Barcelona La Ribera

Museu Picasso. This fascinating museum traces the development of Picasso as an artist with an exhibit of his early works, organized chronologically. The large collection weaves through five connected mansions that were once occupied by Barcelona’s nobility. Picasso’s friend, Jaume Sabartés, made the museum’s founding donation in 1963; the collection was later expanded by Picasso himself, and then by relatives after his death. Though you may not recognize Picasso the Cubist in this collection of his earlier works, the museum gives unsurpassed insight into his formative years as a painter in Barcelona. Visitors will also witness the artist’s later experiences in Paris, where he first encountered the impressionists’ experiments with light and Cézanne’s technique of flatness.

The museum features several noteworthy works from Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods, but most impressive of all is the display of the artist’s 58 Cubist interpretations of Velázquez’s Las Meninas. The original painting is a breathtaking, 7ft. portrait of the royal family. Hailed as the finest Spanish painting, Las Meninas is often re-interpreted by Spanish painters as a rite of passage of the great. Instead of simply transposing the picture, Picasso reinvents it, transforming the many vantage points of the original into the jarring fragments and lines of vision that would become the trademark of his Cubist technique.

Other exhibits of the museum showcase his early award-winning paintings and his later sculpture. Special temporary exhibitions highlight work by Picasso’s contemporaries. As Barcelona’s most popular museum, the Museu Picasso often has lines snaking a good way down C. de Montcada; the best times to avoid the museum-going masses are mornings and early evenings. (C. de Montcada, 15-23. Jaume I, L4. From the metro, head down C. de la Princesa and turn right on C. de Montcada. ☎932 56 30 00; www.museupicasso.bcn.es. Open Tu-Su 10am-8pm. Last entry 30min. before closing. Wheelchair-accessible. €9, students and seniors €6, under 16 free. Special exhibits €5.80. Free Su after 3pm. 1st Su of each month free.)

Museu De La Xocolata. This unique and delectable museum is half educational journey through the history of chocolate, and half-impressive, if largely random, chocolate sculptures. Children will enjoy choco-versions of cartoon characters from Bambi to Homer Simpson. The cafe offers workshops on chocolate sculpting for children under 12, and chocolate tastings paired with wine and liquor for the rest of us. (Pl. Pons i Clerch, C. del Comerç, 26. Jaume I. ☎932 68 78 78; www.museudelaxocolata.com. Open M and W-Sa 10am-7pm, Su 10am-3pm. €4.30, students and seniors €3.70, with Barcelona Card €3, under 7 free. Alcohol and chocolate tasting €7.70; reservations required. Workshops for kids from €5.40; reservations required.)

Museu Barbier-Mueller. Relics from the pre-Columbian Americas line darkened rooms in this small museum devoted to the conquistadors’ booty. And some fine booty it is: tapestries, carvings, ornaments, vases, sculptures, and jewelry dating from 200 BC fill the halls, taken from Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Cocle, Mochica, and Inca sites in the New World. Be sure to take a look upstairs where some of the most ornate and impressive sculptures lie. (C. de Montcada, 14. Jaume I, L4. ☎93 310 45 16; www.barbier-mueller.ch. Open Tu-F 11am-7pm, Sa 10am-7pm, Su 10am-3pm. Wheelchair-accessible. €3.50, students and seniors €1.70. Free 1st Su of the month.)

Museu De Ciències Naturals. Designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the Castell dels Tres Dragons (Castle of the Three Dragons) now serves as a zoological museum. Originally built to hold massive, 600-person banquets for the 1888 Exposition, this building is now lined with stuffed and mounted creatures of all stripes. Just a bit down the park lies the partner geological museum, with a host of gems and fossils on display. Though both museums are undoubtedly educational, their appeal may be limited mostly to those with an insatiable fascination with taxidermy. (Parc de la Ciutadela. Jaume I or Arc de Triomf. ☎933 19 69 12; www.bcn.cat/museuciencies. Open Tu-Sa 10am-6:30pm, Su and holidays 10am-2pm. €4.20, seniors and students €2.70, 16 and under free.)

Galeria Maeght. This gallery features an intriguing collection of modern art, mostly by Spanish artists—regulars include Tàpies, Marco del Re, and Pablo Palazudo. Upstairs is a rotating exhibition highlighting specific painters. A wealth of beautiful prints, posters, and art books are for sale on the off chance the originals on the wall are out of your budget. (C. de Montcada, 25. Jaume I. ☎933 10 42 45; www.maeght.com. Open Tu-F 10am-2pm and 4-7pm, Sa 10am-2pm. Free.)

Circulo Del Arte. Along with a circulating exhibition, this gallery displays and sells many rare and collectible art books. Signed artworks are also available: you may be able to snag an original Miró print for a mere €80. (C. de la Princesa, 52, Jaume I. ☎932 68 88 20; www.circulodelarte.com. Open M-F 9am-9pm, Sa 10:30am-2:30pm and 3:30-8pm. Free.)