What’s it like to visit the Güell Palace in Barcelona?
I spent quite a bit of my time in Barcelona visiting its historic houses, like the famous Casa Battlo and the wonderful Casa Amatller in the city centre.
Güell Palace (or Palau Güell) isn’t quite as famous as those two, but it’s also centrally located and well worth visiting while you’re in the city.
It’s a tall, impressive Gaudí creation with many different rooms and spaces to explore, plus a pretty outlandish rooftop.
Visiting the interior was quite an experience. I ended up spending about two hours wandering around the house with an audio guide.
There were quite a few people in each room. Still, it never felt too crowded and there was enough space and enough opportunities to take photos.
This urban palace was built between 1886 and 1890, making it one of the first Art Nouveau buildings in the world. It’s also one of the earliest works by Gaudí. In 1984 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In this guide I’ll share my impressions from visiting the house and some practical tips for your visit.
Table of contents
Güell Palace tickets
Self-guided audio tour: I took the self-guided tour with the audio guide and enjoyed it very much. I got my ticket here and it included a skip-the-line entry and an audio guide.
I chose the self-guided audio tour because I wanted to see the house at my own pace and take a lot of photos, but there are also guided tours during weekends.
Combined ticket: If you want to save a bit of money, you can buy a combined ticket for Güell Palace and Casa Milà La Pedrera (another famous house by Gaudí).
What’s the difference between Güell Palace and Park Güell
Güell Palace may be confused with the famous Park Güell.
The two are in completely different locations in Barcelona and require separate tickets.
Park Güell is where the Güell family moved after living in Güell Palace.
It’s a fascinating park, another splendid example of Gaudi’s work, designed in his vibrant style. It’s also worth visiting for some great views of the city.
What to see on the Güell Palace tour
Here are the main highlights of my self-guided tour of Güell Palace, plus some of my personal favs on the tour.
Entering the Güell Palace
Right at the beginning of the tour, there’s a short intro to the house and its history on the audio guide.
The house was the city residence of Eusebi Güell, Isabel López and their children.
Güell was a wealthy textile industrialist who commissioned Gaudi to create this urban palace at an early stage in Gaudi’s career.
You can see a very detailed model of the entire building in the entrance hall on the ground floor.
This hall used to be the coach house, where the carriages were kept. What I liked best about this part were the tiles with floral decorations on the ceiling. A pretty unexpected design touch.
From there, the next stop is one level below. Go down the ramp to see where the stables used to be.
Back up on the ground floor, you can appreciate the entrance to the palace. I admit I didn’t pay enough attention to the tall entrance doors when entering the house. When highlighted by the audio guide, I could see how impressive they were.
Interestingly, these wrought iron doors let light in, without letting people on the street see inside the building.
Next, go up the staircase. At the top, you’ll see a stained glass window using the Catalan flag colours.
After climbing up the stairs you’ll see… another staircase. On this floor there was a library and an office, but these are not part of the tour. The second staircase leads up to the main floor.
The Güell Palace main floor
The main floor was the most interesting part of the tour for me.
There’s a lot to see on the main floor, with many beautifully decorated rooms, leading eventually to the highlight: the magnificent central hall.
The route isn’t intuitive though, so you want to follow the audio guide and the numbers in each room, because
The antechamber is the first room you see, it served as an access hall.
Next are the hall of intimates and the bay window room. This room has a piano where the family’s daughters used to play.
The large bay window next to it was used for smoking. The bench was designed by Gaudí to fit the shape of the window. He invented a system of shades for the bay window.
This part of the house is a bit dark, so I had to listen carefully to the audio guide in order to notice small details in the design.
From there you can also peek into the dining room and then follow the corridor that takes you to the terrace.
It felt quite strange to step out of the magical time travel experience onto the terrace; being outside you suddenly see ordinary central Barcelona buildings around you.
But you can quickly return to the 19th-century adventure by visiting the surprisingly decorated billiard room, which also served as the family daughters’ studio.
The hall of lost steps is next. I’m not sure why it was given that name, but this narrow hall leads to the other rooms on the same floor. It features some great design; I especially liked the ceiling and the windows.
The visitors’ hall has an impressive ceiling and red walls give this room a majestic feel. The room is small but has quite a few details to notice. I liked the stained glass windows decorated with lotus leaves.
From there you reach the striking central hall. This is the main room in the palace, which has an awe-inspiring dome.
There is a lot to see in this room. This was the place where music and religion met. It has a golden chapel for religious services and an organ in the corner.
Organ music plays in the background every once in a while and you can also listen to period music on your audio guide.
In the central hall, the family entertained musical concerts and other social gatherings.
The central hall is the room I spent the most time in. Have a look around and enjoy the intricate details and the lavish decorations.
Up the stairs at Güell Palace
After taking pictures of the central hall for quite some time, there was another staircase to climb.
Right above the central hall, there’s a room where the orchestra musicians used to sit.
Go up the stairs again (yes, it’s a tall house! but there’s also an elevator) to reach the hall of intimates, the family sitting room, with its gorgeous fireplace.
From here you can view the hall from above and have a closer look at the dome.
On this floor, you can see the residential parts of the house – bedrooms and bathrooms.
The bedroom of Isabel Lopez isn’t furnished but has some photos of the original furniture. You can still see Gaudi’s style in the design of the fireplace.
The children’s bedrooms host a permanent exhibition of period furniture.
I really enjoyed this part of the tour. It was great to see the rooms furnished.
Some of these were original furniture that belonged to the Güell family. Others were just representative of the period and the region.
The next highlight of the tour for me was climbing up to the famous Güell Palace rooftop.
The Güell Palace rooftop
The roof is probably the most famous part of Güell Palace, because of its typical Gaudi design.
You can see some of its sculptures from the street, but it’s obviously a very different experience when you go up there yourself.
Gaudi turned chimneys into pieces of art.
There are 15 chimneys on the Güell Palace roof, each with its own design.
Covered in a kind of mosaic of ceramic, marble and glass pieces, these chimneys are examples of the Trencadís technique.
You can see more Trencadís chimneys on the roof of Casa Batllo.
It was a great ending to the tour, walking around the roof and appreciating the sculptures.
The dome we saw earlier in the central hall had a spire that you can now see on the roof, covered in stone.
I recommend you visit on a sunny day or at least avoid rainy days to make sure you can enjoy the roof.
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2 Comments
I’m really surprised I hadn’t heard about this place. I love Gaudí’s work and I hope to see as much of it as I can whenever I end up going to Spain. Another one for the list!
It’s not quite as famous as some of his other works. Hope you enjoy it next time you visit Barcelona 🙂