ALTAMIRA, SPAIN -10 JUN 2017- The National Museum and Research Center of Altamira is a museum with replica of the cave of Altamira with its prehistoric rock art. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.; Shutterstock ID 664589344

Shutterstock / EQRoy

Museo de Altamira

Top choice in Cantabria


The museum’s highlight is the Neocueva, a dazzling, full-sized re-creation of the real Cueva de Altamira’s most interesting chamber, the Sala de Polícromos (Polychrome Hall), with its exquisite, 15,000-year-old ochre-and-black bison paintings created using the natural rock relief. The museum's interesting other displays cover prehistoric humanity and cave art worldwide, from Altamira to Australia. The museum is incredibly popular (277,000 visitors in 2019), so it’s advisable to book well ahead online, especially from Easter to September.

Advance tickets are all full price (children, students and seniors included) and are not available for Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Same-day tickets are sold only at the museum ticket office.

With all tickets you are assigned a time for entering the museum, and you'll be given your time for the Neocueva (usually about half an hour later) on arrival. Neocueva visits (about 40 minutes) can be guided in Spanish, or unguided.


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