Articket BCN

A few months ago, I visited Barcelona with my Mum. For both of us, this was our first time in the city and we wanted to make the most of it! Going in April, we knew that we weren't going to get the best weather, so we planned to visit all of the tourist attractions that Barcelona had to offer.

When we started to do our research for the trip, I came across the Articket in my Lonely Planet guide (I would highly recommend this book if you've never visited the city, it's a really handy size and is full of information). We were planning on visiting a couple of the attractions on the list, so decided to buy Artickets for both of us. This was easily the best decision that we made.

The whole process of buying an Articket on their website was really simple and we picked them up at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya ticket office. The pass itself is designed like a passport and then this is stamped in each gallery when you arrive. It makes the whole experience feel exclusive and is a really nice touch.

So what do you actually get for €30 each (apart from a totally Instagrammable passport)? The main benefit of the ticket is saving roughly 45% on the entrance price to 6 galleries around Barcelona. Another great benefit is being able to smugly walk past the long queues of people and getting to spend more time in the galleries themselves. And, of course, there's discovering the art (and history) of a city and, in fact, a whole country.

The Museums Themselves

(A Series of Mini Reviews)

The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) 

This museum has a programme of different exhibitions, focussing on culture and creativity. The exhibition 'Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design' was the main exhibition on during our visit (and runs until 28th August 2016). It showcases a whole range of work of over 120 African artists and creators and more information can be found here. I knew nothing of the exhibition before we got to the museum, but it was actually one of the highlights of the trip. It was put together brilliantly, and all the spaces were full of works of different mediums. On entering the first room, you could pick up a newspaper, which described, in detail, each individual piece in a variety of languages (which I am very grateful for, as I don't speak a single word of Catalan!). This works so much better at engaging people than most traditional exhibition programmes and cleared away confusing labels. If I do go back to Barcelona (which I hope I do!), I look forward to seeing what the next exhibition will be!

Fundació Antoni Tàpies 

OK. I'll be honest. I hadn't heard of Antoni Tàpies before we visited Barcelona (don't tell my University lecturers!). Whilst the exhibition was interesting, it was a relatively small space upstairs where his works were displayed and so they had chosen to only show some of his early works. Whilst I understand that the works were delicate, unfortunately I learnt little about the artist throughout his career. Downstairs was a selection of works by artists contemporary to Tàpies and did make the visit much more interesting. 

Fundació Joan Miró 

We visited this gallery just a couple of weeks after the exhibition was supplemented by additional paintings to mark the foundation's 40th anniversary. This meant that there was a great range of works from throughout his career. I really enjoyed how the whole of the building was used to display his sculptures, and the roof terrace had some great views over Barcelona.

MACBA 

This gallery makes use of its own collection, but also has many spaces for temporary exhibitions. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of visiting this after a long day of walking around the city in the rain, so definitely didn't make the most of it! I would recommend leaving more time than you think you need for this (don't make the same mistake we did) and checking out each of the individual exhibitions.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya 

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from the national art museum, but I didn't quite anticipate such a great range of art. The collection covers Catalan art of all periods, from Romanesque mural painting to Velázquez to furniture designed by Gaudi. We spent hours wandering around and could have spent a lot longer there. You can also make the most of the area, explore the gardens of Montjuïc and enjoy the view. Regardless of whether or not you buy an Articket, this museum is a must-visit.

Museu Picasso 

Probably the busiest of all the galleries, which is no real surprise, this was the best gallery to utilise the Articket's queue-jumping ability! The gallery showcases works from Picasso's formative years, but also some select works (including prints and ceramics), from later in his career. This is another must-visit when in Barcelona, as the gallery explores the artist's connection to the city.

There really are no negatives to purchasing an Articket when visiting Barcelona. In the past, I have avoided buying tickets for multiple attractions because I thought that I wouldn't enjoy some of them. How wrong I was! This is definitely something that I will look into in other cities. If you know of any others, please let me know!

My Top Tips:

• Go early. Yes, you can use the Articket to skip the queues (which is really useful when you visit in the afternoon), but there is so much to see at some of the galleries that you will want to spend as much time as you can at them. They are also some of the most visited galleries in the world, so they do get busy!
• Plan your week around your visits. You don't want to spend unnecessary time travelling around, so see what else is in the area.
• Make the most of what else Barcelona has to offer and explore the different parts of the city when you travel to them. 
• Find out which museums you can take photos in (but be respectful of other people around you if you do take your camera).
• Use the lockers in each museum. You don't want to carry around a heavy bag, especially in a busy gallery, and most of the galleries have lockers and cloakrooms that you can take advantage of.
• Check the opening times. Some of the galleries are closed on Mondays, so check in advance to make sure you won't be disappointed.
• Take your time. The great thing about the Articket is that you skip the queues and spend more time in the galleries.
• Don't be put off if you haven't heard of an artist. The Articket is perfect for discovering Spanish artists of all periods and I have a few new favourites! 
• Don't be afraid to use the Metro. I don't know why I was uneasy about using public transport, but it actually became a really important thing for our trip. Walking around an unfamiliar city can be interesting, but doing it every single day definitely takes it out of you, and means that you spend less time in the attractions. After some advice from our landlady, we bought a T-10 ticket for the Metro. This was a multi-person ticket (which I don't think we have in the UK), and was only €9.95 for 10 journeys - perfect!

