Barcelona Guide
The northern suburbs
CosmoCaixa
Address: c/Teodor Roviralta 47–51, just below the Ronda del Dalt
Opening time: Tues– Sun 10am–8pm
Price: €3, first Sun of month free, children's activities €2, planetarium €2
Telephone: 932 126 050
Website: www.fundacio.lacaixa.es
Barcelona's science museum is a must-see attraction, certainly if you've got children in tow – an easy place to spend a couple of hours, it can be seen on your way to or from Tibidabo. Partly housed in a converted modernista hospice, CosmoCaixa retains the original building but has added a stylish, light-filled public concourse and a huge underground extension with four subterranean levels.
The main exhibits are all down on the bottom floor, centred on the enormous open-plan Sala de la Matèria (Matter Room), where hands-on experiments and displays investigate life, the universe and everything, "from bacteria to Shakespeare". Many of the exhibits, and their densely worded explanations, require a very large thinking cap – younger children are soon going to be zooming around the open spaces. But there's no denying the overall pull of the two big draws, namely the 100 tonnes of "sliced" rock in the Mur Geològic (Geological Wall) and, best of all, the Bosc Inundat – nothing less than a thousand square metres of real Amazonian rainforest, complete with croc-filled mangroves, anacondas, giant catfish and dozy capybaras (the world's largest rodent, the size of a family dog).
Other lower levels of the museum are devoted to children's and family activities, such as Toca Toca! (Touch Touch!) – handling animals, insects and plants – Clik (ages 3–6) and Flash (7–10), where science games and experiments are presented in a fun way. These activities all tend to be held at weekends and during school holidays – pick up a schedule when you arrive, or check the website. There are also daily shows in the planetarium (Spanish and Catalan only, but worth experiencing), a great gift shop, and a café-restaurant with outdoor seating beneath the restored hospital facade.