I was a bit disappointed with this museum. I thought it would be similar to El Prado in Madrid,…read morewith lots and lots of master paintings but it was actually a combination of traditional Renaissance and Medieval paintings and modern art. The amount of paintings by masters of the Renaissance was very small. The museum itself was not very big either...just two floors and about 4 wings. Overall not a bad place to spend a few hours, but not a place that I would recommend to someone that liked their time at The Prado in Madrid.

I'm sometimes fortunate enough to be traveling with my art historian daughter. She had the Museo…read moreBellas Artes on our itinerary before doing anything else in the city on our most recent visit. For about half of the museum, they had a small amount of art in each room. Mostly it would represent 2 different artists, of different time periods, and one or two works by each. I found it to be a thought provoking experience, wondering what common themes or influences I could find. Sometimes, similarities were obvious, other times not. Being allowed to draw our own conclusions was nice, but I would have also appreciated commentary from their curatorial staff, telling us how and why the pairings were made. The major artists represented were wonderful to see. FYI - admission was free when we visited (June 2023), but we did have to stop at the ticket office and claim our physical proof of entry. They do not allow backpacks (very sensibly), and have free lockers in the basement to check your bags.

What an incredible spot!! The architecture by itself and the pillars are worth the visit by itself…read more Then the icing is all the services they have here. The public library was awesome! 3 floors of great books and I spent quite a bit of time reading Asterix and Tintins including some you don't get in the US. The swimming pool on the terrace was incredible, make sure to check out how it looks from the ground floor. They also had some cool art exhibitions. And everything was free! Say what! Lucky people of Bilbao!

Everything about this space was spectacular! Philippe Starck and Thibaut Mathieu nailed it. Take an…read moreafternoon to admire everything this cultural space has to offer. Absolutely lovely!

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in the lovely city of Santander then you really should…read morenot pass up on the opportunity to visit this first class museum. Covering just about every imaginable topic in the area of marine studies, a wander through the museum will take you past a video and some brilliant exhibits about how the coast of Cantabria and northern Spain in general was formed, the importance of the sea in the original settling and continued inhabitance of this area, the state of the maritime industry today and how conservation is managed by the government. If this were not enough, it has a huge variety of marine biology on show, the highlights being a full-sized whale skeleton in the main hall and a pickled two-headed fish! It is not only the contents of this museum which deserve comment. The building itself is fantastically designed, being an instantly recognisable landmark. It is centred around a main hall, with galleries leading off from this on all floors. At the top of the building there is a restaurant and, even better, the roof is open to the public, so that you can go and admire the views across the bay and out to sea. They have also constructed an outdoor lecture theatre up on the roof if only all my school and university classes had been given in a setting like this! Adult tickets are EUR6, while concessions (including students) will pay EUR4. This is an absolutely top rate museum, and not to be missed.

Stockists of many cool books, prints, water bottles, cards etc. A tempting store for those looking…read morefor something artistic a little off the beaten track. Good for treating yourself or someone else.