Barcelona museums are one of the highlights of visiting this city in Catalonia. This city is known for its architecture, art, music, and passion for life. From an FC Barcelona football game to the lively bars and restaurants, there is an energy in Barcelona that is absent in many other European destinations. One of the best places to take in this energy is at the many museums in the city. Whether your interest is art, architecture, history, or archaeology, there is a museum in Barcelona for you. And beyond the main museums there are Barcelona galleries that are displaying the fresh and hip of today’s contemporary artists.

Choosing the best museum in Barcelona will depend on your taste. To many people, the Joan Miro Museum is a clear winner. This Barcelona Spain Museum is not only in a beautiful, spacious building, but also shows the development of a fascinating Catalonian artist. His bright colors and complex compositions are immediately pleasing to the eye, while the stories of history and how the artist reacted to the Spanish Civil War have a lingering effect. Nowhere else in the world is there such an in-depth exhibit on Joan Miro. The museum is also devoted to supporting contemporary artists, and other work beyond Miro is on display as well.

There are many Barcelona museums focused on art, but the most comprehensive is definitely the Barcelona Art Museum. Featuring art from more than a thousand-year span under one roof, the Barcelona Art Museum has an exhibit for every taste. Whether you love photography or prints, Renaissance work or Baroque creations, you will find it at this museum. Many visitors consider it to be the best museum in Barcelona for the sheer variety it contains, but also because the price of admission grants you access to its galleries on two separate days. This allows visitors to enjoy the vast collection without cramming it into one day.

Barcelona Map

If you love history, then the best museum in Barcelona for you will be the Museu Arqueologic, or Archaeology Museum. This museum focuses on evolution in the ancient times, with a particular interest in displaying archaeological findings of Catalonia. You don’t have to visit the ruins throughout the region to see some of the best recent discoveries: they are on display at this museum. If you’re interested in more recent Catalan history, don’t miss the Museu d’Historia de Catalunya. The aim of this museum is to make people aware of their shared heritage and to preserve objects that are important to Catalan history.

Beyond Barcelona museums, there are many smaller institutions that are also part of the thriving cultural scene in the city. Barcelona galleries fill in the gap that the larger museums can’t fill, and serve as a place to showcase the best up and coming artists. The best Barcelona galleries include Centre d'Art Santa Mònica, Fundació Tàpies and Centre de Cultura Contemporània. Other top museums in the city include the Picasso Museum and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art. It would be easy to spend an entire trip to Barcelona in the museums, but be sure to also enjoy the shopping, restaurants, tours, and architecture that make the city so famous worldwide.