residential project didn’t go ahead, and in the end just 2 houses were constructed.
Visit the monumental zone of the Park Güell
Covering an area of 17 hectares, in Park Güell there are many sights of touristic interest, many of which are in the area that’s now called the Monumental Zone, which is visited by many tourists each day. Since October 2013 visitors to the park have been required to buy a ticket to access this area.
parkguell.catThe Dragon Stairway and the Salamandra
On the steps to the main entrance you’ll find Park Güell’s famous Salamandra, although many people refer to it as the Dragon. It is photographed by around 99.9% of all visitors to the monumental zone.
The Greek Theatre or Nature Square
The great open space, which offers some amazing views of Barcelona and was originally going to be a Greek Theatre, is one of the jewels of the park. It has a striking curved bench that’s over 100 metres in length, carried out in the Trencadís technique. Although it was Gaudí’s concept, the actual bench was designed by the modernist architect Josep Maria Jujol.
The Hypostyle Room
Just after going up the steps at the main entrance, you’ll get to the Hypostyle Room, also known as the Hall of 100 Columns, even though there are actually only 86. The beautiful Doric columns are there to support the Nature Square, which can be found directly above this area.
We recommend that when you get there you look up, in order to admire the ceiling, as well as the four rosettes that have been carried out using the Trencadís technique, and which represent the four seasons of the year.
Casa del Guarda (Caretaker’s House)
The building that was due to be the park warden’s house is now one of the sites of the Barcelona History Museum. Inside the small building you’ll find the Park Güell Interpretation Centre, and the exhibition ‘Gaudí and Barcelona: expression of an urban ideal’ shows details of the building itself and the origins and evolution of the park and Modernist Barcelona.
The Laundry Room Portico
Called as such due to the resemblance that one of the figures carved into one of its columns has to a washerwoman, the Laundry Room Portico can be found just a few metres from the Hypostyle Room. This portico is one of the most photographed sights in the park, many of the photos being taken while tourists make all sorts of strange poses and gestures in front of its curved form which resembles a huge wave.
Facilities
Amongst the available facilities that you’ll find within the monumental zone are free Wi-Fi connection, a bar with terrace and good views of the Nature Square, and the souvenir shop Laie Park Güell, which used to be the Porter’s Lodge. In spite of being small, it sells a huge amount of gifts related to the park, related to Antoni Gaudí and to Catalan Modernism.
Visiting the areas of the Park Güell that are free of charge
Whether you don’t want to pay for entry to the monumental zone or whether you’d like to see other areas of the park after visiting it, below we have given you a list of some of the highlights of the free zone of the park, which include two fantastic viewpoints.
Turó de les Tres Creus
This hill is the highest point of the park, in which Gaudí erected the Monument to the Cavalry, where you will find three crosses, of them in the form of an arrow. Clearly of prehistoric inspiration, homage to some prehistoric caves that were found in this area, el Turó de les Tres Creus (in English the Hill of Three Crosses) boasts great views of the city and of the rest of the park.
The viaducts
You’ll find many viaducts within the park. Gaudí designed them in order to provide access via carriage to the planned housing development, and also so that residents could go for a quiet walk underneath the arches.
The Gaudí House Museum
This is the house where Gaudí lived while he was working on the Park Güell project, and in fact he continued to live there until very shortly before his death. You can go into the garden and look at the house’s façade, but to see the inside of the >Gaudí House Museum, which is owned by the ‘Friends of Gaudí’ (Amics de Gaudí) association, you will need to buy a ticket.
The Virolai viewpoint
Right at the edge of the park you’ll find the Virolai viewpoint ( the Virolai being the hymn dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat). From here you can enjoy some of the best views of the city, making it an ideal place to rest for a while on one of the benches shaded by the trees.
Photo Gallery
Where is the Park Güell? Map and how to get there
Adress
c/ (street) Olot 13, Barcelona.
Opening times
From 1st Januar to 16th February: from 8:30h to 18:15h.
From 17th February to 24th March: from 8:30h to 19:00h.
From 25th March to 29th April: from 8:00h to 20:30h.
From 30th April to 26th August: from 8:00h to 21:30h.
From 27th August to 27th October: from 8:00h to 20:30h.
From 28th October to 31st December: from 8:30h to 18:15h.
Ticket prices for Park Güell
You will need to buy a ticket for the monumental zone, but access to the rest of the park is free of charge. More details can be found in the information we have given you above.
Ticket prices for the Gaudí House Museum
General admission: €5.50
Concessions: €4.50 (for holders of a Barcelona Card or Ruta del Modernismo card, for retired people and students between the ages of 11 and 18, and for groups of more than 10 people).
School groups: €3.50 (groups of school children between the ages of 11 and 18).
Free of charge: Children aged 10 and under, people with a disability of more than 65% and ‘Amics del Temple’ (Friends of the Sagrada Familia).
How to get there?
Metro: although the metro doesn’t take you as close as the bus, the stations of Lesseps and Vallcarca, both on Line 3, take you relatively nearby.
Buses: Line 117 takes you right up to the entrance itself. Other lines that serve the area are 24, 32, 92, H6 and the tourist bus.
Nearby places of interest
Casa del Guarda (Caretaker’s House)
Gaudí House Museum
Gaudí Experiència
Turó de les Tres Creus
Casa Vicens