Palau Güell

The Palau Güell is a beautiful building designed by architect Antoni Gaudi for the Barcelona magnate Eusebi Güell in the late 19th century. Located along Carrer Nou de la Rambla in the district of El Raval, it is part of Barcelona’s UNESCO World Heritage Site along with all of Gaudí’s other works. In 1945, Mercè Güell i Lopez, the youngest daughter of Eusebi Güell, donated the Palau to the Barcelona Provincial Council on the condition that the building would be preserved and used for cultural purposes.

And so it was. The building was converted into a museum a few years later and became an important landmark in Barcelona. After a massive renovation that lasted from 2004 to 2011, today the Güell Palace is once again open to the public, and although it is not one of the city’s most famous attractions, it is undoubtedly worth a visit, thanks to its unique exterior, and especially thanks to its beautiful interior where one can admire all the art and flair of Antoni Gaudí.

Things to do in the Palau Güell

Naturally, start your visit to Palau Güell with the exterior, where you can admire the main façade with its large parabolic arches closed by wrought-iron gates. The façade is made of stone and has two floors, the first of which has a long row of wrought-iron windows.

Inside, the visit begins on the ground floor, a ‘service’ level, which includes the coach house, the storeroom, the porter’s house and a staircase that allowed servants to access the upper floors. On the ground floor is also the main staircase, which leads to the first floor.

Between the ground and first floors is a space originally designed for the offices of Eusebi Güell and his staff, as well as the palace’s private library. From here, a large stone staircase leads to the first floor, where the actual living quarters were located.

On the first floor, the interior spaces are distributed around the central hall, which is certainly the most important room in the entire palace. The parabolic dome roof is beautiful, as are the wood and marble decorations. Before it is the visitors’ room, a space that served as a waiting room for visitors before entering the central hall, while behind it is the sala de fumadores, a corner suitable for meetings with Güell’s closest friends.

Going up to the second floor, one first encounters the mezzanine floor, designed to accommodate musicians for concerts, as it opens onto the central hall. The palace’s main kitchen was also located here. The second floor represents the “private” area of the Palau Güell, the one in which the family resided, with the master bedroom, the children’s rooms, the bathrooms covered in ceramics with plant motifs and the other rooms.

Finally, the top level of the Palau Güell consists of the attic, where the service staff lived in 11 dormitories. Above it is the sumptuous roof terrace , by far one of the most scenic spaces in the entire building thanks to the large dome of the central hall with its 15-metre spire, and above all its 20 chimney pots converted by Gaudí into veritable sculptures. Of these, 6 are brick, while 14 are clad in trencadis, the technique made famous by Gaudí himself that consists of using irregular pieces of glass, ceramics, marble and coloured majolica to form a mosaic.

Tickets for the Palau Güell

You can buy tickets directly at the ticket offices or online, a convenient alternative for not having to queue at the entrance and for greater convenience. Admission includes access to all the rooms and visitable spaces of the Palau, as well as a web audio guide on your phone, with access through a QR code provided with the ticket. The management reserves the right to suspend entry to the Patio del Mediodia in the event of rain or strong winds.

Entrance to the Palau Güell is discounted for BCN Card holders, or alternatively, full price tickets can be purchased; there are reductions for children and young people aged 10 to 18 and the over-65s, while children under 10 and people with a disability of at least 65% get a free ticket.

On certain days of the year it is also possible to enter the Palau Güell free of charge. To be precise, on the first Sunday of each month and on the following days:

• 11 February: St Eulalia’s Day, co-patron saint of Barcelona.
• 23 April: St George’s Day, a public holiday in many Catholic countries including Spain.
• Night of the Museums, an evening on a date that varies from year to year when all the museums in the city are free of charge.
• 20 May: local holiday
• 11 September: Catalonia’s National Day.
• 24 September: La Mercè festivity

Tickets for free admission days can only be booked online on the official website, while those for the first Sunday of the month are available on the preceding Monday. Capacity is limited for reasons of conservation and safety of the building and its visitors.

Guided tours

At the Palau Güell you can take part in guided tours led by the palace staff at weekends, in various languages and at no extra cost. Alternatively, you can also take part in private or group tours of Barcelona that include entry to the Palau Güell. A tour is the best way to discover the building, as you will have the opportunity to discover all the details of the building and its rooms, from the cellar in the basement to the main rooms.

The guided tour lasts about one hour.

Visiting Hours for the Palau Güell

The Palau Güell is open from Tuesday to Sunday, except Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany. It is usually closed for maintenance during the last week of January. Opening hours vary with the season: from 1 April to 31 October they are from 10:00 to 20:00, with last admission at 19:00, and from 1 November to 31 March they are from 10:00 to 17:30, with last admission at 16:30.

How to get to the Palau Güell

The Palau Güell is in a very central location: Carrer Nou de la Rambla is in fact a street that ends right on the Ramblas, exactly opposite Placa Reial. Therefore, you will almost certainly get there on foot, and you will never have to make too much effort: from Placa de Catalunya it takes less than 15 minutes, from the Columbus Monument or the Cathedral only 10 minutes.

However, if you want to get there by public transport, Palau Güell is practically equidistant from the Liceu and Drassanes metro stations, both on the green L3 line. Once you get off the train, whichever stop you choose, you only have to walk 6 minutes along the Rambla and then turn into Carrer Nou de la Rambla.