Skip the lines: Buy Sagrada Familia and other tickets online

I'm always amazed to see the massive lines of hopeful ticket buyers lined up outside Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and other popular attractions. Even if there are no lines, last-minute ticket buyers at performance venues like Barcelona's Palau de la Musica will  have missed the best seats, which aren't necessarily the most expensive but have good sight lines. It doesn't have to be this way; all of these places and more sell advance tickets online on easy-to-use websites where you can pay by credit card.

Here are two photos that show lines at Sagrada Familia last September. They are of the same line; the first is the beginning at the Passion facade and the second is the same line stretching around the corner. A few minutes after this was snapped it had grown almost down the full block.

And here's the short queue at the pickup station for online ticket buyers:

Where would you rather be? If it's in the last photo, just go to the Sagrada Familia website and order you tickets. You can do the same for La Pedrera and Casa Batllo.

Similarly, buy advance tickets for Sainte-Chapelle at its website, or if you want to visit several museums in Paris, get the Paris Museum Pass. Don't confuse this with the Paris Pass, which tacks on transportation options that, if you don't plan to use them, escalate the price pretty quickly.

In Barcelona, the ArticketBCN does the same thing, but with a more limited list of museums.

Manual Gonzalez at the Palau.

For the Palau, which presents a diverse selection of performances throughout the year, you can book at the website.

Another option is the ClassicTic website, which offers tickets to all kinds of venues around Europe, plus the U.S., Australia and South Korea. You'll pay a premium if you buy on this site, but if you have the time, pick your event or site and then buy from the direct website.

One show we really enjoyed the "A Taste of Spain," flamenco performance at the Museu Europeu d'Art Modern in an old palace in El Born. I bought these tickets through ClassicTic because I couldn't figure out how to get them direct and the premium was less than 3 euros each ticket. Knowing it was a small venue with limited seating (60, I think), I didn't want to take a chance of missing out. The passionate singing, dancing and playing was worth every penny, and was made more moving because of the intimacy of the setting.

Yes, we were this close to this beautiful, passionate performance.

Our El Born apartments are within a short walk of MEAM and there's a direct Metro connection from the nearby Jaume 1 station to the Palau, or you can walk there in 10 minutes. To reach Sagrada Familia is a Metro five station Metro ride and short walk, or you can make a line change to reach a Metro station right near the cathedral.

Most of these apartments have large, acoustic windows to small balconies.

The basic three bedroom units are comfortable for couples or small families; larger ones have more space and/or more bedrooms.

See more samples of apartments we can offer in Barcelona or Paris at www.likelivingthere.com or send an email to info@likelivingthere.com with your requirements and we'll quickly send back some options.