Best tips for visiting the Prado Museum in Madrid

With 3 million visitors a year, the Prado Museum in Madrid, also known as the Museo del Prado is one of Madrid’s most popular attractions to visit. The Prado Museum is one of the world’s premier art galleries and Spain’s main national art museum. It’s a world class museum renowned for its finest masterpieces and extensive collection of European art, particularly works by Spanish masters like Francisco Goya, Diego Velázquez, El Greco and many more.

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The Prado Museum is centrally located between the Retiro park and the city centre on the Paseo del Prado, which is often also referred to as Paseo del Arte. Within the Paseo del Arte you find at least 3 world famous art museums; the Prado Museum, Reina Sofía Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Also referred to as the ‘Golden Triangle of Art’, it is a true paradise for art lovers with the 3 museums all located within close proximity to each other.

Consider purchasing the Paseo del Arte Card, if you’re interested in visiting all 3 museums, or even better, the Madrid city pass includes the Prado Museum as well as gives you a discount on a whole range of other interesting attractions in Madrid. Book this Madrid city pass here.

About the Prado Museum – history and facts

The Museo Nacional del Prado officially opened its door in 1819, making it over 200 years old. It was originally designed in 1785 by architect Juan de Villanueva to serve as the Natural History Cabinet under the commission of King Charles III. However, in 1819, the building was repurposed by King Ferdinand VII, largely due to the influence of his wife, Queen Maria Isabel of Braganza, to showcase a collection of sculptures and paintings from various Spanish royal residences. This collection laid the foundation for what would become one of the most significant art museums in the world.

Initially named the Royal Museum, it later became known as the National Museum of Paintings and Sculptures before finally being renamed the Museo del Prado. 

When the museum opened, only works by Spanish artists were on display. In the years that followed, works of other European artists were obtained. Currently, the museum has in its archives over 7000 paintings, 700 sculptures and many thousands of other works of art including prints, drawings and photography from a timeline ranging from the 12th to the 19th century.

While the museum holds this extensive collection, only around 2000 pieces of art, most of which are paintings, are on public display at any given time across its three floors.

• The Spanish artist Francisco de Goya is the most represented artist in the museum with over 130 paintings.
• With nearly 2.700 paintings, the 19th century collection is the largest.
• Over the years, the museum has been expanded and has now a floor space of 22.000 square metres (237.000 sq ft).

Why you should visit the Prado museum

• World class collection: The Prado Museum houses one of the most significant collections of European art.
• Engaging for all audiences: Even if you are not a real art lover, the collection is still amazing with masterpieces made by some of the best European artists of the past centuries. The detailed paintings, the playing with lights and shadows, the timelessness and the influence these pieces of art have had over the years is just mind-blowing.
• Budget friendly: For the collection the museum has to offer and what you can see and experience, the entrance fee is relatively budget friendly, especially compared to some other museums where you might pay a similar price for much less.
• Free entrance: And the museum offers everyone the chance of visiting for free for 2 hours. Perfect if you don’t have the budget. Read more further in this post.

Why Purchase Prado museum tickets in advance

Even if tickets can still be obtained at the ticket office on the day of your visit, we would still recommend purchasing tickets in advance. The museum gets daily many visitors and you will have to queue upon entering. If you have bought your ticket in advance you can go straight to the entrance and through security. Otherwise you will first have to get your ticket at the ticket office (Puerta de Goya) for which you might have to queue and then again to enter the museum.

We always recommend purchasing a ticket in advance through a official booking platform or on the museum website itself.

Prado museum tour with a local guide

To fully get to know more about the museum, to learn the story the masterpieces and the various artists you should consider joining a guided tour.

This 1,5 hour guided tour will take you to all the major masterpieces of the museum. If you are more interested in joining a smaller group, consider this 1,5 hour guided small group tour.

Or join this tour which ends with a VIP lunch at Sobrino del Botín, the world’s oldest restaurant.

Best time to visit the Museo del Prado

If you can time your visit carefully, you can avoid large crowds both to enter the museum and at the main highlights inside the museum. But since the museum is very popular and a must-see in Madrid it will be difficult to avoid any crowds at all.

Here are a few tips to avoid the larger crowds:

Weekdays are in general less busy than weekends and holidays. Get to the museum early, just before it opens or during lunchtime. Try to avoid late afternoon or evenings as the free entrance is very popular and a large crowd will enter all at once.

