The Park Guell is a 12 hectares wide garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi and built in the years 1900 to 1914.
It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Works of Antoni Gaudí. The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Guell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English garden city movement, hence the original English name Park. Although it sounds unlikely, the place is skillfully designed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park.
Barcelona Park Guell Admission Ticket
Park Guell receives a large influx of visitors daily. It is the most visited park in the world. To ensure your entry, we recommend purchasing your ticket in advance:
Once inside Park Guell you can stay as long as you want, however, if you leave it you cannot re-enter.
Park Guell Opening Hours
Park Guell is open every day of the year.
Low season (from January 1st to March 28 / from October 25 to December 31):
from 08.30 to 18.15 (last entry time at 17.30)
Mid season (from March 29 to May 3rd / from September 7 to October 24):
from 08.00 to 20.00 (last entry time at 19.30)
High season (from May 4 to September 6):
from 08.00 to 21.30 (last entry time at 21.00)
How to get to Park Guell
It can be reached by Bus Turistic, by underground railway (although the stations are at a distance from the Park), or by city buses.
- Bus Turistic: Blue line, the stop is Park Guell. The stop is located on Av. Mare de Deu de Montserrat, it takes 10 minutes on foot, and we would recommend the entrance on Carretera del Carmel through Av. Pompeu Fabra.
- Metro: Green line (L3), the stop is Lesseps station. From the Lesseps stop, it is a 20-minute walk, and we would recommend the entrance on Av. Santuari de Sant Josep de la Muntanya, which has an escalator.
- Bus: H6 and D40 lines, the stop is Travessera de Dalt. From bus stop, it takes 10 minutes walking. We recommend the access both from Av. del Santuari de Sant Josep de la Muntaya, with automatic stairs system, or from Larrard street.
- Taxis: Park Guell has two taxi stops located on Rambla de Mercedes and Carretera del Carmel.
- Private car: Visitors arriving by private car can use the BSM Travessera de Dalt - Park Guell car park.
Things you must see in Park Guell
Park Guell Entrance
The buildings flanking the entrance, though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, fit in well with the use of the park as pleasure gardens and seem relatively inconspicuous in the landscape when one considers the flamboyance of other buildings designed by Gaudi.
Portico of the washerwoman
The portico, made of rough stone and shaped like a large wave, is formed by a set of columns, one of which is shaped like a caryatid, representing a washerwoman carrying her work utensils.
The main terrace of Park Guell
The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. To design the curvature of the bench surface Gaudi used the shape of buttocks left by a naked workman sitting in wet clay. The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere. This square was intended to hold outdoor shows and popular Catalan culture events.
Hypostyle Room
It is a covered hall, initially designed as a market, with 86 fluted columns. The roof is made up of small domes covered in trencadís and with circular panels designed by the architect Josep Maria Jujol.
The monumental staircase
The monumental staircase is double and is organized into three sections where rocks and vegetation combine. The staircase is decorated with a pipe in the shape of a snake's head on the coat of arms of Catalonia, a very brightly colored dragon (which has become the most popular image in the park) and a tripod that appears to be formed by three snakes.
Gardens of Austria
These gardens owe their name to a donation from trees from Austria planted in 1977.
The three viaducts
The three viaducts (lower, middle and high bridges) make it possible to overcome the inclined topography of the land and facilitate communication between the various areas of the park. On the upper part, they are paths for vehicles and, on the lower part, they provide protection from the sun and rain.
The Calvary
The Calvary, a small mountain with 3 crosses, at the Park's high-point offers the most complete view of Barcelona and the bay. It is possible to view the main city in panorama, with the Sagrada Família and the Montjuic area visible at a distance.
Barcelona Park Guell Map
History of Park Guell
The site was a rocky hill with little vegetation and few trees, called Muntanya Pelada (Bare Mountain). It already included a large country house called Larrard House or Muntaner de Dalt House, and was next to a neighborhood of upper class houses called La Salud. The intention was to exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for luxury houses. Count Eusebi Güell added to the prestige of the development by moving in 1906 to live in Larrard House. In the event only two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudi. One was intended to be a show house, but on being completed in 1904 was put up for sale, and as no buyers came forward. Gaudi, at Güell's suggestion, bought it with his savings and moved in with his family and his father in 1906.
It has since been converted into a municipal garden. Gaudi incorporated many motifs of Catalan nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry, into the Park. The visitor was originally greeted by two life-size mechanical gazelles (a major euphemistic symbol of 'the young beloved' in the Hebrew strand of the medieval love poetry of the region), but these have since been lost during the turbulence of war.
Roadways around the park to service the intended houses were designed by Gaudi as structures jutting out from the steep hillside or running on viaducts, with separate footpaths in arcades formed under these structures. This minimized the intrusion of the roads, and Gaudi designed them using local stone in a way that integrates them closely into the landscape. His structures echo natural forms, with columns like tree trunks supporting branching vaulting under the roadway, and the curves of vaulting and alignment of sloping columns designed in a similar way to his Church of Colonia Guell so that the inverted catenary arch shapes form perfect compression structures.
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