A Prado Museum ticket costs €15 on the official website, or €20 with the audio guide. If you only want a quick look at the permanent collection, entry is free in the last two hours of the day. Book a guided tour only if you want someone to lead you through the masterpieces in about 90 minutes.
Prices were checked on 18 October 2026.
Official Prado ticket prices
| Ticket type | Price |
|---|---|
| General admissionReduced €7.50 | €15.00 |
| Admission + audio guideAudio guide = admission + €5 | €20.00 |
Prices checked on 18 October 2026. They change often; check the final price before you pay.
The reduced ticket at €7.50 is for groups such as seniors and large families, as listed on the official site. Buy online to choose your entry time and skip the ticket queue.
Free entry: worth it?
Entry to the permanent collection is free:
- Monday to Saturday from 18:00 to 20:00
- Sundays and holidays from 17:00 to 19:00
It is a real saving, but there are trade-offs. The free hours are usually the busiest time of day, queues form before 18:00, and two hours is short for one of the largest art collections in the world. Temporary exhibitions are not included. If the Prado is a priority, pay for a morning visit and stay as long as you like.
Reseller tickets and guided tours
- GetYourGuideLowest price
Prado Museum Entry Ticket
from €18.0020% above official Check availability - Viator
Prado Museum Madrid Guided Tour with Skip the Line Ticket
- 1.5 h
- Skip the line
- Guided
from €39.00 Check availability - GetYourGuide
Prado Museum Guided Tour with Fast-Track Ticket
- 1.5 h
- Skip the line
- Guided
from €45.00 Check availability
Prices checked on 18 October 2026. They change often; check the final price before you pay.
The GetYourGuide entry ticket costs €3 more than the official one for the same visit. Guided tours are the useful reseller product here: about 90 minutes with a guide who takes you to the key works by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco and Bosch, with fast-track entry. The Viator tour was the cheapest guided option on our check date.
Which option is best?
- Art lover with time: the official €15 ticket, or €20 with the audio guide, on a weekday morning.
- Short visit to see the highlights: a guided tour, so you don’t spend half your time looking for Las Meninas.
- Tight budget: the free hours, arriving early to queue.
Pros
- Affordable official ticket with online time slots
- Free entry to the collection every evening
- Guided tours cover the highlights in 90 minutes
Cons
- Free hours are crowded and short
- Reseller entry tickets cost more than official ones
- The collection is too large to see in one visit
Opening hours
- Monday to Saturday: 10:00–20:00
- Sundays and holidays: 10:00–19:00
- Closed 1 January, 1 May and 25 December; open 10:00–14:00 on 6 January, 24 and 31 December.
More Madrid tickets: Reina Sofía and the Royal Palace
Reina Sofía, home of Picasso’s Guernica, is a short walk from the Prado. General admission costs €12, and resellers charge the same. Free hours run on Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 19:00–21:00 and Sunday 12:30–14:30, but you still need a ticket, which you can book online. The museum is closed on Tuesdays.
| Ticket type | Price |
|---|---|
| General admission (Collection + temporary exhibitions) | €12.00 |
| Combined ticket with audioguideTicket offices only | €18.00 |
| Two visits within one year | €18.00 |
- GetYourGuideLowest price
Reina Sofía Museum Entrance Ticket
from €12.00 Check availability - GetYourGuide
Reina Sofía Museum Guided Tour
- 1.5 h
- Guided
from €35.00 Check availability
Prices checked on 18 October 2026. They change often; check the final price before you pay.
The Royal Palace costs €18 for a self-guided visit and €26 with an official guide. EU citizens and residents and Latin American citizens can enter free on Monday to Thursday afternoons, at the box office only. The palace can close for state events, so check the official calendar.
| Ticket type | Price |
|---|---|
| Self-guided visitAudio guide rented separately | €18.00 |
| Guided visit | €26.00 |
| Palace + Royal Kitchen | €24.00 |
| Royal District Essential Pass (Palace + Gallery of Royal Collections) | €24.00 |
- GetYourGuideLowest price
Royal Palace Fast-Access Admission Ticket
- Skip the line
from €22.0022% above official Check availability - Viator
Madrid: Royal Palace Guided Tour with Skip the Line Ticket
- 2 h
- Skip the line
- Guided
from €35.00 Check availability - GetYourGuide
Royal Palace Skip-the-Line Guided Tour
- 2 h
- Skip the line
- Guided
from €36.00 Check availability
Prices checked on 18 October 2026. They change often; check the final price before you pay.
How to plan a Prado visit
- Buy the ticket online on the official site and choose your entry time. Weekday mornings are the calmest.
- Decide on the audio guide when you book: it adds €5 to the ticket.
- Pick the highlights before you go, such as Las Meninas, Goya’s Black Paintings and Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, and check their rooms on the museum map.
- Plan two to three hours. Most visitors who try to see everything leave tired after four.
The Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums sit along the same boulevard, the Paseo del Prado, so you can easily walk between them on the same day.
Spending a few days in Madrid? A day trip to Toledo takes 30 minutes by high-speed train. More in our Madrid guides.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a Prado Museum ticket?
General admission costs €15 on the official website, and the reduced ticket costs €7.50. Admission with the audio guide costs €20, which means the audio guide adds €5.
When is the Prado free?
Entry to the permanent collection is free in the last two hours before closing, Monday to Saturday 18:00 to 20:00 and Sundays and holidays 17:00 to 19:00. This is usually the busiest time of day, and two hours is not much for a museum this size.
What are the Prado opening hours?
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 20:00, Sundays and holidays 10:00 to 19:00. The museum is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December, and closes at 14:00 on 6 January and 24 and 31 December.
Is a guided tour of the Prado worth it?
The Prado has thousands of works, and a guide picks out the highlights such as Velázquez, Goya and Bosch in about 90 minutes. Guided tours with a fast-track ticket started at €39 on Viator and €45 on GetYourGuide on our check date.
Sources
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