During the heat of summer, I would visit in the afternoon, just to avoid the heat outside. And maximise your time visiting other ‘outdoor’ highlights during the cooler hours of the morning and late afternoon and evening.

How to access the museum for free

For the general public the Prado is free to visit as from two hours before closing time, which is from 06:00PM from Monday to Saturday and from 05:00PM on Sunday and certain holidays. As this free access is highly popular, lines will begin to form well in advance, sometime 1 hour or even more before the doors open.

Given that everyone must pass through security screening upon entry, make sure to arrive early, so you can get near the front of the queue and maximise your time in the museum.

Good to know: To fully enjoy the museum, we do recommend to purchase a ticket instead of entering for free. The reason is that you only have 2 hours from the time they open the doors, which leaves you less time depending on the length of the queue and when you manage to enter. A whole crowd will enter at the same time and will ‘run’ for the major masterpieces which in turn can get very crowded. And you can only enter in the late afternoon, so it needs to fit with your Madrid visit schedule. But it is a good option if it fits in with the rest of your plans and budget.

Other Useful tips for your visit

• Avoid long queues: Get to the museum early, when it opens to avoid large queues. Also during lunchtime it will get less busy. Just be aware that you cannot avoid at all standing in line as even upon entry you will have to pass security where they scan your bags.
• Photography: Please remember that photography (with and without flash) in the museum is not allowed, except for the entrance hall (Jerónimos entrance), Hall of the Muses and the Cloister). It is not really clearly indicated that photography is not allowed but the guards will make it clear if you try. Just take photos with your eyes.
• Comfortable shoes: The museum is vast, covering 3 floors, so you will do a lot of walking. Be prepared and wear comfortable shoes.
• Plan your visit: In the entrance hall at the information desk you can get a plan of the museum. Take your time to study and plan according to your interest and how you want to visit the museum. I must be honest that the museum is a bit difficult to get around ‘in a logical way’. This plan comes in handy to work your way towards the masterpieces and specific artists that you would like to visit.
• Take your time: When planning your trip to Madrid, allocate a few hours inside the museum to make the most of it. I would suggest at least 2 to 3 hours. If you are short on time, consider a guided tour to get all the background information while having a certified guide show you all the important paintings and highlights.
• Audioguide: The museum has an audio guide available for a small charge, which can be handy when visiting the museum by yourself. The guide comes in various languages and has information of about 300 works of the permanent collection. It also includes a few routes you can follow depending on the time you have in the museum (1, 2 and 3 hour itineraries).
• Entrances: The museum has 5 entrances of which the 2 main entrances are at the Calle de Felipe IV.
  • Puerta de Jerónimos is the main entrance with direct access to the temporary and permanent collections. This is also where the free entrance enters. 
  • Puerta de Goya is to visit the permanent collection and also where you can find the ticket office.

Museum highlights you should not miss

As the Prado is home to some of the most extraordinary masterpieces there are many highlights to see. Here is a selection of works which are considered not to be missed highlights, in random order:

1. Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez
2. The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch
3. The Third of May 1808 in Madrid by Francisco Goya
4. Portrait of a Cardinal by Raphael
5. Bacchanal of the Andrians by Titian
6. Adoration of the Shepherds by El Greco
7. Three Graces by Pieter Paul Rubens
8. Self Portrait by Albrecht Dürer
9. The Gentleman with his Hand of his Chest by El Greco
10. The Triumph of Death by Bruegel

This is just a short list of some of the most important highlights to admire during your visit to the Prado Museum. There are however many more exhibits to view.

Practical information for your visit

Opening hours

Opening hours to the museum are from Monday to Saturday from 10:00AM – 08:00PM, Sunday and public holidays from 10:00AM – 07:00PM.

Certain public holidays the museum is closed (1 January, 1 May, 25 December) or has limited opening hours from 10:00AM – 02:00PM (6 January, 24 and 31 December)

How to get there

The Prado Museum is located on the corner of the Paseo del Prado and the Calle de Felipe IV. The main entrance and ticket office is located on the Calle de Felipe IV.

• By public transport: The easiest way to get to the Prado Museum is by public transport, either by metro or bus. The closest metro stations are: Banco de España (line 2), Estación del Arte (line 1) and Atocha (line 1). There is a bus stop right in front of the museum with various lines. Check the emt website for the updated timetable.
• By car: The museum itself does not have parking, but there are various public car parkings (paid) nearby. Your favourite GPS app should be able to show you exactly where.
• By taxi: Both Madrid taxi and Uber can take you to the museum.