Barcelona’s wealth of art galleries and museums may seem bewildering. Let us help find the ones that suit you.
Housed in a fascinating modernista factory across the road from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, CaixaForum is now a gallery owned by La Caixa bank. CaixaForum offers touring exhibitions (some better curated than others), and entrance prices that are hard to resist – the better ones will set you back around €5. It’s an excellent almost-off-the-tourist-map choice.
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Housed in five adjoining palaces in the old town, the Museu Picasso would be worth visiting for the architecture alone, let alone the more than 4,000 works in its permanent collection. Be aware that this is probably the busiest gallery in Barcelona – book online in advance to avoid the queues, and be prepared to view the works in the close company of a lot of tourists who are merely checking a box by being here.
If you buy the Barcelona Museum Pass or Art Passport, you’ll gain priority entry, as well as to Fundació Joan Miró, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Fundació Antoni Tàpies, and Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA).
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One of 10 sites under the MUHBA banner, arguably the Plaça del Rei is the star. What you don’t tend to realise as you’re admiring the historic architecture in Barcelona’s city centre is that there’s a whole Roman walled settlement under your feet. Descend in the lift at MUHBA and go back a couple of centuries to see nearly an acre of it, from temples to laundries, and wineries, the tour imparts an amazing sense of what life was like in this ancient settlement. Recommended.
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