Prado Museum
Discover a complete guide to the Prado Museum and plan your stay in Madrid in complete tranquillity.
Table of Contents
The Museo del Prado is one of the museums to visit during your stay in Madrid. Located on the Paseo del arte in the city centre it is part of the famous Golden Triangle of Art along with the Reina Sofia Museum and the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum.
The Museo del Prado is known worldwide for its works of art belonging to Spanish monarchs.
Works by Goya, Velazquez and Bosch commissioned by the kings are on display as well as a large number of paintings by European artists.
When to visit the Prado Museum? Where is the museum located? How much time is it worth to visit the Museo del Prado? Do we need to take a historian guide? How much does the entrance to the Prado cost?
In order to answer the questions you need to ask yourself about your visit to the Museo del Prado we have prepared a complete article about the museum and its visit. Discover now how to make your visit a success and not miss the greatest works of art in the museum.
Museo del Prado
Visit the Prado Museum with a historian guide
As many of you still book our private tour of the Prado Museum, your feedback on the visits is very positive and we are delighted that your experience has been a success.
Visiting a museum like the Prado Museum without the explanations of a historian guide can make you miss the meaning and history of most of the works.
If you want to visit the Prado Museum, it is because you are sensitive to art and want to know the history of the works and the history of the painters.
At Madrid Discovery we have developed private tours of the museum with English speaking historian guides, during your visit you will study about 15 important works of art in the museum.
Your guide will introduce you to the life of the painters and their relationship with the court and society, as well as the rivalries between them.
In order to offer you a complete service, we take care of the purchase of the tickets as well as the transport from your hotel to the Prado Museum. Our mission is to make you live a unique and enriching experience on the history of art. You will be accompanied by a French-speaking guide and will benefit from quick entries so that you don’t have to wait long minutes in the queue (included in the price).
In order to personalize your experience as much as possible, you can ask your English-speaking historian guide to visit a particular part of the museum.
Satisfy your desire for culture and discover the unexpected with Madrid Discovery.
If you visit the Prado Museum with your family and young children or teenagers it will be a good way to capture their attention and avoid them getting bored, our guides are used to working with a very young audience and will capture their attention.
Why visit it with Madrid Discovery?
Unlike the majority of the visits you will find at the Museo del Prado our tours are entirely private and in your language. At Madrid Discovery we work day by day to offer completely personalized experiences thanks to our network of qualified and professional partners.
Being transparent with our clients is a priority, so once you make a reservation on our website you will not have to pay anything, we do not ask you to pay cash or buy the tickets yourself.
Included in the price is a series of exclusive services such as the purchase of fast tickets, the departure of your visit from your hotel, the journey from your hotel to the museum and a dedicated customer service that can be contacted at any time.
Can’t make the tour? Had to cancel your stay in Madrid? Don’t worry, contact customer service for a full refund of your purchase*.
* Refund conditions are indicated in the general terms and conditions of sale.
Museo del Prado
Visiting the Prado Museum with your company
The Museo del Prado will be an ideal visit for an afternoon of team building, many companies contact us to organize a visit during their trip to Madrid and we are happy to offer them our experiences.
We have dedicated products for companies, these are “turnkey” visits so you don’t have to worry about the organization.
For more information about group visits or team-building, please contact us directly by e-mail.
Museo del Prado
Visit the museum without a guide
If you wish to visit the Prado Museum without a historian guide then this part will help you to organize the visit. The Prado Museum is quite complex and requires some organization to visit it.
Composed of three floors and more than 1200 works, the Prado Museum is spread over 45 km2, it is very easy to get lost without really enjoying the visit. Its size and the large number of works can make the visit very tiring and most visitors visiting it alone do not make the most of their experience due to a lack of explanations.
Before returning home you will have to buy your ticket at the ticket office, if you come to visit the Prado Museum during the high season it may take more than 30 minutes to get in.
To avoid wasting too much time we advise you to come and visit it at off-peak times. We will detail the rates and times below.
What to see at the Prado Museum
Once inside the Museo del Prado you will find yourself on level 0, a very spacious level with a luggage locker, toilets, a bookshop and a cafeteria. It is also on level 0 that you will find the museum’s temporary exhibitions.
If you have no idea how to start your visit to the Museo del Prado we advise you to ask the information stand for advice, they will help you along the way. The museum offers flyers with the high-lights to see, to give you an idea it takes 2 hours to see 20/25 paintings (quick passage without explanations).
The three levels of the Prado Museum
- Level 0 of the Prado Museum: Jeronimos building and Villanueva building / Temporary exhibitions.
