Barcelona’s Automaton Museum

One of the most important automaton museums in the world, the Tibidabo Automaton Museum contains an important collection of automatons and moving dioramas dating from the end of the nineteenth century until today.

This impeccably preserved collection gathers coin-operated devices of all shapes and sizes, some with amusing themes, some not as fun, like the ones that depict hell or scenes of execution by guillotine (French Execution – England, 1921) and hanging  (Execution of Crippen – England, 1921).

But don’t let the creepy pieces deter you from visiting this museum, which fills the visitors with wonder and nostalgia, remembering the days when they could find some of these wonderful machines at Carnivals and select places around town.

There is a variety of automatons to be seen, from can-can shows, operas and a band playing to a life-size man who looks you in the eyes and speaks to you. Just push the button and watch them come to life!

Tibidabo Amusement Park

Here you can also find incredible dioramas and scale models that represent the Tibidabo Amusement Park, a ski resort and even the funicular railway that leads up to the park.

One particular piece worth mentioning is the museum’s latest acquisition “The Gaus brothers”, one of the finalists in the automaton competition in Japan’s Expo 2005.

The Tibidabo Automaton Museum opens from Monday to Thursday between 12  am and 4 pm and Friday to Sunday from 12 am to 7 pm.

You can visit it as part of your trip to the Tibidabo Amusement Park, which costs between 10€ and 29€, or visit the museum on its own, which costs 2€ per person.

You can use your car to get to Tibidabo Amusement Park, but you will have to park your vehicle in a paid parking lot and take a shuttle bus the rest of the way up.

Another option is to take the Tibibus, which is free for those with tickets to the park and 2,95€ for those without tickets.