Every ticket to the Sagrada Família in Barcelona carries a named person on it, and staff at the Nativity façade door check that name against a passport or national identity document before you go in. Sagrada Família tickets are sold online by the Junta Constructora, the foundation that has built the temple since 1882, and one bought through a reseller will not be accepted at all. Going up a tower is a EUR 10 upgrade that buys you one tower, chosen at the moment of purchase, reached by lift and left on foot. Children under six cannot go up at all, and nobody with reduced mobility can.
Which ticket covers what
Four individual ticket types exist, and the only real decisions are whether you want a guide and whether you want a tower. All four include the official Sagrada Família app with a downloadable audioguide in 19 languages, plus sign-guides in Catalan, Spanish and International Sign. The table compares what each adds to the base visit and what it costs at the general rate.
| Ticket | Price (EUR) | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Sagrada Família | 26 | Basilica and museum, app audioguide |
| With guided tour | 30 | About 50 minutes with an official guide |
| With tower | 36 | One tower, lift up and stairs down |
| With guided tour and tower | 40 | Both of the above, about 1 h 30 in total |
Those are the general prices published by the basilica (Sagrada Família prices, checked 15 September 2026). Reduced rates run alongside each of them: seniors pay EUR 21, 28, 23 and 32 respectively, while under-30s and holders of a student card pay EUR 24, 34, 28 and 38. Under-11s and people with disabilities are admitted free, and children under three do not need a ticket at all (Sagrada Família with tower, checked 15 September 2026).
The arithmetic worth noticing is that a tower costs the same EUR 10 whether you add it to the plain ticket or the guided one, and the guide costs EUR 4 either way. Nothing is bundled or discounted, so you can price a visit by adding the parts you want.
The named ticket and ID rule
A Sagrada Família ticket is a nominative ticket, personal and non-transferable, and this is enforced at the entrance rather than treated as small print. During the purchase you enter each visitor's first name and surname exactly as they appear on their identity document or passport, and staff may deny access if the information on the ticket does not match the document you present (rules and conditions of sale, checked 15 September 2026). Once the booking is made it cannot be modified.
The same document forbids resale outright. The Junta Constructora states it will not accept any ticket purchased through a reseller entity, prohibits guides from buying individual tickets to sell on, and reserves the right to cancel without refund and refuse entry to anyone holding one. Staff may also refuse a ticket that is damaged, torn, or shows signs of being forged or resold.
Refunds barely exist. The conditions treat a ticket as a recreational service with a scheduled date and time, which under Spanish consumer law removes the right of withdrawal, so as a general rule there are no changes or returns. The narrow exception is when the basilica itself prevents your visit, and even then the change or refund must be requested within 15 days of the original visit date.
Choosing Nativity or Passion tower
One tower comes with the upgrade, not both, and the two give different views of Barcelona. The basilica describes the choice as a tower on the Nativity façade, "with views of the eastern side of Barcelona", or a tower on the Passion façade, "with views of the city centre" (Sagrada Família with guided tour and towers, checked 15 September 2026). You pick which of the two during the online purchase, at the same step where guided-tour visitors pick their language.
The mechanics are the same in both: a lift carries you up and you walk down the spiral stairs. Before boarding, all rucksacks, bags and similar accessories must go into the lockers provided, for safety reasons, and be collected as soon as you return.
Two official pages disagree about what happens when the towers shut, which they do in bad weather, for breakdowns and for maintenance. The product page says flatly that "No reimbursements will be given for the price of the ticket if the towers are closed", while clause 19.2 of the conditions of sale grants a partial refund of the amount paid for the tower visit, and never for the entrance to the temple itself. The conditions of sale are the document you accept at checkout, so that is the one to quote if you need to ask.
What the basic ticket leaves out
The EUR 26 ticket does not include the towers or the crypt, and the basilica says so on the ticket's own page. It buys the basilica and the museum for as long as you like, plus the app audioguide, which comes in a 45-minute standard version and a 25-minute express version; during the last hour of opening only the express version is issued (Sagrada Família ticket, checked 15 September 2026).
