Palau Güell is free on the first Sunday of every month, 12 February, 23 April, Museums Night, 11 September and 24 September. Free tickets are only available online: for the first Sunday, from the Thursday before at 10 h. The rest of the year general admission costs 15 euros.
Palau Güell was the house Antoni Gaudí built for Eusebi Güell between 1886 and 1890, and today it belongs to the Diputació de Barcelona. It costs 15 euros, but several days a year it opens for free. The trick is not knowing which days, which is easy, but how and when to get those tickets, because they are released in advance and they run out. If you are living in Barcelona for a few months, you have plenty of time to pick yours.
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Which days it is free
According to its open days page, Palau Güell opens free on the first Sunday of every month, on 12 February (Santa Eulàlia), 23 April (Sant Jordi), Museums Night, 11 September (the Diada Nacional de Catalunya) and 24 September (La Mercè). The prices page adds the local holidays approved each year by Barcelona City Council.
For the rest of 2026, the next first Sundays are 1 November and 6 December. The November one already falls in winter hours, so that day last entry is at 16.30.
How to get the free tickets
Free tickets are only available online, at entrades.palauguell.cat, not at the ticket desk. Those for the first Sunday of the month are released on the Thursday before at 10 h; those for the other open days, four days ahead. Capacity is limited for the building's conservation and safety, and the palace itself warns that they can sell out days in advance and that, with lots of people online at once, the website may fail: if it won't let you in, try again a few minutes later.
No more than 185 people are allowed inside at once, for safety and conservation, and that can mean a queue at the door even with a ticket.
What it costs the rest of the year
According to the official prices, general admission costs 15 euros. The reduced ticket, at 12 euros, is for over-65s and Barcelona Card holders, among others. The Mini rate, at 5 euros, is for young people aged 13 to 18, single-parent or large families and Carnet Joven holders, among others. Children up to 12, unemployed people and teachers go free, always with proof.
The ticket includes the audio guide, which runs as an app on your phone, so bring headphones. In October 2026 the website warned that, because of a technical problem and until further notice, tickets could only be bought online.
Opening hours
From 1 April to 31 October it opens from 10 h to 20 h, last entry 19 h. From 1 November to 31 March, from 10 h to 17.30 h, last entry 16.30 h. It closes on Mondays that are not holidays, on 25 and 26 December, on 1 and 6 January and for one week at the end of January, for maintenance.
It is at Carrer Nou de la Rambla, 3-5, a step from La Rambla; the nearest metro stop is Liceu, on line 3.
What you see inside
It is an early work by Gaudí, and the palace presents it as the essence of everything he would do later. In 1945 Mercè Güell López, Eusebi Güell's youngest daughter, gave it to the Diputació on condition that it be preserved and given a cultural use. In 1984 UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List among the works of Antoni Gaudí. It was closed for seven years for a thorough restoration and reopened on 25 May 2011.
At the top is the roof terrace, with its 20 chimneys. They were restored in the early nineties, and the ones that had lost their covering got it back thanks to Catalan artists. Watch the weather: in rain, strong wind or extreme heat the roof and the south courtyard may be closed, and on a free day there is no second chance.
The other star is the organ. Güell commissioned it from the Basque organ builder Aquilino Amezua, and Gaudí placed the console on the main floor and the pipes around the central dome, designed as a great sounding box. That organ was lost in the thirties; the present one was built by master organ builder Albert Blancafort in his workshop in Collbató, reusing what survived, and it plays selected pieces every half hour. It is worth being under the dome when it starts.
For those staying a while
Someone here for a few months doesn't need to fight for the nearest first Sunday: you can put the Thursday before in your calendar and pick the one that suits you, with the weather forecast in front of you. And in October 2026 the palace is running The Music of Gaudí, a concert series on Thursdays at 20.30, tickets 15 euros; the last one, on 29 October, is devoted to the roof terrace.
Two useful rules: no food or drink inside, and backpacks and bags larger than 40 x 40 cm go to the cloakroom.
Checked
Information checked on 16 October 2026 on the official website of Palau Güell, run by the Diputació de Barcelona (palauguell.cat: home page, open days, prices, visitor rules, the restoration and The Music of Gaudí series). The two official pages do not fully agree on the January closing week (one says the last, the other the fourth), so here we only say it is at the end of the month. Confirm dates and tickets online before you go.
Quick questions
When are the free Palau Güell tickets released?
For the first Sunday of the month, on the Thursday before at 10 h; for the other open days, four days ahead. Online only, at entrades.palauguell.cat.
How much does Palau Güell cost on a normal day?
General admission costs 15 euros, the reduced ticket 12 euros and the Mini rate 5 euros. Children up to 12 go free.
What are Palau Güell's winter opening hours?
From 1 November to 31 March, from 10 h to 17.30 h, last entry 16.30 h. It closes on Mondays that are not holidays.