Do you want to know how to visit free museums in Barcelona? Well, stay tuned because, in this article, we’ve prepared a list of all the museums that offer free admission in the city of Barcelona, so you can enjoy them like never before.
There are dozens of institutions you can visit in Barcelona and in some of them you will have to pay a ticket to access their content. But today we want to bring you some fresh news, so you don’t have to spend a penny on your trip: it’s all about free museums in Barcelona.
Take a pen and paper to write down the times when these spaces open their doors freely to the public, and organise your itinerary around the city taking into account this valuable information. Of all the things to do in Barcelona, this is one of the most popular, and as a result, there are some pretty long queues.
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National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC)
MNAC is one of the best free museums in Barcelona on Sundays, but not every week! This museum opens its doors for free on the first Sunday of every month and on Saturdays from 3pm. It’s also free on 11 September and on International Museum Day.
The National Palace, the most emblematic building of the 1929 International Exhibition, is home to the National Art Museum of Catalonia. This museum contains pieces from all the arts (sculpture, painting, object art, drawings, engravings, posters, photographs, etc.). Its main mission is to explain the magnitude of Catalan art from the Romanesque period to the mid-20th century.
Museum of Music
The Museu de la Música in Barcelona offers free admission every Sunday from 3 p.m. onwards. Not only that, but you can also enter the building free of charge on Thursdays from 6pm to 9pm and on the first Sunday of every month all day long. You can find this museum on Carrer de Lepant, very close to the metro stops Marina, Glòries and Monumental.
If you are a music lover, a visit to the Music Museum is a must. There you will find more than 1,500 musical instruments from all over the world. The museum has become one of the most important music collections in Spain and is housed in the same building as the ESMUC, one of the most important music schools in the country.
Picasso Museum
The Picasso Museum is one of the museums open in Barcelona on the first Sunday of every month for the whole day. You can also visit it free of charge on Sundays from 3 p.m., Thursdays from 4 p.m. and on days when there is an open day.
The Picasso Museum is the first and only space that was created by the express will of the artist, thanks to the strong links that this artist from Malaga had with the city of Barcelona. Picasso spent his formative years here and it is here that he maintained his ties throughout his life. The museum focuses on Picasso’s origins and houses the most extensive collection of his early works, with a collection of more than 3,800 works.
La Virreina Image Centre
La Virreina Centre de la Imatge is located in the centre of Barcelona, at La Rambla, 99. Admission is free from Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays from 11 am to 8 pm.
La Virreina Centre de la Imatge is located in the former Palau de la Virreina building, in the Baroque style. This is an art centre dedicated to audiovisual art, contemporary art, photography and documentation, among other disciplines.
Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona
In our selection of free museums on the first Sunday of the month in Barcelona, we couldn’t miss the Museum of Natural Sciences. In addition to this day, you can also access the museum for free on any Sunday of the year from 3 pm onwards. The museum is also free on Saint Eulàlia’s Day (12 February), International Museum Day (18 May) and La Mercè (24 September).
The Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, located in the Forum building, is an ideal place to learn about nature in a global vision of the last millions of years. This allows the viewer to put things into perspective, so that he or she can see where we are heading. This is the perfect place for children to learn while having fun and understand the importance of caring for our Planet Earth.
Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA)
Admission to the Museu d’Història de Barcelona is free every Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m. and on the first Sunday of each month you can enter free of charge all day long. This promotion is valid at all MUHBA sites, except Park Güell. There is also an open day for Santa Eulàlia on 24 September and another on 18 May.
This visit to the museum, located in Plaça del Rei, in the centre of Barcelona, is like a trip to Barcino, through more than 4,000 square metres of underground Roman excavations. This is the ideal place if you want to get to know the essence of the people of Barcelona and understand how the city came to be the nerve centre it is today.
Esta visita al museo que se encuentra en la Plaça del Rei, en el centro de Barcelona, es como un viaje a Barcino, a través de más de 4.000 metros cuadrados de excavaciones romanas subterráneas. Este es el espacio ideal si quieres conocer la esencia de los barceloneses y entender cómo la ciudad ha llegado a ser el centro neurálgico que es hoy en día.
