We will be in Barcelona this coming week May 6-10. We are especially interested in visiting the Joan Miro and Picasso museums. Should we try to buy tickets online in advance? I get conflicting information from the museums' websites. In one place it says that people over 65 (which we are) need to show proof of age at the ticket office, but other places say you should buy tickets online in advance. Also, there is no indication that the reduced price is only for EU residents; is it true that all persons, no matter country of residence, can get a reduced entry fee? For La Boqueria one place on their website says that it is only open M-F 9am-3pm, but in another place it says that the market is open from 8am-8pm Monday-Saturday. Can you tell me which is correct? Many thanks!
Posted by
Washington DC
27111 posts
The Picasso Museum can be a zoo. It looked like a cocktail party being held in a tiny Manhattan apartment when I was there in 2016. If you show up there without a ticket, you could easily stand in an hour-long (or longer) line and then be sold a ticket for 3 hours later--or be told no tickets remain for that day at all.
I see no indication that you must be a Spanish or EU citizen in order to take advantage of the senior discount at the Picasso Museum. You may be asked to prove your age upon admission, so be sure you have your passport with you.
I have read no reports suggesting the Miro Museum gets remotely as crowded as the Picasso Museum. I basically walked right in; there might have been 2 or 3 people in front of me at the ticket counter. I think it's unlikely you'd face a significant wait there. The museum is in a spacious, modern facility, so it's easy for people to spread out once they are inside.
Unless the Picasso Museum has significantly reduced the number of tickets it sells for each entry time, you need to be prepared to stand essentially shoulder-to-shoulder with others while you're there. Maybe you'll be luckier than I was, but it's not something you can count on. At least some areas of Casa Batllo, incidentally, were not much less crowded for me, and Casa Mila/La Pedrera was also packed. Because you are primarily looking at architecture at the Gaudi sites, the crowding doesn't necessarily degrade the experience as much as it does at the Picasso Museum.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6535 posts
I read the market hours as being 8am-8:30pm. I read the information booth hours as being M-F 9am-3:30pm. I can see where you could get confused.
Posted by
OP
15 posts
Thank you all for the information. In all my rooting around online, I missed the difference between the Boqueria information desk hours and the market open hours. Regarding the Picasso Museum, I can't help but wonder if the 2016 situation, being before the Covid shutdown, was different from what we might find now. Also, I would think that the time of year can make a difference. But I guess we will find out soon!
Posted by
72 posts
I just finished booking all my tickets and would suggest getting them for the places you feel you MUST see. They seem to sell out the closer you get to your desired date. Many sites only sell online in Spain. I too wanted a discount but decided I'd rather not wait on the long lines or miss my chance of getting in.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
OP
15 posts
Thanks very much for that tip. I will see what I can do.
Posted by
Alexandria, VA
771 posts
We are in Spain now, and we’re in Barcelona about two weeks ago. We bought the Articket museum pass for 35 euro, good for 6 places (Picasso, Miro, Catalan Art Museum, and three other lesser ones.). When we got to the Picasso Museum, we told someone that we wanted the pass, and they took us directly to the front of a long line to purchase it. If you want the Audioguide of, that’s the time to purchase it also. There weren’t any lines for Miro or the Catalan Art Museum MNAC. We didn’t ask about the senior pricing.