Casa Batlló is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Barcelona, and as such there are often long waiting lines at the door to get in. Buying your tickets online in advance will let you skip the line and you’ll also save money on the price at the gate.
What you will find in this article:
- Why you should visit Casa Batlló
- Practical info: opening times and tickets
- What to expect when you visit Casa Batllo
- How to get there
- History and facts
- The legend of Sant Jordi
- Our personal insider tips
What is Casa Batllo and why should you visit it?
The Casa Batlló is one of Barcelona’s most famous landmarks.
Located on the iconic Passeig de Gràcia, its instantly recognizable facade has become a synonym of the city of Barcelona’s architectural wealth.
The building was designed by famed architect Antoni Gaudí for the local textile magnate Josep Batlló, who wanted a house that was unique and unlike any other in the city.
Looking at it today, it’s clear that Gaudí succeeded in his mission.
Visit Casa Batlló
Many people only see Casa Batlló from the outside, but it’s well worth it to buy a ticket and explore the interior of the building too.
The entrance hall, first floor, the patio, the attic and the roof terrace – with its four chimneys, very typical of Gaudí houses – are accessible for visitors.
The property is wheelchair friendly too. You are allowed to take pictures in the entire house.
When should you visit Casa Batlló?
If you want to avoid the largest crowds, the best time to visit is early in the morning or right before closing time.
It usually takes around one hour to see the entire building, so plan accordingly.
Practical Information
Casa Batlló is usually quite busy. It’s not uncommon to arrive at the building and find crowds of hundreds of people in front taking pictures, although usually not all of them will go inside.
We recommend you buy your tickets online in advance to avoid waiting in line at the door.
Casa Batlló Tickets and Prices
- Adults: €24.50
- Fastpass: €29.50
- Children under 7: free
- Children 7-17: €21.50
- Students: €21.50
- Seniors (65+): €21.50
The best (and cheapest) ticket that you can buy is the basic ticket. It includes a video guide, the quality of which is quite good.
Thanks to this you won’t need to take a guided tour to learn about Casa Batlló, although that option is available if you want a more personalized experience.
The video guide is available in the following languages: Spanish, English, French, Catalan, Italian, German, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese and Russian.
With the regular tickets, you may have to wait a few minutes depending on how crowded the building is at the time of your visit.
Fastpass tickets allow you to avoid this, but at a premium. If you choose to buy the tickets at the gate you’ll pay on average €5 more, and have to wait significantly longer.
Opening hours
Casa Batlló is open 365 days a year from 9 am to 9 pm.
Last entry is at 8 pm.
Note: Just like the Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló has time slots, which means you’ll have to choose the time of your visit when booking your tickets.
Make sure you get to the entrance on time, and you can either print your tickets or save them on your smartphone.
Regarding the length of your visit, you should budget between an hour and an hour and half to see all of Casa Batlló.
How to get to Casa Batlló
Casa Batlló’s address is Passeig de Gràcia, 43, 08007 Barcelona, Spain. It is located right in the middle of Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona’s most important shopping avenue. It is easily accessible on Barcelona’s public transport network, and being right in the center of the city, is within walking distance of many other important monuments.
- Metro: The quickest way to get to Casa Batlló is by Metro. The nearest station is Passeig de Gràcia, which is serviced by three lines: the purple line (L2), the green line (L3), and the yellow line (L4). Of those, the green line leaves you closest to Casa Batlló, the exit is right in front of the building.
- Walk: It’s also very easy to get to Casa Batlló on foot. From Plaça Catalunya it’s a 10 minute walk and you can admire the beautiful Passeig de Gràcia.
- Bike: Biking to Casa Batlló is the same as walking but faster. From the center, it’s just a straight line along Passeig de Gràcia until you get there.
- Hop-on Hop-off bus: both lines of the Bus Turístic (the blue and red one) stop in front of Casa Batlló.
What can you see and do during your visit to Casa Batlló
Casa Batlló consists of an underground parking level, the ground floor, four above ground floors, the attic, and the roof terrace.
Highlights of the visit are the main hall, the spectacular stained glass windows, the inner patio covered in blue tiles (if you can, take the stairs instead of the elevator, you will see much more), and the roof terrace, from where you can enjoy an amazing view over the city.
Facade
When Gaudí accepted the assignment, the house was an ordinary building on Paseo de Gràcia. His job was to renovate it and turn it into a truly special building.
Casa Batlló’s facade is instantly recognizable. The building is heavily evocative of nature throughout, and you can see the first instances here.
The front is covered in a mosaic of blue and green tiles in Gaudí’s characteristic trencadís style, resembling perhaps the scales of an animal or the colors of the sea.
Look closely at the ironwork on the balconies, and you’ll notice they resemble faces, or skulls.
Further up, the roof is said to represent the spine of a dragon, and the house’s spire is supposed to be the lance of Saint George, Catalunya’s patron Saint.
Also notice the doors: Salvador Dalí once said that Gaudí’s doors were made of velvet, and it’s easy to see why here: instead of being rectangular and blocky, they are smooth, curved, and flowing.
The legend of Sant Jordi
Saint George is traditionally represented with a dragon.
In Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia you find his name everywhere (for example the Palau Sant Jordi in Montjuïc, Barcelona’s most important concert venue).
According to the legend, Jordi (George in Catalan) freed the land from a dragon that ate up all the young girls.
When only the king’s daughter was left, Jordi battled the dragon and impaled its heart with his lance.
From its blood, a rose bush bloomed, and Jordi picked one of the flowers and gifted it to the princess he had just rescued.
The Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day) is a big celebration in Catalonia.
Every year on the 23rd of April Barcelona is filled with flower stands and the idea is that men buy a rose for all the important women in their lives (so not only their girlfriend or wife, also their mothers, daughters, sisters…) and gift it to them on this day.
