Madrid boasts one of the largest art collections in the world. Within the walls of its museums are kept permanent exhibitions of the most varied types: from pictorial collections of all styles and periods, pieces from prehistoric times, sculptures, gold and silver work, haute couture fabrics, decorative arts, stuffed animals or models of gallons with several centuries of history.
If you want to join us as we take you on a tour of the main museums and the collections housed inside them, make yourself comfortable, because we'll be visiting the length and breadth of Madrid. Are you ready?
Prado Museum
Considered one of the best art galleries in the world, it boasts the largest collection of Spanish, Italian and Flemish paintings. Throughout its halls you can visit its permanent exhibition and contemplate the works of artists such as Bosch, El Greco, Dürer, Titian, Caravaggio, Boticcelli, Rembrant, Rubens, Fra Angelico, Raphael, Murillo, Velázquez and Goya.
The Prado Museum offers its visitors guided tours with different routes to get to know the permanent exhibition. This is an enriching way of bringing the best artists closer to the general public. The most popular rooms are usually those of Velázquez and Goya. Visitors come from all over the world to see the Meninas, the Majas, the Fusilamientos, the black paintings and the Goya portraits.
If you want to know more details about the visit to this art gallery you can find it in the following link: Everything you should know about the Prado Museum
Timetable
It is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm. Sundays and public holidays until 19.00 h.
Closed
Public holidays such as 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
Reduced opening hours
6 January and 24 and 25 December, which closes at 14.00.
Tariffs
Individual entry: 15 €
Reduced rate: 7,50 €
. Large families
. Youth Card holders
. Over 65 years old
Free admission:
Monday to Saturdayfrom 18.00 to 20.00 hours
Sundays and public holidays: from 17:00 to 19:00
. Under 18 years of age
. Students up to 25 years old
. Unemployed
. People with disabilities
. Teaching staff
. Journalists
. ICOM members
. Official Tourist Guide
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
If you want to know the works of Spanish artists of the 20th century you can not miss the permanent exhibition at the Museo Reina Sofía. Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Juan Gris, Francis Bacon, Antonio Saura, Antoni Tàpies, Miquel Barceló...are some of the greatest exponents of avant-garde art.
A collection of works that has been enriched over the years since it became a National Museum in 1988. Thanks to donations and deposits, the Reina Sofía is a world reference with more than 21,700 modern works. Its permanent collection has been extended to other formats such as photography, film and video. Thus we can contemplate the work of the brilliant artist Brassaï or projections of Luis Buñuel.
Undoubtedly the greatest treasure of its permanent collection is the Guernica, painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937. It came from the Casón del Buen Retiro, where it was exhibited from 1981, to remain definitively in the Museo Reina Sofía in 1992.
Timetables:
Monday to Saturday from 10.00 to 21.00h.
Sundays and public holidays: from 10.00-19.00h.
Tuesday closed
Rates:
Individual entry: 10€
Free admission
. Under 18 years of age
. Over 65 years old
. Students aged 18-25
. Journalists
. Large families
. People with disabilities
. Unemployed
. Teaching staff
. Official Tourist Guides
Reduced Entry
50% of the normal price for large families, museum staff or cultural volunteers.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Very close to the Prado and the Reina Sofía, we find this museum which houses the second best collection of paintings in Madrid, with nearly 1,000 works of art.
Throughout its rooms, the museum traces the history of Western painting from the 13th century to the avant-garde movements of the 20th century. Artists such as Van Eyck, Dürer, Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Canaletto, Rubens, Hopper, Kirchner, Kandinsky, Degas or the impressionists Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin or Van Gogh have been welcoming visitors since the museum opened its doors to the public in 1992.
Timetable
From Monday to Sunday: from 10.00 to 19.00 h.
Tariffs
Individual entry: 12 €
Free admissionFree access to the public on Mondays from 12.00 to 16.00 hours
. Under 18 years of age
. Youth Card
. Unemployed
. Disabled
. Friends of the Museum
Reduced Entry: 8 €
. Students (irrespective of age and nationality).
