Barcelona sights: Montjuïc

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya ★ - In an enormous 1929 palace atop Montjuïc hill is the MNAC, one of the world’s biggest and best collections of Romanesque art, centered around a series of gorgeous 12th-century frescoes removed from Catalonian churches in the Pyrenees. The late-Medeival art is actually just the highlight. The point of this museum is to catalogue the best of Catalan art from the Romanesque all the way to the 1940s... » more

Fundació Joan Miró ★ - The world's greatest collection of art by Barcelona native Joan Miró (1893–1983) inhabits this modernist building on Montjuïc hill. The foundation owns a staggering 14,000 works by the modern master of colorful whimsical, often delightfully playful art alongside works by Miró contemporaries (Duchamp, Ernst, Calder, Léger, Moore, Oldenburg, etc.)... » more

Aeri del Port (Transbordador) ★ - This low-key, 1,292-meter (0.8-mile) thrill ride in a gondola over the harbor of Barcelona from Barceloneta to the Miramar viewpoint halfway up Montjuïc Hill offers spectacular views. The busy waterfront is below and all around you. In one direction, all of downtown Barcelona and spreads to either side of La Rambla; in the other direction, the waters of the Mediterranean stretch to the horizon... » more

Poble Espanyol - For the 1929 World’s Fair, Barcelona created a simulated Spanish village high on top of Montjuïc, where 117 houses, structures, streets, and squares reproduce Spanish monuments and buildings from over the last 1,000 years. Think of it as an early version of EPCOT, only one focused just on Spain and instead of rides it's filed with craft and artisan workshops, restaurants, and nightclubs... » more

Telefèric de Montjuïc - These gondolas, holding eight people each, dangle from a cable and sweep 84.5 metres (277 feet) up and along the Montjuïc hillside offering stellar views over the terraced parks and noble buildings of Montjuïc, and heart of downtown Barcelona and its harbor below. It travels from near the funicular station to Montjuïc Castle... » more

Castell de Montjuïc - This 18th century castle remains a glowering presence above Barcelona, half a misshappen star—all triangluar bastions and stony parapets—sunk ino the Montjuïc hillside 173 meters (568 feet) above the city. In 2010, Montjuïc Castle was converted into a space for temporary exhibitions and cultural activities... » more