The three-storey cloister
Three levels of arcades around a garden and a well, unusually tall for a Gothic cloister and unlike anything at the cathedral or Sant Pau del Camp.
Jorge Franganillo — CC BY 2.0 · José Antonio Gil Martínez from Vigo, Spain — CC BY 2.0 · José Antonio Gil Martínez from Vigo, Spain — CC BY 2.0 · Enric — CC BY-SA 4.0
The easiest route is the FGC train to Sarrià, then the L12 shuttle one stop to Reina Elisenda, and about a 10-minute, near-level walk from there (you can also walk from Sarrià in around 15 minutes). By metro, get off at Palau Reial on L3; from there it is about a kilometre uphill or a short bus ride, so in summer avoid the middle of the day.
No. On a two or three day visit, the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and the Gaudi houses come first. Pedralbes suits a fourth day or a second trip to the city, or anyone who prefers quiet sites over busy ones.
No. The Poor Clares lived here from 1327 until February 2025, when the last three nuns moved to a monastery near Girona. Barcelona City Council now runs the whole complex as a museum, though the church is still consecrated and the place is worth treating quietly.
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Founded by Queen Elisenda de Montcada with her husband James II, the first nuns entering in 1327, this Gothic monastery sits in quiet uptown Pedralbes, far from the crush of the Gothic Quarter. Poor Clares lived here for almost seven centuries until the last left in February 2025; it is now entirely a city-run museum, known locally as the Monestir de Pedralbes. The cloister justifies the trip: three storeys of arcades around a garden and a well, unusually tall where most Gothic cloisters stop at two. Next to the cathedral's cloister this one is far calmer, and on a weekday morning may be almost empty. Off it sits the chapel of Sant Miquel, painted by Ferrer Bassa in a clearly Italian manner, plus a preserved day cell, the kitchen, infirmary and refectory. The founder's tomb is carved on two sides: a queen in court dress facing the nave, a widow in plain habit facing the cloister. Honestly, on a two or three day trip this is not a priority, and it means a deliberate journey uptown. But if you have done the Gaudi circuit and are tired of queues, an hour here is a different pace.
Three levels of arcades around a garden and a well, unusually tall for a Gothic cloister and unlike anything at the cathedral or Sant Pau del Camp.
Scenes painted by Ferrer Bassa in 1346 in an Italian manner, the best-preserved medieval murals in the monastery.
A preserved day cell along with the kitchen, infirmary and refectory show how a nun's day actually passed inside the walls.
Baixada del Monestir 9, Pedralbes, Barcelona 08034