Museums and attractions inBarcelona
Gaudí's city, with Picasso and Miró in its museums.
Barcelona is the city Gaudí built. The Sagrada Família, still rising after more than a century, stands over the grid of the Eixample, and along the Passeig de Gràcia his Casa Batlló and La Pedrera share the avenue with the houses of the other modernista architects. Park Güell looks down on it all from the hill, and Domènech i Montaner's Palau de la Música and Sant Pau hospital are as rich as anything Gaudí made.
Below them lies the medieval city, the Gothic Quarter and the Born, where the Picasso Museum fills five palaces of the Carrer de Montcada. On Montjuïc, the hill above the port, the MNAC keeps the Romanesque frescoes of the Pyrenees, and the Fundació Joan Miró the painter's own collection. This guide lists the museums and attractions of Barcelona, with what each one holds, how to visit and where to book, and the day trips to Montserrat, Girona and Figueres.
Museums in Barcelona
Picasso Museum
Founded 1963, Single artist
The young Picasso and his Las Meninas series, in five medieval palaces on the Carrer de Montcada.
Tickets from €37
National Art Museum of Catalonia
Founded 1934, Old masters to modern
Catalan art from the Romanesque wall paintings of the Pyrenees to Modernisme, in the Palau Nacional on Montjuïc.
Tickets from €12
Fundació Joan Miró
Founded 1975, Single artist
The museum Miró founded for his own work, in Josep Lluís Sert's white building among the gardens of Montjuïc.
Tickets from €18
Attractions in Barcelona
Sagrada Família
Since 1882
Gaudí's basilica, begun in 1882 and still being built, with its forest of columns, its coloured light and the Nativity and Passion façades.
Tickets from €33.80
Park Güell
Since 1926
Gaudí's hillside garden of 1900 to 1914, a public park since 1926: the mosaic dragon, the Hypostyle Room and the serpentine bench over the city.
Tickets from €21.50
Casa Batlló
Since 1906
The house Gaudí remade on the Passeig de Gràcia in 1904 to 1906, with its bone-like balconies and its roof like a dragon's back.
Tickets from €29
La Pedrera (Casa Milà)
Since 1912
Gaudí's apartment block of 1906 to 1912, a wave of stone on the Passeig de Gràcia, with a roof of chimneys like helmeted warriors.
Tickets from €29
Palau de la Música Catalana
Since 1908
Domènech i Montaner's concert hall of 1905 to 1908, with its stained-glass skylight and its walls of mosaic and glass.
Tickets from €20
Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
Since 2014
Domènech i Montaner's hospital of tiled pavilions and gardens, built from 1902, a hospital until 2009 and open to visitors since 2014.
Tickets from €18
Things to do in Barcelona
The first 6 of the 20 best things to do in Barcelona, in the order this site would do them.
Picture: Jopparn, CC BY-SA 3.0
Number 1, Church
Stand inside Gaudí's forest of stone at the Sagrada Família
Gaudí's unfinished basilica, begun in 1882 and still rising, with its branching columns, its coloured light and two carved façades, the Nativity and the Passion.
1.5 to 2.5 hours. Ticket with a start time, sold online, from €33.80
Read the guide
Picture: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Number 2, Garden
Sit on Gaudí's mosaic bench at Park Güell
A hillside garden city that never was, built by Gaudí for Eusebi Güell from 1900: the mosaic dragon, the columned market hall and the long serpentine bench over the city.
1 to 2 hours. Ticket with a start time for the monumental area, from €21.50
Read the guide
Picture: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0
Number 3, Monument
Walk through the house of bones at Casa Batlló
The town house Gaudí remade for Josep Batlló in 1904 to 1906, with a front of bone-like balconies, a dragon's back for a roof and rooms without a straight line.
1 to 1.5 hours. Ticket, from €29
Read the guide
Picture: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0
Number 4, Monument
Walk among the chimney warriors on La Pedrera's roof
The apartment block Gaudí built for the Milà family in 1906 to 1912, a wave of stone on the Passeig de Gràcia, with a roof of chimneys like helmeted warriors.
1 to 1.5 hours. Ticket, from €29
Read the guide
Picture: Suicasmo, CC BY-SA 4.0
Number 5, Walk
Get lost in the Gothic Quarter around the Cathedral
The old heart of Barcelona, on the site of the Roman town of Barcino: narrow lanes, medieval squares and the Gothic cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.
1.5 to 3 hours. Free to walk, a ticket for the Cathedral's roof and choir, from €18
How to do it
Picture: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0
Number 6, Museum
See how Picasso became Picasso at his Barcelona museum
Picasso's early years, the teenage prodigy of Barcelona, and his series on Velázquez's Las Meninas, in five medieval palaces on the Carrer de Montcada.
1.5 to 2.5 hours. Ticket, free at set times with a booking, from €37
Read the guide
Artists to see in Barcelona
The first 8 of the 11 most famous artists with work in the museums of Barcelona, in order of birth. Each page says which works to look for and where they hang.
Painter, 1412 to 1492
Jaume Huguet
The great painter of Gothic Barcelona, whose altarpieces for the guilds and churches of the city glow with gold.
Catalan Gothic. 3 works in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1440 to 1501
Bartolomé Bermejo
A wandering painter from Córdoba who brought the oil painting of the Netherlands to Spain, and whose Pietà of 1490 is in Barcelona Cathedral.
Hispano-Flemish. 2 works in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1541 to 1614
El Greco
Barcelona has one great El Greco: the apostles Peter and Paul, side by side, in the MNAC.
Mannerism. 1 work in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1598 to 1664
Francisco de Zurbarán
Two Zurbaráns in the MNAC: a standing Saint Francis, as a pope saw his body in its tomb, and a version of his still life of four vessels.
