Hotels near MNAC and Montjuïc

The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya fills the Palau Nacional, built for the 1929 International Exhibition, and holds one of the world's finest collections of Romanesque church murals, rescued from Pyrenean village churches and reinstalled in apse-shaped rooms. Upstairs, the Gothic, Renaissance and modern Catalan collections run through to Modernisme furniture from Gaudí's contemporaries.

The terrace in front of the museum is one of the best free viewpoints in Barcelona, looking straight down Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina to Plaça d'Espanya and across the city to Tibidabo. Montjuïc's gardens, the Olympic Ring and the castle at the top make a full day on dry October weather.

The museum is closed on Mondays. The Magic Fountain below it runs evening shows on a reduced autumn timetable, so check the schedule before planning a night around it.

Pro Tip: Visit the museum in the afternoon and step out onto the terrace 30 minutes before sunset, around 18:15 in early October and 17:15 after the clocks change on 25 October.