Barcelona Archaeology Museum
The Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia is one of the free museums in Barcelona that you can access without paying on the first Sunday of every month, in addition to the open days: Santa Eulalia (12 February), 23 April (Sant Jordi), 18 May (International Museum Day), 11 September (National Day of Catalonia) and 24 September (Mare de Déu de la Mercè, Barcelona’s main festival).
This museum, located very close to Plaça Espanya, houses archaeological remains that illustrate the evolution of Catalonia and its surroundings during prehistoric and ancient history, including the time of the Egyptian empire. In this building you can discover an overview of the different cultures of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean.
Frederic Marès Museum
The Frederic Marès Museum is free every Sunday from 3 pm and the first Sunday of every month from 11 am to 8 pm. You can also enter free of charge during the festivities of Santa Eulàlia, Corpus Christi, International Museum Day (18 May) and La Mercè (24 September).
This museum, located near Jaume I, is housed in a former palace of the Inquisition and is currently one of the most important sculpture museums in Spain. It houses one of the most important collections of Spanish sculptures from the 12th to the 19th century.
Barcelona Maritime Museum
We continue our list of free museums in Barcelona with the Museu Marítim de Barcelona, located in the Atarazanas Reales building, on the city’s seafront at the foot of Montjuïc mountain. Visits to this space are free every Sunday from 3 p.m. on Museum Day and La Mercè Day.
This museum is dedicated to the cultures of the Mediterranean, which have always been so closely linked to the sea. Here you can discover figureheads, all kinds of navigational instruments, an incredible collection of nautical cartography, a collection of paintings and sculptures related to the maritime world, etc.
The best of all is undoubtedly its collection of model ships, which includes vessels from all periods, including a complete life-size galley.
El Born Centre of Culture and Memory
The Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria is one of the free museums in Barcelona all year round and is located at Plaça Comercial, 12, in the heart of the Born district and very close to the famous Parc de la Ciutadella.
Here you’ll find several points of interest, such as the archaeological site, the permanent exhibition on 17th century Barcelona and a variety of cultural activities of all kinds. In addition, on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., free explanations are given from different locations along the tour route, in order to bring this archaeological site closer to the public.
Would you like to get to know this area in much more detail? We have a tour of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, in which, with the help of an official guide, you’ll be able to find out all the details and curiosities of every corner.
Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB)
You can visit the Centre de Cultura Contemporània free of charge every Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m., as well as on International Museum Day (18 May), the Night of the Museums and La Mercè (24 September). This space is located at Carrer Montealegre, 5, very close to the Universitat metro station.
The CCCB is one of the most visited museums in Barcelona, where contemporary culture is researched and disseminated at all times in the city. It houses visual arts, philosophy, music, cinema, literature, etc. It is the best place to understand how the people of Barcelona think today and what are the ideals that move them inside.
Pedralbes Monastery
The Pedralbes Monastery is located in Barcelona’s most exclusive neighbourhood, very close to the Reina Elisenda railway station. This historic space can be visited free of charge on the first Sunday of every month and every Sunday from 3 p.m. onwards.
In 1326 Queen Elisenda de Montcada used her inheritance to buy this land and build a convent for the order of Poor Clare nuns, which she later joined. The result of her actions is a jewel of Gothic architecture, a three-storey single-nave church with stained-glass windows and a 14th-century cloister.
This monastery did not open its doors to the public until 1983 and the visit brings us closer to the life of this female religious community, taking us through its most everyday spaces. In addition, in the museum you will find precious works of art, liturgical objects and furniture, as well as temporary exhibitions that relate art and spirituality.
Barcelona Design Museum
We finish our selection of the best free museums in Barcelona with the Design Museum. You can enter the museum every Sunday afternoon from 3pm to 8pm and every first Sunday of the month all day long. You can also get in free of charge on open days: 12 February (Santa Eulàlia) and 24 September (Virgen de la Mercè).
The Design Museum is located in Plaça de les Glòries and explains how Barcelona has always been linked to the world of fashion and design. This is how this space came into being, allowing the public to fully understand design. This museum brings together all of Barcelona’s heritage collections and funds related to the world of design. This is a must-see if you are a fashion lover.
Now you know where and when you can access Barcelona’s free museums. Are you interested in any of the ones we’ve shown you or have you already made a complete list to see them all? Barcelona’s museums will allow you to learn more about the culture of the city you’re visiting, so don’t miss them!
