Oliver was our energetic and reverent guide and the experience was amazing, learning many things until leaving us to explore on our own and stay as long as we wanted. We went to the school and the museum (museum with the rope/bird feed system was very interesting) and was pleased to hear if there was appropriate time given, we could even go to daily mass here.
Oliver is knowledgeable, nice and funny. You won't regret it! Sagrada Familia is the best church I've ever seen. And having a great tour guide made it even better!
You definitely want to have a tour guide for this! There is SO much detail and things to see, you'll miss something without a guide. Our guide led us through easily and spent time at each stop, pointing out things of interest. He had a good grasp of the history and the meaning behind all the sculptures both inside and on the outside. He gave us tips on things we could do on our own in the basilica once the tour was over, pointed out bathrooms, etc. A truly magnificent structure - you can spend as much time as you want. Go in the afternoon on a sunny day. The sun shining through the stained glass on the western side lights up the entire inside and looks like fire!
I’ve been twiice before so the structure didn’t surprise me but my husband (who hasn’t been to Barcelona before) turned a corner, stopped in his tracks and said “Wow!l”, he was blown away from the outside and did the same on the inside as he saw the light coming through the stained glass windows. Our tour guide Vanessa was very bubbly and friendly and shared lots of knowledge with the group. Only thing I would suggest is a clearer ‘flag’ to identify the guide as she used an umber but it was raining so EVERYONE had an umbrella up! Alternatively a bright uniform/coat to identify them in the crowds.
Our trip to Sagrada Familia was wonderful. We had a fantastic guide, Oliver, who navigated our bilingual (French & English) group masterfully. It was such a pleasure being led around by a local who grew up in the same neighborhood! He knew SO much! It was a great tour and highly recommended.