Several other limits are easy to trip over. There is no re-entry once your ticket has been validated, so a coffee break outside ends the visit, and the temple is evacuated 15 minutes before closing time. A quiet hour introduced on 2 February 2026 runs from 9:00 am to 10:00 am, with earphones compulsory for any audio. There are no lockers for suitcases anywhere on site.
What is finished and what is not
The Sagrada Família is still a working construction site, and the official chronology is specific about which parts are done. The tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest at 172.5 metres, had the upper arm of its cross placed on 20 February 2026, completing the exterior of the central tower; on 10 June 2026 Pope Leo XIV said a solemn mass for the centenary of Gaudí's death, blessed the tower and it was illuminated for the first time (History of the Temple, checked 15 September 2026). The table summarises the recorded milestones.
| Element | Status | Recorded date |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Barnabas bell tower, Nativity façade | Complete; the only one Gaudí saw finished | 1925 |
| Passion façade bell towers | Complete | 1976 |
| Tower of the Virgin Mary, 138 m | Complete, second tallest | 8 December 2021 |
| Four towers of the Evangelists, 135 m | Complete, third tallest | 12 November 2023 |
| Tower of Jesus Christ, 172.5 m | Exterior complete | 20 February 2026 |
No official page we read gives a completion date for the whole basilica. The centenary programme calls the tower of Jesus Christ "a key step that brings us closer to the final stage of the Temple's construction", which is as far as the Junta Constructora commits itself (Sagrada Familia 2026, checked 15 September 2026). Gaudí designed eighteen towers; the history page records no completion for the Glory façade, and treating any published end date as firm would be unwise. The Junta's own timeline said the tower of Jesus Christ was "scheduled for completion in 2025" and it was topped out in February 2026.
Two details reset expectations usefully. The UNESCO world heritage designation of 2005 covers the Nativity façade and the crypt, not the entire building, and the basilica was only consecrated for worship in 2010, when Benedict XVI designated it a minor basilica.
Getting there and when it opens
The Sagrada Família's individual entrance is on the Nativity façade, on Carrer de la Marina, and the nearest metro is Sagrada Família on lines L2 and L5, with bus routes 19, 33, 34, D50, H10 and B24 also serving the site. Opening hours change three times a year and Saturday is the odd one out: from April to September the basilica opens Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 8:00 pm but Saturday only to 6:00 pm, with Sunday 10:30 am to 8:00 pm (opening hours and getting here, checked 15 September 2026).
From November to February the hours are 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Saturday and 10:30 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday; March and October run to 7:00 pm on weekdays and Sunday, and 6:00 pm on Saturday. On 25 and 26 December and on 1 and 6 January the basilica opens 9:00 am to 2:00 pm only. Management can modify these for special events.
The one genuinely free tourist route in is the annual Open Doors Days, which the basilica runs to show the current state of the works and which offers 20,000 free places. Entry is by public draw rather than first come, first served, and the route covers the Nativity façade, the interior, the liturgical path, the museum and the Passion façade (Open Doors Days, checked 15 September 2026). The listed dates are 24 to 27 September, with registration open from 14 September at 10:00 am to 20 September at 9:00 pm; towers are not mentioned in the route.
Before you click buy
Decide the tower question first, because it is the only part of the booking that constrains who can come with you. If anyone in your group is under six, uses a wheelchair, is pregnant or is uneasy with heights and enclosed lifts, buy the plain or guided ticket and keep the EUR 10.
Then check three things on the confirmation before you close the tab: that each name matches the passport that person will actually carry, that the date and time are the ones you meant, and which façade your tower is on. None of those can be changed afterwards. Download the official app and charge your phone before you set out, because the audioguide lives in the app, and bring earphones if you are arriving between 9:00 am and 10:00 am.
What this guide does not cover
Group and school bookings run under separate rules and are not covered here. Parties of ten to thirty must book as a group with an official guide accredited by the Generalitat de Catalunya, use the group entrance on Carrer de la Marina, and may not enter on individual tickets. Anyone travelling in a party larger than nine should start from the group pages instead.
This guide also makes no claim about Casa Milà, Park Güell, Casa Batlló or any other Gaudí site in Barcelona, each of which has its own operator and rules. Prices, hours and construction status all change, so treat every figure here as verified on 15 September 2026 and confirm on the basilica's own pages before you pay.