Hear it, don't just see it
Recorded sound for the instruments turns silent objects into something you can actually grasp.
Sara Guasteví — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lapaparra — CC BY-SA 4.0 · sguastevi — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sara Guasteví — CC BY-SA 4.0
A museum of musical instruments spanning several centuries, occupying a floor inside L'Auditori, the modern concert hall in the Glòries district east of the centre. The collection holds historic European instruments alongside instruments from outside Europe, laid out chronologically along a single route. What separates it from other instrument museums is the sound. Listening stations along the route let you hear what the instrument in front of you actually sounds like, which matters a great deal when you are looking at something you have never seen before. The location is off the usual tourist track, and that buys near-permanent quiet: none of the crush that defines the central museums. The trade-off is that getting there needs the Metro and it cannot be combined on foot with the Gothic Quarter. This is frankly a specialist choice. If music matters to you, or you are travelling with children who play, you will enjoy it. If you have three days in Barcelona, it is not among the priorities.
Recorded sound for the instruments turns silent objects into something you can actually grasp.
Off the usual tourist route, so you move freely even in season.
L'Auditori runs a regular programme; check the schedule if you want an evening after the visit.
Inside L'Auditori, Carrer de Lepant 150, Barcelona
La MonumentalA vast early twentieth-century building on the Gran Via, formerly the last worki5 minutes walk4.3
Design Museum of BarcelonaThe Design Museum sits on Plaça de les Glòries in a heavy grey block, one end of6 minutes walk4.4
Mirador Torre GlòriesTorre Glòries is the bullet-shaped tower that has become one of modern Barcelona8 minutes walk4.6
Arc de TriomfBarcelona's triumphal arch never celebrated a war — built as the honorary gatewa11 minutes walk4.7
Can Framis MuseumA museum of contemporary Catalan painting in an eighteenth-century textile facto12 minutes walk4.6Yes if they play or care about music, since the listening stations make it interactive. Very young children may lose interest, and the zoo or the natural sciences museum suits them better.
The nearest Metro stops are Monumental on line L2 and Glòries on line L1, both a few minutes' walk. It is not walkable from the Gothic Quarter, so allow a short Metro trip.