Baroque. 2 works in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1599 to 1660
Diego Velázquez
In the MNAC, a Saint Paul from Velázquez's first years in Seville, painted before he went to court.
Baroque. 1 work in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1838 to 1874
Marià Fortuny
The most famous Spanish painter of his day, sent to paint the war in Morocco, celebrated in Paris for his small, brilliant scenes, and dead at thirty-six.
Realism. 4 works in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1861 to 1931
Santiago Rusiñol
Painter, writer and leader of Catalan modernisme, who lived with Casas above a Paris dance hall and made a house in Sitges into a temple of the arts.
Modernisme. 3 works in 1 museum
See the artist
Painter, 1866 to 1932
Ramon Casas
The painter of modernista Barcelona: its cafés, its crowds and its people, drawn in charcoal one by one, and the man who paid for Els Quatre Gats.
Modernisme. 4 works in 1 museum
See the artist
Where to eat in Barcelona
The 6 highest rated of the 20 tables near the museums that this site lists in Barcelona: historic cafés, brasseries and grand restaurants, in the order their customers rate them on Google.
Picture: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0
El Xampanyet
Tapas bar, Born
4.76,612 Google ratings
A tiled bar of 1929 on the Carrer de Montcada, a few doors from the Picasso Museum, named for its house sparkling wine.
See the restaurant
Picture: Pere prlpz, CC BY-SA 4.0
La Plata
Tapas bar, Gothic Quarter
4.74,147 Google ratings
A tapas bar of 1945 on the Carrer de la Mercè that serves four tapas, much the same four it served when it opened.
See the restaurant
Casa Leopoldo
Restaurant, Raval
4.7957 Google ratings
A restaurant of 1929 in the Raval, the favourite of Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and of his detective, Pepe Carvalho.
See the restaurant
The street the restaurant is on.. Picture: Enfo, CC BY-SA 3.0
Agut
Restaurant, Gothic Quarter
4.7832 Google ratings
A family restaurant of 1924 on a lane of the lower Gothic Quarter, a house of traditional Catalan cooking.
See the restaurant
A sandwich and cava at the bar.. Picture: robertorodriguex, CC BY-SA 2.0
Can Paixano
Cava bar, Born
4.610,096 Google ratings
A cava bar of 1969 near the port, where the house cava is poured with small sandwiches.
See the restaurant
Picture: Cataleirxs, CC BY-SA 3.0
La Cova Fumada
Tavern, Barceloneta
4.65,789 Google ratings
A tavern of the Barceloneta with no sign on its door, open since about 1944, where the bomba, the city's fried potato ball, is said to have been made first.
See the restaurant
Where to stay in Barcelona
The 6 highest rated of the 9 five-star hotels this site lists in Barcelona, in the order guests rate them on Google.
Picture: Enric, CC BY 4.0
Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona
Five-star hotel, Passeig de Gràcia
4.76,303 Google ratings
A hotel on the Passeig de Gràcia since 1918, run by the same family ever since, a block from La Pedrera.
See the hotel
Picture: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona
Five-star hotel, Passeig de Gràcia
4.74,273 Google ratings
A bank's headquarters of 1955 on the Passeig de Gràcia, made into a hotel in 2009, with a pool on the roof.
See the hotel
Picture: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0
El Palace Barcelona
Five-star hotel, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes
4.62,827 Google ratings
The Ritz of Barcelona, opened in 1919, on the Gran Via, with a garden and a pool on its roof.
See the hotel
Picture: Cataleirxs, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cotton House Hotel
Five-star hotel, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes
4.62,076 Google ratings
The house of the cotton trade on the Gran Via, a mansion of 1879, a hotel since 2015.
See the hotel
Picture: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0
Monument Hotel
Five-star hotel, Passeig de Gràcia
4.61,353 Google ratings
The Casa Enric Batlló of 1896 on the Passeig de Gràcia, across the avenue from La Pedrera.
See the hotel
Picture: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mercer Hotel Barcelona
Five-star hotel, Gothic Quarter
4.6472 Google ratings
A medieval palace built into the Roman wall of Barcelona, restored by Rafael Moneo and opened as a hotel in 2012.
See the hotel
Visiting Barcelona: common questions
- Do you need to book the Sagrada Família in advance?
- Yes. Tickets are sold only online, each for a set time, and the popular times go days or weeks ahead. Park Güell's monumental area also sells timed tickets, and the houses on the Passeig de Gràcia are easier to visit at a booked time.
- Which day are museums closed in Barcelona?
- Mostly Monday. The Picasso Museum, the MNAC and the Fundació Joan Miró close on Mondays, except on some public holidays. The Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, the Palau de la Música and Sant Pau open every day, with shorter hours or closures on a few holidays.
- When are the museums of Barcelona free?
- The Picasso Museum is free on the first Sunday of each month and on Thursday afternoons, and the MNAC on Saturday afternoons and the first Sunday of each month, both with a free ticket booked ahead. Sant Pau is free on a few days of the year. The Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera have no free days.
- Which Gaudí buildings can you visit inside?
- The Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, Casa Vicens and the Palau Güell are open to visitors, and Park Güell is a garden with a ticketed monumental area. Each is ticketed separately.
- How many days do I need for the museums of Barcelona?
- Three days cover the essentials: one for the Sagrada Família and Sant Pau, one for the Passeig de Gràcia and Park Güell, and one for the Gothic Quarter, the Born and the Picasso Museum. A fourth allows Montjuïc, with the MNAC and the Fundació Joan Miró, and a fifth a day trip to Montserrat or to Girona and Figueres.