There’s an amazing variety of museums in Barcelona. We have only highlighted the best and most popular. Many are closed on Mondays and most open at 10am with various closing times.
Museu Picasso
For many, this is ‘the’ Barcelona museum. Picasso arrived in Barcelona in 1894 when he was 14 and lived here until he was 23. The museum includes much of his early work.
It is housed in five medieval palaces in the Barri Gotic. There are more than 3,500 works in the permanent collection.
C/ Montcada. Tel: (34) 933 196 310. Closed Mondays
Barcelona Contemporary Art Museum
To the west of the northern end of the Ramblas, the MACBA focuses on art from 1945, with many temporary exhibitions. The huge, white building, designed by American Richard Meier opened in 1995.
Plaça Àngels. Tel: (34) 934 120 810. Closed Tuesdays
Museu d’Historia de la Ciutat
In the heart of the Barri Gotic, the museum's collection covers the city's history from Roman times in a beautiful old mansion with central courtyard, the casa Clariana-Padellas.
There’s an underground tour along Roman roads, houses, bathrooms, sewers and the old city walls. You can also trace the evolution of Barcelona through plans, sketches and models. The nearby Capella de Santa Agata offers views of the Barri Gotic from the Torre del Rey Marti
Placa del Rei Tel: (34) 933 151 111. Closed Mondays
Museu Frederic Mares
In the Barri Gotic, just behind the Cathedral, this museum has a massive collection of medieval sculpture housed in an ancient palace with large courtyards and soaring ceilings.
Placa de Sant lu. Tel: (34) 933 105 800. Closed Mondays
Fundacio Antoni Tapies
The Barcelona artist Tapies is considered by many to be Spain’s greatest contemporary artist. The Domenech I Montaner-designed building in Eixample, features a sculpture on the roof. There are works by several artists and a good library.
Aragó . Tel: (34) 934 870 315. Closed Mondays.
Caixa Forum
Near the Placa d’Espanya arts and cultural centre is the Cosmocaixa science museum that lifted the European Museum of the Year Award in 2006.
Av. Marquès de Comillas. Tel: (34) 934 768 600
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
One of Spain’s great museums houses medieval, 19th and 20th century art from Catalonia. Housed in the Palau Nacional, on Montjuic, its Romanesque collection is reckoned to be the world’s finest.
There are several frescoes and Gothic works on the lives and deaths of saints – some not for the fainthearted. It is also noted for its Modernista collection.
Palau Nacional, Parc de Montjuïc. Tel: (34) 93 622 03 76 Closed Mondays
Fundacio Joan Miro
Miro fans will love the collection here. Miró experimented with painting, sculpture, printing, ceramics, theatre and tapestry. Bemused visitors can learn about ‘drippism’ and wonder if some paintings are simply cracks in the wall. There are also works by Matisse and Henry Moore.
Parc de Montjuïc. Tel. (34) 934 439 470 Closed Mondays
Maritime Museum
The Drassanes are medieval shipyards at the seaward end of the Ramblas, now home to the Museu Maritim. There is a copy of a 16th century Royal Galley, old maps, charts and even a virtual dive in a submarine.
Av. de les Drassanes. Tel: (34) 933 429 920. Open every day.
Museu d’Historia de Catalunya
Down in Port Vell, a converted warehouse is home to an exhibition on Catalan history. Exhibits include ‘The Birth of a Nation; ‘Our Sea’; ‘On the Edge of the Empire’; ‘A Steam-powered Nation’; ‘The Electric Years’ and ‘Defeat and Recovery’.
Palau de Mar Tel: (34) 932 254 244 Closed Mondays
Science museum
Miro Museum
Dali museum
Barcelona museum
