Sagrada Familia Towers: Nativity or Passion, and Why the Tower of Jesus Is Still Shut

Nativity or Passion

Both climbs work the same way. A lift carries you up, and you come back down the narrow stone spiral staircase inside the bell tower. All bags and rucksacks stay in the lockers, so take nothing up with you.

The difference is which way you look. The Passion tower faces the city centre, and the Nativity tower looks out over the eastern side of the city. If you are only going up once, take the Passion tower for the view over the middle of Barcelona.

The tower is the part that sells out, so add it the moment you book the basilica. The basilica with a guided tour and one tower is €40. Under-11s go in free, and visitors over 65 pay €21 for the basilica or €28 with a tower.

Children under six cannot go up at all, and six to 16 year olds need an adult with them.

Who should skip the climb

The towers are the one part of the basilica with no accessible route and no lift back down. Skip the supplement if you have vertigo, a heart or breathing problem, or if stairs are hard going. The same goes if you are pregnant. The €26 basilica ticket still gets you the nave, where the stained glass turns the stone blue-green on one side and orange on the other.

The Tower of Jesus

The central Tower of Jesus Christ is still shut to visitors. No ticket gets you up it, so the choice is only ever the Nativity or the Passion tower. From Carrer de Mallorca you can pick out the bridge slung between the two central towers, and that is as close as anyone gets. For the central spires in a photograph you need height somewhere else in the city.

Centenary exhibition and the lighting

A centenary exhibition, 'Sagrada Família: the strength of a shared dream', is inside the basilica until 31 December. The Montserrat Escolania choir sings there at 19:00 on 23 December, and the Nativity façade is lit up afterwards.

Spires from the outside

The Mirador Torre Glòries gives you what the towers cannot, which is the Sagrada Família in the frame. The deck is a round glass-walled room 125 m up, and you get the city, Montjuïc and the sea all the way round. Online entry is €18, or €22 if you add the mirrored cloud sculpture you can climb into under the dome. It opens 10:00 to 18:30, Wednesday to Monday, until the end of March, so don't plan a winter Tuesday around it.

For the same view without paying anything, walk up to MUHBA Turó de la Rovira, the hilltop everyone calls the Bunkers del Carmel. You sit on cracked concrete gun platforms with the whole grid below you and the spires standing out of it. The ground is open at all hours, so this is the sunset option. The small museum space opens 10:00 to 14:00 on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in winter. It is a steep uphill walk from the bus stop, with no lift or road to the top.

Cheaper climbs in the old city

Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar in El Born is the one locals send you to. The €8 cultural visit includes the towers and the flat stone roof terraces, 35 m up. From there you get the Born rooftops and the sea on one side and the cathedral on the other. Under-12s pay €4. It is open 10:00 to 18:00, and from 13:00 on Sundays. The roof is stairs only, and the visit is called off in heavy rain.

Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi off La Rambla charges €8 too, which covers the medieval bell tower, the crypt and the garden. The tower only goes up at 11:00, 12:30, 15:00 and 16:30. The basilica itself is open 10:00 to 20:00, and from 13:00 on Sundays.

At the Catedral de Barcelona you walk along the Gothic roof between the two bell towers, among the gargoyles and pinnacles, with the Barri Gòtic underneath. A lift takes you up from inside, and the €16 ticket also covers the cloister and the choir. It is open 9:30 to 18:30 on weekdays, to 17:15 on Saturdays, and only 14:00 to 17:00 on Sundays.

Gaudí at height

If you want Gaudí above the street with no tower staircase, go to La Pedrera, Casa Milà, on Passeig de Gràcia. The roof terrace of helmeted chimney stacks is part of the standard ticket, and it frames the Sagrada Família in the distance. The self-guided visit is €25 online and €29 at the door, and takes an hour or so. Through the winter it is open daily 9:00 to 18:30, with €39 night visits from 19:00 to 23:00. The roof shuts when it rains, so ask at the entrance before you scan your ticket on a wet day.

Where Gaudí worked it out

The Cripta Gaudí de la Colònia Güell is where Gaudí tested the leaning columns and arches he later used at the Sagrada Família. You can see it with no crowd. The basalt columns tilt inwards at angles that look wrong, and the little windows are petal-shaped in blue and yellow. FGC trains from Plaça d'Espanya take about 20 minutes, then it is a ten-minute walk. The audio-guide visit is €10, or €15.30 with the return train. It opens 10:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and to 15:00 at weekends. There is no view from height here.

Hours and booking

Book the tower slot before you leave home, as it is the only thing on this list that sells out. The basilica closes at 14:00 on 25 and 26 December and on 1 and 6 January. Torre Glòries is shut on 25 December, and the Pi basilica closes on 6 January. See the Barcelona guide and the Barcelona hotel search.