anyone know how to get advance tickets to Picasso Museum?
 

Hi there, We will only be in Barcelona 1 day on a cruise ship and wanted to go to the Picasso Museum does anyone know how you can go about getting tickets? This is for October. Thanks!

I know the actual museum does not offer reserved tickets, and I have yet to find a service that does. That said, it is not a particularly hard attraction to enter. Especially in October. So, I say just arrive and see.

You will have NO problem. We were there last July. We were also there precruise/Millenium. To tell you the truth, we were disappointed. I think his more popular works are elsewhere.

I was there last June with a tour group. We had no problem getting in. I loved the Museum. To me any chance to see great artist works is a treat. I can't think of any art museum I have ever been in that has disappointed me. The chance to see even one work of art is pure pleasure. Have a wonderful time.

PS
We had the best meal of our 14 day trip in Barcelona. Our French teacher (from our local high school) took us to his favorite place. It is Restaurante Los Caracoles. It is a hole in the wall, but the lunch we had was unbeliveable. The address :

Escudellers 14
# Phone: 93 302 31 85
# Directions: Left side of the Ramblas...Near the Placa Reial
Directions: Address: Escudellers 14. It's very easy to find: its a street that is on the left side of the Ramblas (when you walk from the placa Catalunya to the Columbus Colom) Near the Placa Reial

I agree with lindam--there are much better places to see Picasso (especially at the new Museo Picasso in Malaga) and there are much better things to do with only one day in Barcelona--don't miss the Gaudi architecture!

"Los Caracoles" was quite the place to go 30 years ago.
have not been back for ages.. but had actually forgotten about the place.
must try it again for old time's sake!

Wow... Los Caracoles must have changed quite a bit....it was hardly a hole in the wall when I first ate there many, many years ago while attending a summer semester in Spain. I am glad you enjoyed your meal....did you sample their famous snails (caracoles?)

Yes, snails =caracoles , hahaha.

A few things. . .

Los Caracoles is still great and I love the food. Also, compared to a lot of places in BCN, it is hardly a hole in the wall.

The "best" Picasso museum is the one in Paris, and BCN comes in second (rank in regards to value of collection). Of course, there are other huge museums that have his best works (the Met and MoMA, for example). The one in Malaga is excellent, beautifully presented, but definitely contains those works that did not make the cut in other collection. Aesthetically, they are not his best pieces, but I think that the whole museum gives the best picture of Picasso the man, more than Picasso the Myth. Also, there is no better place to spend a hot August afternoon. The AC there is amazing!

eks- did you study abroad in BCN? If so then when? I am really interested in Americans who were there while Franco was in power. It is one of many small ongoing projects I have. If you were there back then, please e-mail me (if you have the time and inclination). I promise not to eat your time!

Dear Claire: I spent a summer semester in Valencia while Franco was in power...right before I began college. I will be happy to e-mail you to chat about this and other things but I will warn you that I remember next to NOTHING about school that summer. We did some hitchhiking around Spain..I do remember getting aride on top of a very slow truck laden with carrots, to Granada if you can imagine... If you still want to plumb my fading memory I am all yours..will be leaving tomorrow for a week or so with little internet access so give me a while to answer....
All the best, ek.

Now that I have been taken to task for my hole in the wall comment, I will clarify. The teacher that took us there was a personal friend of the owner. We came in through the back door. So you see I did not see the whole place. So to me it looked like a hole in the wall. I did not mean to offend anyone! I was merely trying to suggest a wonderful place to eat.

eks- still definitely interested. I am just curious about a few things and I have heard them from Spaniards, but the Americans who were there, whether they were in Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, whatever, all have interesting takes on the situation. Don't worry about the foggy memories. The questions are not too specific.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To the person who said the Picasso Museum in Paris was "the best", I beg to differ.

While no one can give a definitive opinion as to "the best" Picasso Museum unless he has seen all of them (and I have not been to the one in Barcelona), I would have to say without hesitation that the Sammulung Bergruen in Berlin is better than the one in Paris. It is basically the collection of Mr. Bergruen. What made it for me was the acoustiguide tour--which is narrated in English by Mr. Bergruen. He explains what Picasso was doing in all his "periods". I came out of the museum having learned so much. I saw the Picasso in Paris after it and was disappointed. Yes, there is a huge collection, but there was nothing like the explanations in the Berlin museum.

I almost missed the Sammulung Bergruen in Berlin and I was there for 12 days when I home exchanged! I figured it wouldn't be much of a collection IN BERLIN. Boy was I ever wrong!

Hope it's not a Monday ?

But I agree with another poster : I think you should see things you can only see in Barcelona, notably the Gaudi stuff. You can see Picassos anywhere.

I also disagree on Paris being the best, but I haven't been to the one in Berlin. I vote for Barcelona as the best of Paris, Málaga and Barcelona.

I know this doesn't help this poster who will be in BCN in October, but I am dying to see the present (until 9/3/06) exhibit at the Prado/Reina Sofia. Celebration of the 25th year of Guernica's return and 125th year of Picasso's birth. "Tres músicos" is in from Philadelphia. It's only the 2nd time it will be seen in Europe, and that was 40 years ago, etc. etc. Check out the Museo del Prado website.

Claire, I lived one year in Madrid during Franco's time. Taught English at Mangold Institute, then on the Gran Vía, and took some classes at the University. Hitchhiked all around. Memory is foggy on some but I would be glad to help you out.

Went to the Prado a lot. I remember coming from the area of the Escorial and having Guardia Civil standing at attention along the highway every 10 feet. I imagine Franco was coming down the road.

esk, Loved your thread of your recent trip. I still have notes and questions, but I haven't gotten back to it.

And for laclaire, more fun in Barcelona and a wedding in the future with a busload of fam and friends in one of these beautiful spots.

Those of you interested in Picasso, might be interested in a new play called "Picasso's Closet". It is a play based on Picasso's stay in Paris during the Occupation and what might have happened. It is entirely fictious--aside from the characters of Picasso and Dora Marr (who are put in a fictious situation)--but probes the choices people had to make during the Occupation.

i think it is a Saturday! Thank you so much for all the info personally i would rather see the Gaudi things but my girlfriend wants to see the Picasso Museum.

holakjs- e-mail me!