Seville’s Museum of Popular Arts and Customs, officially the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares, opens 9am to 9pm Tuesday to Saturday for most of the year, but from 16 June to 15 September it closes at 3pm, so a summer visit has to be a morning one. Its home is the Pabellón Mudéjar on Plaza de América, inside the Parque de María Luisa, and a ticket costs 1.50 euros.
When is the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs in Seville open?
Between 16 September and 15 June the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares opens Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 9pm, and Sundays and holidays 9am to 3pm. In the summer window, 16 June to 15 September, it closes at 3pm on every opening day, while the Museo de Bellas Artes runs to 9pm through July. Mondays it stays shut.
It is worth the detour for anyone curious about everyday Andalusia rather than its painting: domestic life, craft workshops and folk ceramics on the lower floor, and temporary exhibitions around the main-floor patio. The first floor is temporarily closed to the public. Visitors after Murillo and Zurbarán belong at the Museo de Bellas Artes instead, and the Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla across the square is shut for building works, so it cannot be paired with this one.
Which museum to visit on a July afternoon
The Junta de Andalucía runs both regional art museums in Seville on the same winter timetable, and they part ways in summer. Artes y Costumbres closes at 3pm from 16 June to 15 September, 92 days; Bellas Artes does so only from 1 to 31 August, 31 days.
Subtract one window from the other and 61 days remain on which they close at different times: 16 to 30 June, the whole of July, and 1 to 15 September. On those days only Bellas Artes is open after 3pm, Tuesday to Saturday. In August both shut at 3pm, so the choice disappears; from 16 September both run to 9pm again and the choice comes back to taste.
With a July mean daily maximum of 36.0°C, the 3pm to 9pm stretch is what decides a summer day. Go early, from 9am when the doors open, and keep the afternoon for the Museo de Bellas Artes, where the galleries admit visitors until 8.30pm. Last admission at the Plaza de América museum is worth asking about at the desk on arrival.
Planning a summer day around the 3pm close
Between 16 June and 15 September, and above all in July, a day that takes in both museums works best in this order:
- Artes y Costumbres at 9am, when it opens, with the morning to see the lower floor and the temporary rooms.
- Plaza de España on the way out, 540 metres away in a straight line inside the same park.
- Bellas Artes in the afternoon, Tuesday to Saturday, when the galleries admit visitors until 8.30pm in late June, July and early September.
In August the third step falls away, because Bellas Artes also closes at 3pm, and on a Sunday both shut at 3pm all year. The full walk between the two squares, 1.6 km from Prado de San Sebastián to Plaza de América, is set out stop by stop in the Plaza de España and María Luisa Park walking route.
Getting to Plaza de América from the airport, the metro or the old town
The entrance is at Plaza de América 3, at the southern end of the park. The nearest stop is Avenida La Borbolla (Plaza América), 200 metres away, on TUSSAM lines 01, 31, 37 and A6. Paseo Las Delicias (Glorieta Méjico), on the river side, is 228 metres away and served by the 06, the 34 and the A6.
Arriving from the airport, stay on the EA bus as far as Prado de San Sebastián, a ride that takes 29 to 31 minutes from the terminal, and walk 13 minutes through the park, or change to the 01, the 37 or the A6. The EA single costs 6 euros; an ordinary TUSSAM single ticket costs 1.40 euros, and a contactless Visa or Mastercard tapped on the validator pays it with no transport card needed. Fares and passes are compared in the guide to Seville transport fares.
Metro line 1 and the T1 tram also stop at Prado de San Sebastián, 13 minutes on foot, and the Cercanías station at San Bernardo is the same distance.
Opening hours through the year, and the Mondays it opens
| Period | Tuesday to Saturday | Sunday and holidays | Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 June to 15 September | 9am to 3pm | 9am to 3pm | Closed, unless the eve of a holiday |
| 16 September to 15 June | 9am to 9pm | 9am to 3pm | Closed, unless the eve of a holiday |
A Monday that falls on the eve of a public holiday opens on holiday hours, 9am to 3pm. Public holidays keep those same hours, which for the rest of this year means Monday 12 October, 1 and 2 November and 6, 7 and 8 December. The six days it never opens are 1 and 6 January, 1 May and 24, 25 and 31 December, the same list as Bellas Artes.
One local factor can override the timetable. The museum stands inside María Luisa Park, and when the park closes for safety because AEMET has flagged a rain or wind risk, opening hours may change; on a stormy day, ring the museum on 955 035 325 before setting out.
Tickets for non-EU visitors, groups and guided tours
Entry costs 1.50 euros at the desk. European Union citizens get in free on showing an identity card or passport, under the tariff the Junta sets for the museum, so the document has to come along.
A UK passport counts as non-EU here, which puts a British visitor on the same 1.50 euros as an American or an Australian; the other free routes in the city are set out in the guide to Seville’s free museums.
For groups, the Consejería caps each visit at 25 people including the guide, which need a reservation on its booking platform. From 16 September to 15 June, volunteer guides lead visits for adults and students aged 16 and over, Tuesday to Friday between 9am and noon except holidays, and it is best to book a week ahead. A free cloakroom by the ticket desk takes bags that cannot go into the galleries, though not food or drink.
Against the whole city that ticket sits near the bottom of Seville’s six public museums and what each one charges.
What you can see while the first floor is closed
The visit runs over two of the four floors of the Pabellón Mudéjar. The permanent collection is on the lower floor: domestic furniture and utensils in rooms 2 and 3, craft trades in rooms 4 to 8, 10 to 12 and 14, with eight workshops such as a guitar maker’s and the Andalusian folk ceramics, and traditional weights and measures in room 15.
The main floor opens onto a central patio with three temporary exhibition rooms. This autumn they hold El último bosque, Culturas del mar, on Andalusia’s fishing coast, and ¿Te suena África?, a collection of African musical instruments.
The museum’s best-known holdings, the Díaz Velázquez bequest of nearly 6,000 pieces of embroidery and lace and the original posters for Seville’s spring festivals, may not be on show while the first floor stays shut. Anyone coming specifically for them should ask at the desk before paying.
Frequently asked questions about the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares
What are the opening hours of the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares?
From 16 September to 15 June it opens Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 9pm and Sundays and holidays 9am to 3pm. From 16 June to 15 September it opens Tuesday to Sunday and holidays, 9am to 3pm. It is shut on Mondays unless the next day is a public holiday.
How much is the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares?
General admission is 1.50 euros, free for European Union citizens who show an identity document or passport. A UK passport counts as non-EU, so British visitors pay the 1.50 euros.
How do I get to the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares?
It is at Plaza de América 3, inside María Luisa Park. TUSSAM lines 01, 31, 37 and A6 stop at Avenida La Borbolla (Plaza América), 200 metres away. Metro line 1 and the tram stop at Prado de San Sebastián, 13 minutes on foot, which is also where the EA airport bus calls.
Which Seville museum stays open latest in July?
The Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, which runs to 9pm Tuesday to Saturday through July while the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares has already closed at 3pm. The two only align again in August, when both shut at 3pm.
When is the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares closed?
Mondays that are not the eve of a public holiday, plus 1 and 6 January, 1 May and 24, 25 and 31 December. Six fixed closures a year, the same list as the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla.
Same administration, same price, same closures. Sixty-one days a year when only one of them is open after three.