. Over 65s and pensioners
. Large family
National Archaeological Museum
Remodelled 4 years ago, this museum offers an itinerary that begins in the Altamira Caves and continues through the Modern Age in the Iberian Peninsula. There are also rooms dedicated to Egypt, the Middle East and Greece. A permanent collection with unique pieces that form part of our cultural heritage.
The museum offers a thematic tour with obligatory stops at various showcases, such as the Lady of Elche, the statue of Livia, El Bifaz del Manzanares, one of the earliest man-made stone instruments, the Stele of Solana de Cabañas, Bronze Age, the Treasure of Guarrazar, of the Byzantine period, the Neperian Abacus, of the 16th century or unique pieces of Ancient Greek pottery.
Timetable
Tuesday to Saturday: 9:30 to 20:00h.
Sundays and public holidays: 9:30 to 15:00h.
Monday closed
Tariffs
General admission: 3 €
Reduced entry: 1,50 €
Free admission:
Every Saturday from 14.00 h and Sunday mornings
Lazaro-Galdean Museum
This museum has its origins in the private collections of José Lázaro Galdiano. It's a great plan to do with the family because here you'll find paintings such as The Coven o The Witches of Goya, works of El Greco, Velázquez, Madrazo and Murillo. And very unique collections of fans, ceramics, furniture, jewellery, weapons, sculptures, fabrics and miniatures from different periods and styles.
In this museum everything revolves around the collections. That's why they organise activities, workshops, publications and conferences aimed at collectors.
Timetable
Tuesday to Saturday: from 10 am to 4.30 pm. Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Closed every MONDAY
Tariffs
General admission: 6 €
Reduced admission: 3
. Over 60s and pensioners
. Students with ID card
. Large families
. Disabled
Free admission
From 15.30 to 16.30 hours. Sundays from 14.00 to 15.00 h.
. Children under 12 years of age.
. Unemployed.
. Teaching staff
Costume Museum
Although it is outside the conventional circuit of museums in Madrid, this Ethnological Heritage Research Centre as it is also known, offers a journey through the history of costume in Spain from the 18th century to the most recent haute couture.
Almost 30,000 pieces make up its permanent collection. Highlights include historical garments and fabrics, rococo shoes, Chilean women in the eighteenth century, the largest set of Spanish regional costumes with its jewellery and accessories, and a representation of works by top designers.
The exhibition includes international haute couture gowns and dresses by Coco Chanel, Christian Dior or unique garments such as dresses that he made Givenchy for the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. From the Spanish ready-to-wear collection, there are showcases dedicated to Balenciaga, Manuel Pertegaz, Paco Rabanne, Jesús del Pozo or Agatha Ruiz de la Prada..
Timetable
Tuesday to Saturday: 9.30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays: from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
Tariffs
Individual entry: 3 €
Reduced rate: 1,5 €
. Cultural or educational groups of more than 8 persons
Free of charge:
. Children under 18 years of age
. Over 65 years of age.
. Students between 18 and 25 years old.
. Youth Card holders.
. People with disabilities
. Unemployed persons
. Pensioners
. Members of large families
. Journalists
. Teachers
. Official Tourist Guides
They are also free on Saturdays from 14.30 h. and Sundays.
Sorolla Museum
This museum is located in what was the home of the Valencian painter from 1911 onwards, in Calle General Martínez Campos in Madrid. The permanent collection is spread throughout all the rooms of the house. Sorolla's work can be seen in what was once the painter's studio, in the living room and dining room where several portraits of his wife and two daughters hang, and in the family's private rooms, which are currently used for the museum's temporary exhibitions.
But it is not only Sorolla's paintings that are on display, there is also an important collection of regional costumes that the painter acquired during his travels around Spain and abroad, as well as jewellery with Valencian and Castilian-Leonese pieces, furniture, sculptures and family photographs. The entrance to the museum is through three gardens, which were designed by the painter himself.
