Free museums in Madrid: the free schedules of the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen

The three museums on the Paseo del Arte – Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen – have free access hours every day of the week. With a little planning you can see the best of all three without paying a ticket. These are the usual hours (it is advisable to confirm them on the website of each museum before going, because they may change on special dates).

Prado Museum

• Free: Monday to Saturday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Sundays and holidays from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• The strategy: two hours are enough for the essentials if you go in with a plan. Go straight to Velázquez (Las Meninas), then Goya (the Black Paintings and the Executions) and El Bosch if you have time.
• The queue: it forms half an hour before; During the week it is much more bearable than the weekend.

Reina Sofia Museum

• Free: Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Sundays from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Closed Tuesday.
• The strategy: Guernica is the center of gravity — go straight and then explore the surrounding rooms (Dalí, Miró, Spanish surrealism). The Nouvel building with the glass elevators is also worth the visit itself.

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

• Free: Mondays from 12:00 to 16:00 (permanent collection).
• The strategy: it is the friendliest museum of the three to see without stress: the collection covers the entire history of Western art in chronological order, from Gothic to Pop.

How to combine them from Usera

The three are on the same walk, next to Atocha. From our accommodations in Usera it is 25 minutes by metro (line 6 → Pacífico → line 1 → Atocha): culture is free and transportation is almost free. For more plans that cost nothing, here you have Madrid Río and the 3-day itinerary.

Cover photo: jacinta lluch valero from madrid * barcelona…, (España-Spain), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.