- Level 1 of the Prado Museum: Spanish / German / Italian paintings / drawings.
- Level 2 of the Prado Museum: sculptures / 18th and 19th century Spanish paintings
The black paintings of Francisco de Goya are located on level 0 room 67, you will find a large number of works from his period known as the “black paintings”.
The meninas of Velázquez are located on the 1st floor in room 12.
Museo del Prado
3 great painters present at the Museo del Prado
Francisco de Goya
Francisco de Goya is a Spanish painter of the 18th century, he made many trips to Italy to cultivate himself and learn new painting techniques. He is famous for his paintings of the royal family, 2 de mayo, black paintings and much more. Very represented in the Prado museum you will have the opportunity to discover his career.
Diego de Velazquez
Diego de Velazquez is a Spanish Baroque painter, famous for his paintings he is also one of the most represented painters in the Prado Museum. You will find one of his most famous paintings on level 1: The Meninas.
Bosch
Jerome Bosch is a Dutch painter of the Flemish Primitive Movement. The Prado Museum exhibits various works including the Garden of Delights, a painting used to teach religion to the young kings of Spain.
During your visit to the Prado Museum you will discover a large number of painters and works. Visit the Prado with an English-speaking guide to know the details of each work.
10 of the works that the Museo del Prado advises to see
Here is a very brief list of the works that you can admire at the Prado Museum.
- Sala 56A EL BOSCO El jardín de las delicias
- Sala 56A EL BOSCO La mesa de los pecados capitales
- Sala 25 TINTORETTO El Lavatorio
- Sala 58 VAN DER WEYDEN El Descendimiento
- Sala 56B FRA ANGELICO La Anunciación
- Sala 55B DURERO Autorretrato
- Sala 9A VELÁZQUEZ Las lanzas o La rendición de Breda
- Sala 12 VELÁZQUEZ Las meninas
- Sala 29 RUBENS Las tres Gracias
- Sala 32 GOYA La familia de Carlos IV
We advise you to end your visit by passing by the room dedicated to the black paintings of Goya, you will find not far from this room one of the most famous paintings of Goya, “el dos de mayo” (the back of mayo).
Where the Prado Museum is located
The Museo del Prado is located in front of the Thyssen and Bornemisza Museum, if you sleep at the Ritz, Westin palace or NH paseo del Prado you will only have to cross the paseo del arte to get there.
If you come to spend the day in Madrid and take the train to the capital then you will have to walk a few minutes to get to the Prado Museum.
The Atocha train station is located right in front of the Reina Sofia Museum and very close to the Prado Museum.
You will find the Retiro Park behind the Prado Museum, once your visit is over it will be a good opportunity to take a walk there.
If you decide to go to the Museo del Prado by metro then we suggest you take line 2 and stop at banco de espana, it will take you a little less than 10 minutes to walk there.
How much does admission to the Museo del Prado cost?
Admission to the Prado Museum is 15€. If you are over 65 years old then you will get a discount.
Subject to proof, persons meeting the following conditions will be admitted free of charge:
- Under 18 years of age
- Student from 18 to 25 years old
- Journalists, people with reduced mobility, people out of work.
Schedules of the museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado opens every day at 10:00 am, it is also one of the busiest times of the day, you may have to wait 30-40 mins before you can enter the museum.
The solution is either to come earlier to get a good seat in the queue or to come later when the 10:00 am visitors have finished visiting the museum.
We advise our customers to book their visit for 3:00 pm, this is a slow time and the number of visitors is very low.
Monday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm
Sundays and holidays from 10 am to 7 pm
The Museo del Prado is closed on the following days:
January 1st
May 1st
December 25th
Visit the Prado Museum for free
It is possible to visit the Museo del Prado free of charge, for this you will have to wait for the end of the day slot between 18h-20h on weekdays and 17h-19h on weekends and public holidays. If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to contact the Museo del Prado directly for more information.
You can also visit the Museo del Prado free of charge on Prado’s birthday on 19 November and on 18 May for International Museum Day.
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Is it interesting to visit the museum during this time?
Visiting the Prado Museum at this time of the year can be interesting if you have a small budget and want to visit Madrid in an economical way. However, in order to get in, you will have to start waiting from 5:00 pm or even 4:30 pm on busy days. To be sure to get in during the free schedule some people start waiting very early.
In general the number of people who enter for free is quite high and you won’t be able to visit the museum in the best conditions. To sum up, visiting the Prado Museum for free may be interesting, but requires some sacrifice of time and comfort.