If you have visited Barcelona and have used the Articket, I would love to hear what you thought of the experience.

More information about the Articket BCN can be found at their website.

You can pick up one of the Lonely Planet guides mentioned in this review here.

A la Ronde and Killerton House, Devon

A couple of months ago, we were having some lovely weather here in the South West, and my family and I decided to head down to Devon for the day. We started the morning at A la Ronde. 

This is one of the most unique National Trust properties I have ever visited. Overlooking the River Exe, the 16 sided house was built in the 18th century for two spinster cousins on their return from the Grand Tour.

A la Ronde, Devon

The house inside is really quite remarkable. Every corner of it is still filled with objects from the cousins' journeys around Europe, although it has been altered in layout since that time.

A clever use of space on the ground floor of A la Ronde

The house on the inside has plenty of rooms to explore, including the drawing room, with its unusual artworks by the cousins, and the 'Octagon', the green hallway with eight doors.

Just a small selection of the shells housed in A la Ronde

You may have heard of A la Ronde because of its famous Shell Gallery, with its 25,000 shells. Unfortunately, you can no longer see it up close, as it is has been closed off to visitors for the past twenty years. The only ways of viewing it now are using a mirror in the entrance hall, or on a screen at the end of the tour. You can actually view the 360 picture online at: http://www.rodedwards.co.uk/files/20634/alarondeshellgallery/A_La_Ronde_Shell_Gallery.html. 

As is probably obvious from the image above, as picturesque as A la Ronde is (and as nice as the cake is!), it is not a full day's visit. As we were travelling back up to North Somerset, we decided to spend the afternoon at Killerton House, another National Trust property. If you want to stay in the area, there is plenty to do, and Exeter is only a short drive away.

Killerton House is an 18th century property, originally built as a temporary home for the Acland family. There are relatively few rooms open in the house, as the first floor is used as a temporary exhibition space, and currently houses 'The F-word: the changing language of fashion'.

Killerton House Library

The rooms downstairs are well presented, and the library is very inviting, with a great selection of books on local social history that can be browsed. I personally think that it is important that the rooms are used as much as possible, and to me it just makes sense that libraries have books in that you can read! Making them relevant to the property that they are in is a very simple idea, but one that is not actually put into practice that often.

The garden at Killerton is full of colour, and I thought that having interpretation boards describing the plants and the plans for the rest of the year was brilliant. 

Killerton Chapel

Within the grounds is Killerton Chapel, a mid-Victorian building. Built of volcanic trap aslar (known as Killerton stone), the exterior doesn't really give much away, so the dramatic interior was quite a surprise. On reflection, there are a lot of clues to the nature of the interior, such as the rose window in the west end.

Interior of Killerton Chapel

The whole day was really great, but if you visit, be aware that each properties on their own is a half-day, and you should plan around that. There is plenty to do in the area around Exeter however, so you won't struggle to fill up the day.

For more information about A la Ronde, visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/a-la-ronde/

For more information about Killerton, visit: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton/

Montacute House, Somerset

With the nights drawing in, I thought that this was the perfect time to reflect upon some visits that I've made over the past couple of months to historic houses, galleries and other, equally exciting, places. As I've mentioned before, moving to the South West of England has meant that there are plenty more places to explore, some of which I've never heard of before!


One of these is Montacute House, which I visited in June this year. It's a fantastic National Trust property, and well worth a visit! It is an Elizabethan Renaissance mansion, completed in 1601. It was one of National Trust's first great houses after being saved in 1931 by Ernest Cook.

The house itself is great to walk around, with a fascinating range of objects and paintings to discover. If you think it looks familiar, it has appeared several times on screen. Most recently, it has doubled as Greenwich Palace in Wolf Hall (BBC).

Quite often when visiting properties such as this one, rooms are closed without explanation, and it is difficult to understand the changes that they're making. At Montacute, however, there were interpretation boards dotted around to describe changes and renovation that was taking place. It meant that you were able to experience much more of the property, and see different phases of building and decoration too! It would be really great to see this being done at more properties.

Another great thing about Montacute was how open it was. Instead of being limited to one strip of carpet, you could move around the rooms much more freely, and had the chance to look at all of the fascinating objects on display.

One of the highlights of our visit was the National Portrait Gallery exhibit. It contains over 50 Tudor and Jacobean portraits, and was curated with the help of Bristol University students. Whilst I was aware of the exhibition before my visit, I was pleasantly surprised by the range and quality of the collection. I also think that it's fantastic to see portraits of this importance being exhibited in Somerset, and what's more, in a very appropriate setting.

After spending the morning at the house, we decided to head into the village. I would highly recommend doing so, as the village, built almost entirely of local hamstone, is a quintessential English village (and has a couple of very nice pubs too). The church, extensively restored in the 1870s, is also worth a visit.

Montacute House is probably one of the best presented National Trust properties that I have visited in recent years. The staff are very welcoming and knowledgable, and the range of collections, and how they are presented, is fantastic. It's safe to say I'll be returning next year!

For more information about Montacute House, visit: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/montacute-house/