Museums in Barcelona

As befits a city with such a diverse culture and history, Barcelona’s museums offer visitors a wide range of aesthetic experiences – in fact, they can be seen as a perfect illustration of just how beguilingly miscellaneous the Catalan capital can be.

For example, two of Barcelona’s most deservedly popular museums are devoted to the works of Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso – the first one born in the city and the second generally acknowledged as an adopted son.

The Joan Miró Foundation is on Montjuïc, and, in addition to offering the visitor some stunning city views across the city from its superb leafy location, there is a wealth of sculptures, ceramics and paintings that perfectly capture the spirit of this innovative genius. The Foundation is open throughout the year from 10 am, although it closes early on Sundays and does not open on Mondays. There is an €8 entrance fee. Bus travellers can take either the number 50 or the tourist bus.

The Picasso Museum, in Carre Montcada in the El Born area of the Gothic Quarter, is actually housed in five grand medieval palaces joined together. There are in excess of 3,500 of Picasso’s original works housed in the permanent exhibition, predominantly from the artist’s Blue Period and some spectacular ceramic pieces made during the 1950s that totally encapsulate the essence of Picasso. As well as a bookshop, there is an attractive open-air terrace café in the museum. The nearest Metro stations are Jaume, Arc de Triomf and Liceu or buses stop at Plaça del Palau (numbers 14 and 59), Laietana (17, 40 and 45) or Passeig Picasso (39 and 51).

According to which figures you believe, the Museum at the Camp Nou of Barcelona FC is either the most popular museum – in terms of visitor numbers – in the whole of Catalunya or simply the fourth most visited in Barcelona itself; personally, I think there’s a little cultural snobbery at work with some of the counting! Whatever the actual situation, this is an immensely popular attraction. €8.50 gains admission to the museum and pitch area but, for the full guided tour, the cost is €17. FC Barcelona Museum is open from 10 am daily until 10pm in the summer and 6.30 from 13th October to 13th April. It does close early on Sundays and public holidays – so be careful because public holidays can catch British visitors unawares. Access by Metro is via Collblanc (Blue Line, L5), although it’s still a 15 minute walk. The tourist bus also, naturally, stops here.

There are countless other museums in Barcelona. They range from a simply stunning Maritime Museum – at the bottom of Las Ramblas opposite the Columbus statue so it couldn’t be easier to find – to the intriguing and often quite challenging Centre of Contemporary Culture, which has a vast array of exhibits in different media. The CCCB is open every day, although you need to check on opening times as they are sometimes as eccentric as some of the work on display. The admission cost is €6 but those with a Barcelona Card can expect a 20% discount.

Gaudí, of course, has his own selection of museums. There is one in Parc Gűell in ‘la Torre Rosa’, the house in which the iconic Catalan designer lived and worked for many years. Additionally, La Sagrada Familia also houses its own museum, which gives many diverting glimpses of both the man and the building. There’s even a model of what the completed building might look like in the eventuality of it ever being completed. The museum is open from 9 am until 8pm from April to September but closes at 6 during the winter. Entrance is €11 but Barcelona Card holders receive a discount of 12%.

This is simply a minute sample of the, literally, dozens of museums open for visitors to Barcelona. Photography, Science, Footwear, Catalan History, Natural History – whatever your passion, you are almost certain to find it here.