Besides flowers, you will find book stands all over Barcelona on this day.
These have nothing to do with the legend of Saint George but rather with Cervantes, one of Spain’s most famous writers that died on the 23rd of April (in 1616).
Coincidentally, the 23rd of April is also the day William Shakespeare died! Since 1995 the World Book Day is being organised on this day in honor of both authors.
Just as men gift roses, many women gift books to their partners on this day, although now traditions are slowly changing and many couples exchange books and roses without considerations of gender.
Casa Batlló from the inside
Ok, back to Casa Batlló.
It’s most likely that Gaudí’s main inspiration for the house was the legend of Saint George and the dragon.
Hints are the dragon tail on the roof, the balconies (little skulls of eaten up girls) and the big pillars (bones).
The tower on the roof is said to represent the spear that George used to kill the dragon.
Others see elements of a Venetian carnival: the ‘dragon’ on the roof is the harlequin’s hat, the trencadis (a typical mosaic style from Catalan modernisme) looks like confetti, and the little balconies remind us of masks.
Planta Noble: first floor
Straight walls are a rarity throughout Casa Batlló. From the woodwork, to the windows, the furniture, and the ceilings: everything is rounded and wavy.
The first floor was known as the ‘planta noble’, the noble floor. It was the most important part of the building because it is where the Batlló family lived.
It measures 700 square meters. You enter through a beautiful private entrance hall that is reminiscent of an underwater cave.
Don’t forget to look up at the wooden ceilings and down at the beautiful floors.
The living room on the first floor is one of the most stunning spaces that you can visit inside the house. Gaudí designed a huge window to offer great views from inside, and to let in a ton of natural light.
Patio
The patio of the house is where the old elevator used to run. The blue tiles that cover the walls give the space a marvelous color.
If you look up, you’ll notice that the tiles towards the top are darker in color than those at the bottom.
This was a device by Gaudí to make sure the light was distributed evenly throughout.
Attic
The attic is one of Cas Batlló’s most unique spaces, a space that is aesthetically pleasing yet functional at the same time.
While the building was occupied, the attic housed its service area, mainly washing facilities and storerooms.
Its most distinctive feature are the sixty white plaster arches that line the ceiling which look like the rib cage of an animal — perhaps of the dragon on the roof?
This area is accessible via staircase.
Terrace
The roof terrace offers a beautiful view over Barcelona. This is where you’ll get to see the “spine of the dragon” from up close.
For the tail, Gaudí used his beloved trencadís technique. You’ll also find four sculpted chimneys, which mirror the four red bands in the Catalan flag.
Gift shop
If you were so impressed with your visit that you want to take something home as a memento, here you’ll be able to find all sorts of items and books about the house and about Gaudí himself.
History and architecture of Casa Batlló
The building that would become Casa Batlló was bought in 1903 by Josep Batlló i Casanovas, a wealthy local textile magnate.
The original plan was to entirely demolish the old house (built in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortés) and build a new one in its place, but in the end a thorough renovation was chosen instead.
Between 1904 and 1906 Gaudí and his men worked on the house, and the Batlló family moved in shortly afterwards. The family lived in the building until the mid fifties.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) about a hundred refugees were housed in Casa Batlló, and after the war the building had suffered some damage.
In the nineties, Casa Batlló changed owners, being bought by the Bernat family, owners of famous Spanish brand Chupa Chups.
The new owners invested heavily in renovation work and in 2002, the International Gaudí Year, it finally opened to the public.
Three years later Casa Batlló was added to the Unesco list of International Cultural Heritage sites (2005).
Personal tips
- From the terrace of Servei Estació (C/Aragó 270-272) you can see Casa Batlló (for free) from the back. Right across the street you’ll also find the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, an interesting museum which you can combine with your visit to Casa Batlló.
- In the summer (June-September) Casa Batlló hosts the noches mágicas (magic nights), in which you can visit the house at night. The nighttime visit is a bit more expensive, but you’ll get to see Casa Batlló in a different light, enjoy live music, and sip Cava on the rooftop overlooking the Barcelona skyline. Totally worth it.
- Hungry? Head to La Cerveceria Catalana for good tapas only 10 minutes away (c/Mallorca 236).
Manzana de la Discordia
Casa Batlló belongs to the so called Manzana de la Discordia, which translates to the ‘apple of discord’: an expression that originates from Greek mythology that means an object or thing that breeds conflict.
However, in Spanish ‘manzana’ is also refers to a block of houses.
The reason this particular block on Passeig de Gràcia is called ‘the block of discord’ is because it is home to three famous modernist buildings by three different architects, all with radically different styles.
the Casa Batlló by Antoni Gaudí, the Casa Amatller, directly to the left of Casa Batlló, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and the Casa Lleó-Morera by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, on the lower corner of the block.
Video mapping on the facade
Very cool to visit are the mappings that are organised from time to time. During these nights there are video projections on the facade.
In the video below you can see a mapping where 22.000 spectators awaken the sleeping dragon on the roof of Casa Batlló with the light of their mobile phones.
The light show was recorded in September 2015, during the yearly celebration of La Mercè.
Extra tip: Casa Batlló or Casa Milà?
If you want to visit only one of the Gaudí houses on Passeig de Gràcia (Milà or Batlló), we recommend you visit Casa Milà.
From the outside, Casa Batlló looks more spectacular (especially to children), but we feel that Casa Milà is the more interesting of the two to actually visit.
There are more Gaudí-designed properties open to the public: Casa Vicens and Palau Guell, both worth a visit!
Attractions near Casa Batlló
Casa Batlló is close to two of Gaudí’s famous buildings: