Best Tickets for Montjuïc Castle
Free entry to the castle, with metro, bus and tram travel across the city included.
The cable car takes you up to the castle gate, with the port opening up behind you.
Highlights
Tickets and Prices
Entry is €12, or €8 reduced, and it covers the grounds and whatever is showing in the exhibition rooms.
Entry is free for:
- Under-16s.
- Everyone, from 15:00 every Sunday.
- Everyone, all day on the first Sunday of the month.
- Barcelona Card holders, any day.
The Barcelona Card covers about forty other attractions across the city. The full list is on our discounts page.
Without the card, buy entry from the castle itself. It sells tickets only through its own website, and no third party is authorised to sell them. Purchases are non-refundable except in a justified emergency.
Book the cable car at the same time if you would rather not walk up. It runs to the castle gate.
The guided tour
The guided tour costs €16 with entry, €12 reduced, and €4 on the free-access days when you have already walked in for nothing.
It runs about an hour, at 13:00 in English, 15:30 in Spanish and 16:30 in Catalan, on weekends and public holidays.
The cisterns, the dungeons and the top of the watchtower open to guided groups only. The watchtower is the highest point on the hill and the best view on it. If you are going inside at all, take the guided tour.
Plan Your Visit
| Period | Opening Hours | Ticket Office Closes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar – 31 Oct | 10:00–20:00 | 19:30 |
| 1 Nov – 28 Feb | 10:00–18:00 | 17:30 |
- Open every day of the week. Closed 25 December and 1 January.
- Most of the visit is outdoors, so check the forecast before you go up. The stone and the sea wind keep the place cool when the city below is baking.
Bus 150 runs all the way up and stops at the castle gate. It is the only bus that does.
The scenic route is the metro, then the Montjuïc funicular, then the cable car for the last climb. A taxi to the park leaves you a short walk from the gate.
The walk up from the city is steep.
The cable car covers the last stretch to the castle. The operator prices it as an attraction rather than as transport. The ride is short.
Wallet QR codes do not always scan at the gate. The booking office prints a paper one.
The walk down runs through the gardens.
What to See & Do
You come here for the walls and the terrace. The rooms behind them open and close without much warning.
This is a military fortress: stone ramparts, a parade ground, four bastions.
The 360-degree terrace and the ramparts
giorgiorossi73/DepositphotosThe parade-ground terrace is open on every side. The city on one side, the port and the Mediterranean on another, the Barcelona coastline running off east, and the Baix Llobregat behind you.
The rampart walk circles the whole fortress. The moat gardens sit below it.
It is windy up there.
Inside the walls
alexbr/DepositphotosJuan Martín Cermeño drew the plans in 1751. The castle went up between 1753 and 1779. An irregular trapezoid following the shape of the hill, four bastions at the corners, a moat and a covered way running the whole perimeter. It was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest in 1988.
You cross the moat on a small bridge to get in. The ditch is planted now, and in spring it is full of colour.
The sea wall runs 155 metres. The openings along it are the five cells that held prisoners when the fortress served as a jail.
The military museum closed in 2009.
The exhibitions
goga18128.mail.ru/DepositphotosEntry covers the exhibition rooms around the parade ground and the Montjuïc Interpretation Centre. The Centre’s permanent display covers the history of the castle and the hill.
Both close at short notice, and the €12 is the same whether they are open or shut. If the exhibitions are your reason for going, check on the day.
Insider Tips
- Come on a Sunday after 15:00. Entry is free.
- Dress for wind. The terrace is exposed on every side.
- Download your ticket before you leave the city. Signal on the hill is thin.
- The cafe and the toilets are both up on the parade ground. The kitchen stops cooking about an hour before closing.
- Make a day of the hill. MNAC, the Fundació Joan Miró, and Poble Espanyol are all on the same slope.
FAQs
Is Montjuïc Castle free?
Free on the Barcelona Card and free for under-16s. It also opens free to everyone on Sunday afternoons, and for the whole of the month’s first Sunday.
What is the Montjuïc Castle entrance fee?
€12, or €8 reduced. Buy it from the castle’s own website.
What are the Montjuïc Castle opening hours?
Open daily, closing at 20:00 in summer and 18:00 in winter. The ticket office shuts half an hour earlier. It closes on 25 December and 1 January.
How to get to Montjuïc Castle?
Bus 150 stops at the gate. The prettier way is the funicular up the hill and then the cable car.
Can you walk to Montjuïc Castle?
You can, and it is steep. Ride up and walk down instead.
Is Montjuïc Castle worth it?
The hill and the terrace are worth the trip. The €12 is worth it if you want to be inside the walls.