Timetable
Tuesday to Saturday: from 9.30 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays: from 10.00 to 15.00
Monday closed
Tariffs
General admission: 3 €
Reduced: 1,50 €
Free admission
Saturdays from 14.00 h onwards and Sundays
. Under 18 years of age
. Students between 18 and 25 years old and Youth Card holders.
. Over 65s or pensioners
. People with disabilities
. Members of large families
. Legally unemployed persons
. Teachers
. Official Tourist Guides, in the exercise of their duties .
. Journalists
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando
Its permanent collection includes an impressive collection of more than 1,400 paintings, 1,300 sculptures, 15,000 drawings, as well as Persian porcelain, Egyptian antiquities, furniture, medals and other decorative arts.
Touring this museum of the Academy is to discover works of Spanish, Italian and Flemish art, from the Renaissance to the latest artistic trends of the 21st century. Among the paintings that adorn the rooms are several works by Goya, such as the two Self-Portraits, the Corrida de Toros y the Burial of the Sardine, a Mary Magdalene de Ribera, the Mercedarian Friars by Zurbarán, the Old Ones by Rubens, the Marquise of Llano by Mengs, the portrait of Elizabeth II by Federico Madrazo, landscapes by Haes, works by Sorolla, Cecilio Plá...
Timetable
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays: 10.00 am to 3.00 pm
Monday closed
Tariffs
Individual entry: 8 €
Reduced entry: 4 €
. Over 65s and pensioners
. Students over 25 years old
. Large families
Free admission
. Under 18 years of age
. Students aged 18 to 25
. Unemployed
. Museum professionals
. Official Tourist Guides
. Disabled
. Large family
. Journalists
. Teaching staff
Naval Museum
If you are interested Spain's maritime history, Come and discover the permanent collection of this museum located at Paseo del Prado, 5. Here you can see around 10,500 pieces, including marine objects, maps, models of ships and arsenals, uniforms, decorations and personal belongings of seafarers who have played an important role, from the 15th century to the present day.
Of all the treasure that the Naval Museum holds, we highlight several ships, such as the Royal Charles dedicated to Charles III and another from the 16th century from the collection of Philip II.
Timetable
Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00 to 19.00 h.
Monday closed
Tariffs
Admission is free of charge. The museum requests a voluntary contribution of €3 for its upkeep.
Museum of Natural Sciences
It is the nature museum par excellence. Dedicated to scientific research, it has a permanent collection of stuffed animals, fossils, meteorites, minerals and rocks. The building is divided into two areas, Biology and Geology.
The skeletons of dinosaurs and large mammals, such as a 20-metre-long whale and a stuffed African elephant, stand out.
You can visit the museum by areas, such as the one dedicated to the fauna of the Mediterranean, the animals that can be found in the Community of Madrid, the area of birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish and invertebrates or Prehistory with finds from Spanish archaeological sites.
The Museum of Natural Sciences organises activities, workshops and special exhibitions for children and families every weekend - all you have to do is sign up!
Timetable
Tuesday to Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Monday closed
Tariffs
Individual entry: 7 €
Reduced entry: 3,5 €
. Students
. Unemployed
. Children aged 4-16 years
Free admission:
. Over 65 years old
. Under 4 years of age
. Disabled
. Large family
. Journalists with accreditation
. Licensed teachers
Madrid History Museum
It is a museum that aims to bring the history of the city of Madrid closer to the public., It was the capital under Philip II until the beginning of the 20th century.
A tour through the collection of paintings, such as the Allegory of the City of Madrid by Goya, photographs, postcards, drawings, prints, fans or the collection of porcelain from the Royal Factory of Buen Retiro.
Timetable
From Tuesday to Sunday: from 10- 20.00 h.
Monday closed
Tariffs
Free access
