Palau Güell Medieval style Antoni Gaudí house

About Palau Güell Medieval style Antoni Gaudí house

Palau Güell, Barcelona is an urban residence built from 1886 to 1890 for the family of Eusebi Güell (industrialist, politician and patron of the arts) and was the second nobel house by Antoni Gaudí.

Palau Güell History

Palau Güell was the first commission for Antonio Gaudí from Eusebi Güell and this house was built to link the existing Güell home in Las Ramblas with the new palace in Nou de la Rambla via a secret passage. This passage today is blocked but you can see what remains when you visit.

The home is centred around the main hall for entertaining high society guests. Guests entered the palace in horse-drawn carriages through the front wrought iron gates where they disembark into staircase up to the first floor grand receiving room with pipe organ. The horses could be taken down a spiral ramp and kept in the livery stable in the basement where the servants resided.

The 1st floor also has a grand dining room, staircase and hallway while the upper floor is dedicated to living space such as bedrooms and bathrooms.

The ornate walls and ceilings of the receiving room disguised small viewing windows high on the walls where the owners of the home could view their guests from the upper bedroom floor and get a sneak peek before greeting them, in case they needed to adjust their attire accordingly.

The roof terrace of Palau Güell is another space where Gaudí chose to use ornate decoration for the chimneys in the form of coloured tile shards (trencadís). The receiving room is actually two floors high and the rood terminates in a central spire with skylight windows. The spire has the saint George dragon in the form of a weather vane on the top.

Palau Güell along with Gaudí's first grand house, Casa Vicens share similar influences of Oriental and Arabian themed rooms as well as the usual Gaudí nature inspired decorations. Both these houses have a boxy construction unlike his later two houses in Passeig de Grácia that have nature inspired wavy flowing lines.

Palau Güell was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1984.

In 2004 Palau Güell closed to the public for extensive renovation works including replacing some of the original stone because of cracks that were causing structural problems within the building. Restoration work was completed in April 2011.

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Visiting Palau Güell Medieval style Antoni Gaudí house

The whole building is open to the public as a museum. This includes the basement stables, First floor reception and lounges, Second floor bedrooms and bathrooms and the roof terrace.

Tip: The audio guide is included in the ticket price and comes in multiple languages but does not include headphones so take your 3.5mm jack headphones to avoid having to hold it to your ear to use the tiny inbuilt speaker.

Palau Güell Tickets

Allow about 90 minutes for the visit in the interior. Note that the ticket office is not in Palau Güell but in the arch to the left.

Although tickets can be purchased in the ticket office with a small supplement, I recommend purchasing them online to avoid long queues or disappointment.

Palau Güell Opening hours

• Summer: 1st April till 30th September: 10:00h to 20:00h every day except Mondays.
• Winter: 1st october till 31st march: 10:00h to 17:30h every day except Mondays.
• The ticket office next to Palau Guell closes at 19:00h in the summer and 16:30h in the winter.

Other Gaudí Works

For The grandest of Gaudí's works in Barcelona, visit La Sagrada Família.

The House that Gaudí Lived in, is located in Parc Güell but not included in the Sagrada Família ticket. I recommend buying a combined Parc Güell + Gaudí House Museum ticket. Details on the Parc Güell Page.

My recommendation is to combine a visit to Casa Batlló with Casa Milá/La Perdera because they are only 500 metres apart in Passeig de Grácia.

You will also find Gaudi's Casa Vicens in the Gracia Neighbourhood and Torre Bellesguard in the Sant Gervasi Neighbourhood.

Each of these Gaudí wonders are visually distinct and each one its own masterpiece.

Accessibility, mobility & Clothing for Palau Güell Medieval style Antoni Gaudí house

The tour of Palau Güell is accessible to people who use wheelchairs. There is an elevator that connects the various floors. However the roof terrace is only accessible via stairs. Wheelchair loan service for anyone who needs a chair that is narrower than the 60 cm elevator door. The basement is accessible via spiral ramp that is probably not suitable for wheelchairs (it was designed to bring horses up from the basement stable to ground level).

A baby carrier will be offered for this with small children in push chairs.

You will be denied access with large rucksacks, bags and other over sized items so only attend with small bags.

There are no bicycle anchorage points outside Palau Guell. Bicycles in this part of town have a high probability of being stolen.

Don't forget headphones for the audio guide.

Day Trip Rucksack

Small 10L day trip and museums rucksack

In Ear Headphones

With 3.5mm jack. For running and for museum visits that have an audio guide. Museums don't provide headphones since Covid.

Emergency Poncho

Small folded lightweight Water proof poncho for emergencies

Getting to Palau Güell Medieval style Antoni Gaudí house

Address: Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3-5, Barcelona. 08001

Nearest TMB METRO is Drasanes or Liceo, Both on the green (L3) Line.

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