National Automobile Museum
National Automobile Museum
National Automobile Museum
National Automobile Museum
National Automobile Museum
National Automobile Museum
MUSEUM
The National Automobile Museum in Andorra, known locally as Museu Nacional de l’Automòbil, is one of the most surprising attractions in the small mountain town of Encamp. At first the building looks modest from the street, but inside you find floor after floor of classic vehicles and motor history. This car museum is easy to reach from Andorra la Vella, so it fits very well into a half-day trip in the Principality.
Here you do not only see shiny cars. The museum shows how people moved around the mountains and cities from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. You walk past elegant touring cars, tiny city vehicles and early racing machines. Old bicycles and motorbikes help to tell the full story of transport in Europe.
For visitors, the museum is a simple way to enjoy something different from shopping and ski slopes. It is indoors, compact, and calm, which makes it a good choice for rainy days or a break from winter sports.
The National Automobile Museum houses one of the most important car collections in southern Europe. Inside, you find around 80 historic cars, 60 motorbikes and about 100 bicycles, many of them from private collections. This mix makes the museum interesting not only for “car nerds” but also for anyone curious about everyday life in the last century.
The exhibition follows the evolution of transport from an 1885 steam-powered vehicle right up to sports cars from the 1980s. As you move through the galleries, you see how design, comfort and speed changed over time. Early machines look fragile and experimental; later models are smoother, faster and more luxurious.
Because the museum focuses strongly on Europe but also includes some American cars, it is a fun place for travellers to compare famous brands from both sides of the Atlantic. For many visitors it becomes a highlight of their Encamp or Andorra itinerary, especially if they enjoy history and technology as well as beautiful old vehicles.
One of the most famous exhibits is the Pinette steam engine from 1885, the oldest vehicle in the museum. This strange, early machine shows how risky and ambitious the first experiments with self-moving vehicles were. Nearby you can see elegant early-20th-century touring cars and limousines from luxury brands such as Hispano-Suiza and other European manufacturers.
Fans of motorsport will enjoy the competition and racing cars, including rare models from the 1920s and later. These cars often come with interesting stories about races, drivers or special technology.
The museum is not only about cars. A whole section is dedicated to historical bicycles, showing how design moved from heavy, awkward frames to lighter and more practical machines. Around the vehicles you will notice period petrol pumps, posters, advertising signs and small objects that create the feeling of old garages and streets. This extra detail helps visitors imagine how travel looked before modern highways and SUVs.
The National Automobile Museum has several levels. Some floors are below street level. Because of this, the museum feels bigger than it looks from outside. Vehicles are grouped by period and by theme. This makes the visit easy to understand, even if you are not a car expert.
Each car or bike has a clear information panel. You can also use an audio guide for more details in different languages. The route through the museum is simple. You follow a natural path through the galleries. It is hard to get lost. There are also small spaces where you can stop and look closely at dashboards, badges and interiors.
The atmosphere is usually calm and not very busy. Many visitors add the museum to a walk around Encamp’s old town. Others combine it with a trip on the Funicamp cable car in the ski season. The museum is indoors and temperature-controlled. It is a good option in both winter and summer.
Official Museum Website
Most visitors are happy with 1 to 2 hours in the museum, depending on how much they like to read or listen to the audio guide.
Yes. Many children enjoy seeing old cars, unusual shapes and bright colours. The collection is static (no rides), but wide walkways and clear displays make it easy for families to move around. Some educational activities are organised for school groups during the year.
No. The museum is designed for a general audience. Short texts and the audio guide focus on simple stories about how people travelled, how designs changed and why certain models are special, so it is easy to follow even with basic car knowledge.
Information panels and audio guides include several major European languages. English is available.
Yes. The museum is in Encamp, close to the Funicamp cable car for the Grandvalira ski area and near the old quarter with traditional Andorran houses and churches. This makes it easy to plan a half-day that mixes culture, walking and mountain views.
The museum does not have its own private car park, and the street parking directly around the building is limited and can fill up fast. The easiest option is to park at the communal car park next to Parc del Prat Gran in Encamp. From there it is only a short walk to the museum, around 3–5 minutes on foot, along the main streets in the town centre. On busy days, you can also use other signed communal car parks in Encamp and walk to the museum from there.
