CosmoCaixa

Monday to Sunday: 10:00AM–08:00PM

The CosmoCaixa offers its visitors a generous opening hour time frame so that they can plan an awesome day in Barcelona. This science museum is open every day of the week, except for on Mondays. You can start your day in the museum already bright and early at 10:00AM. The museum also doesn't close until late in the evening at 08:00 PM. For this reason, you have more than enough of time to explore the museum. The CosmoCaixa includes an exciting variety of interactive exhibitions that you can enjoy during your visit. The extended opening hours of the CosmoCaixa gives you the flexibility to individually plan your day in Barcelona. 

With your convenient Barcelona City Pass, you can experience the CosmoCaixa for FREE. Get your ticket for the CosmoCaixa before you even depart for Barcelona. You will also receive tickets to other top attractions in Barcelona in one complete package, the Barcelona City Pass! Your public transportation ticket will also be included in your Barcelona City Pass, which gives you a wonderful head start into starting your city tour of the Spanish metropolis stress-free!

Because of its central location, the CosmoCaixa is located nearby the Torre Bellesguard. This modern complex is located at the foot of Tibidabo and offers you relaxing green spaces for you to take a breather outside. You can reach the inner city in about 15 minutes, which means that you can visit other top location in Barcelona after you visit to the CosmoCaixa. 

Metro FGC L7 to Av. del Tibidabo, then take the tram 196 to 2933 - Ronda de Dalt-Cister

When riding on the FGC Line L7, you will begin your trip to the CosmoCaixa from the Plaça Catalunya, which is located at the heart of Barcelona. The end station of the metro line L7 is „Av. del Tibidabo.” Here you will get off the train and go to the tram stop called "Tramvia Blau." You can find this tram stop in between two bus stops, directly across. Once you get on this tram, you will ride to the stop „Rona de Dalt-Cister.” One special feature about this stop is an antique submarine located in the middle of the street. You will also be already really close to the CosmoCaixa. You only have a few minutes to walk in order to reach the CosmoCaixa. Simply follow the tracks of the Tramvia Blau (which you had just rode on), and in about half a kilometer, the tracks will turn left. From this point on, go right and in about 2 minutes you will find yourself in front of the CosmoCaixa. The museum is hard to miss-- with its striking, elaborate modern architecure, you definitely will know when you've reached the CosmoCaixa. 

The museum is closed on January 1 & 6 and on December 25. 

Torre Bellesguard is located very near to the CosmoCaixa. Both attractions are located at the foot of Barcelona's hill, the Tibido. After a visit to the science museum and having your fill of learning about the knowledge transfer of physical and technical knowledge, as well as about evolution, the Torre Bellesguard offers something new: a unique view of Barcelona. The Torre Bellesguard also allows you to enjoy the beautiful location of the hills. The Güell Park is also only a few minutes away by bus or train from the CosmoCaixa. You can find the popular and famous Casa Museu Gaudí in the Güell Park. Here you can learn more about the architect Gaudí and also immerse yourself into one of the important elements of the traditional art of Barcelona. Combine your visit to the CosmoCaixa with other interesting attractions. And plan your day in Barcelona to be as multifaceted and exciting as you want!

Directly at the entrance of the CosmoCaixa, you will be greeted by the world-famous Albert Einstein. He life-size figure will be sitting directly at the information desk and is the first highlight of the museum. Pass through the entrance area of the former factory and you will stumble upon a huge spiral staircase. You will follow this modern and slick staircase down 30 meters to the 5th underground floor where the exhibitions start. The entire spiral staircase is coiled around the Acariquara, which is a tropical tree from the Amazon.

At the lowest level of the museum, you can expect countless experiments and exhibitions that are related in the area of the natural sciences. For example, you will be shown what are the different forces of nature and when they occur in a clear and graphic way. How are waves formed? The CosmoCaixa includes an informative exhibit with a wave simulator that will show you all the types of waves that can be formed. Or you can create your own sand storm. Similar to the wave-simulation exhibit, you will be shown how sand dunes are formed and how they move-- and finally how typical sand types are formed. The CosmoCaixa gives you the opportunity to explore topics like these more comprehensively and also interactively. You will be able to create your own tornado and be able to look at the complexities of this windy, rotating spiral up-close. Other experiments that you can enjoy are focused on other natural elements: water, fire, and soil. After you have learned about the properties of the elements, you will learn more about the optic and acoustics of humans. Like other areas in the CosmoCaixa, you can also find interesting experiments at this part of the museum.

Another bigger part of the museum's exhibition is the exhibition about geology. Here you will be shown interactively how volcanoes are formed and also how different rock formations look like. Visitors of this part of the museum will also find experiments that they can try out.

A true highlight of the museum is the 1000m² large winter garden that includes a realistic jungle. This modern construction made of glass hosts a huge 30-meter tall tree from the Amazons. This tree stands in the middle of a huge marshland, just like how it is usually found in the world--in rainforests. Animals from tropical regions complete this Amazon jungle in the middle of Barcelona. The CosmoCaixa is home to snakes, crocodiles, fish, and birds. Warning: The animals that live in this jungle move around freely. This gives you the opportunity to have the most realistic impression of how an actual jungle looks and operates like. However, dangerous animals like snakes are kept behind glass windows for your safety. Another thing to expect in the CosmoCaixa: it rains! Just like how it rains in the jungle, it also rains in the CosmoCaixa! These engineered down-pours of rain also are made to simulate the natural rain phases of the jungle. As visitors, you can freely explore the winter garden area.

Of course, that's not everything that you can do in this museum: the CosmoCaixa also updates and rebuilds its exhibitions regularly. Therefore, you can always expect to experience different and also current scientific topics all interactively. When you have explored all of the exhibitions in the CosmoCaixa, you will definitely need a restful break to reflect on all of the impressions you have received at the museum. For this reason, CosmoCaixa offers its huge, manicured outdoor area for visitors to enjoy. These beautiful green areas invite visitors to spend a while there to relax and enjoy. However, the CosmoCaixa didn't only make these green spaces for visitors to sit and rest, of course, they included opportunities for them to continue learning and exploring! Here you can find different experiments spread throughout the outdoor area. The largest experiment is two satellite dishes (that are 80 meters apart) which show how easily sound can be transmitted across spaces. In this experiment, a mouthpiece will be used: one person will speak into the satellite dish, and another person by the other satellite dish will be able to hear what the speaker said clearly.

The historical part of the building, which is where the museum located, was built between 1904 and 1909 by the architect Josep Domènech i Estapà and was originally used as a blind asylum for girls. This building is a glamorous work of Modernisme with its simple, red clay bricks and beautiful mosaic decorations. The building was expanded from 1979, and in 1891 the building opened as a science museum called „Caixa”. Over the following years, the building needed to be renovated over and over again, until finally the construction of a totally new museum was needed. This new glass, underground part of the building was built by the architects Esteve and Robert Terradas. Finally, the most modern museum in Europe opened its doors in September 2004 the CosmoCaixa. The CosmoCaixa has an exhibition space of 50,000 m2 and was recognized in 2006 as the "European Museum of the Year."

Experience the CosmoCaixa for FREE with the Barcelona City Pass and have your ticket into the CosmoCaixa already in your pocket before you even depart for Barcelona.