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Museu Barbier-Mueller d'Art Precolombí
In this branch of the prestigious Barbier-Mueller museum in Geneva you'll find a sparkling assortment of art from the pre-Columbian civilisations of Central and South America. Gold glitters in the form of at times highly intricate ornamental objects, expressive masks and women's jewellery. These pieces are complemented by plenty of statuary, ceramics, textiles and ritual and household objects from all over South America.
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Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya
This archaeology museum mainly features artefacts discovered in Catalonia and Mediterranean Spain, ranging from copies of pre-Neanderthal skulls to jewel-studded Visigothic crosses. It also houses a statue of a splendidly endowed, and routinely aroused, Priapus (the god of male procreative power) that we're not allowed to inspect closely.
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Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
The ever-expanding contemporary art collection of the Macba starts in the Gothic chapel of the Convent dels Àngels and continues in the main gleaming white building across the square. It shines as a stage for the best of Catalan, Spanish and international contemporary art. What's on show is in constant, restless flux, although in the chapel you are more likely to see established names such as Alexander Calder and Antoni Tàpies.
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Museu d'Història de Catalunya
From the caves of the Pyrenees to air-raid shelters of the civil war, see how Catalans and other folk (including Romans and Arabs) have rolled with history's ups and downs over 2000 years in this hectic but entertaining interactive display. Pick up a guide in English at reception and don't miss the view from the top-floor restaurant.
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Museu d'Història de la Ciutat
Study Girona's history at the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat and wander the narrow streets of the medieval Jewish district around Carrer de la Força.
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Museu de Carrosses Fúnebres
A somewhat morbid air pervades this collection of horse-drawn hearses (and a few motorised ones) used in the city from the 18th century until the 1950s. Some are decked out with life-size model horses and mannequins of funeral company folk in full VIP gear of yesteryear.
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Museu de Cera
With a collection of 300 wax figures of familiar faces from around the world, this is just as creepy as any other wax museum. More horrible than any display of twisted medieval torture are the figures of Prince Charles with Camilla.
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Museu de Ceràmica
Welcome to perhaps the most fragile exhibits in Barcelona: an exceptional collection of Spanish ceramics from medieval times to the present day. It includes pieces by Miró and Picasso, as well as a charming section of tiles depicting Catalan life.
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Museu de l'Eròtica
Falling somewhere between titillation, tawdriness and art, this private collection is devoted to sex through the ages. The décor is pseudo-seedy, and the diverse exhibits range from exquisite Kamasutra illustrations and Mapplethorpe photos to early porn movies, S&M apparatus and a 2m wooden penis.
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Museu de la Xocolata
Explore the sticky story of chocolate through audiovisual displays (in English on request), touch-screen presentations, historical exhibits and the most extraordinary chocolate models of anything from grand monuments such as La Sagrada Família to cartoon characters such as Winnie the Pooh. Sign up for cooking demonstrations and tastings.
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Museu de les Arts Decoratives
Occupying the same former palace as the Museu de Ceràmica, this series of galleries overlooks a stunningly sumptuous oval throne room and features a collection of furniture and decorative objects from the early Middle Ages to the kitsch 1970s.
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Museu de Montserrat
The Museu de Montserrat has a varied art collection ranging from an Egyptian mummy to works by Degas and Caravaggio. Use the funiculars and walking paths to explore this incredible piece of nature.For train timetables and prices from Barcelona to Girona and Sitges, check www.renfe.es. For Montserrat, the R5 line trains operated by FGC (www.fgc.es) run from Plaça d'Espanya station to Monistrol de Montserrat.
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Museu de Zoologia
This rather fusty old institution is the place for stuffed animals, model elephants and skeletons of huge things that lived in the past. What makes it interesting is the building itself - a whimsical 'castle' by Domènech i Montaner.
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Museu del Calçat
Hotfoot it to this unexpected treat, the little museum of shoes: dainty ones, famous ones, weird ones, Roman ones, silk ones, seamless ones, baby ones and one gigantic one made for the Monument a Colom .
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Museu del Cinema
Cross the river in Girona for the engaging Museu del Cinema. You might just squeeze in a swift, early dinner, as the last train back down to Barcelona leaves around 9.20pm.
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Museu del Futbol Club de Barcelona
The museum dedicated to one of the Europe's greatest football clubs is a big draw. Among the quirkier paraphernalia are old sports board games, a 19th-century leather football, the life-size diorama of a dressing room in the days of yore, posters and magazines from way back and the futbolín (table soccer) collection.
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Museu Egipci
This oddball private collection features more than 700 exhibits, including ceramics, mummies, friezes, jewellery, masks and statuettes from ancient Egypt.
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Museu Etnològic
Barcelona's ethnology museum presents a curious permanent collection called 'Ètnic', in which several thousand items are on show in three themed sections, Orígens (Origins), Pobles (Peoples) and Mosaics . Along with material from rural Catalonia and parts of Spain, the museum's collections include items from as far afield as Australia, Japan and Morocco.
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Museu Frederic Marès
Within these centuries-old walls resides a mind-boggling collection of everyday items, art and medieval Spanish sculpture amassed by Frederic Marès i Deulovol (1893-1991), sculptor, traveller and hoarder extraordinaire. Have a snack in the shady courtyard café.
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Museu Marìtim
Much of Barcelona's medieval prosperity depended on sea trade. In these one-time Gothic shipyards, you can get a sense of the glory and adventure of centuries of maritime history , from the era of rafts to the age of steam. Entry also gives access to the 1918 three-master Pailebot de Santa Eulàlia , moored at Port Vell ( M0086, B4).
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Museu Militar
An assortment of weapons, uniforms, armour, tin soldiers and instruments of war from down the centuries make up this sombre collection, housed in an 18th-century fortress (more often used for bombarding the city than defending it) that overlooks Barcelona. The view is magnificent.
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Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
The grandest and worthiest of all Barcelona's art museums, the MNAC gathers under one roof a plethora of Catalan works that range from the Middle Ages to well into the 1900s. The Romanesque art in particular is a unique experience.
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Museu Picasso
Barcelona's most visited museum shows numerous works tracing the artist's early years and is especially strong on his Blue Period, with canvasses like The Defenceless , as well as ceramics and early works from the 1890s. The rest of the museum traces Picasso's life and travels.
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Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària
Fashion victims with a sense of history will appreciate this millennia-long march-past of clobber. Inside the 13th-century mansion, you are confronted by everything from 4th-century Coptic Egyptian textiles to 20th-century local embroidery, but best is the collection that takes you through the salons of 17th-century Europe to 1930s fashion.
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Museu-Monestir de Pedralbes
This peaceful museum provides an absorbing insight into medieval monastic life. The convent was founded in 1326 and is a jewel of Catalan Gothic with its three-storey cloister. The few remaining nuns have moved to nearby quarters. Around the cloister, visit the restored refectory, kitchen, stables, stores and infirmary. Built into the cloister walls are day cells where the nuns spent most of their time in prayer and devotional reading. To get there take the FGC train to Reina Elisenda or bus 22, 63, 64 or 75.
