Best Museums in Madrid
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From the classic Museo Nacional del Prado and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, to lesser-known spots worth adding to your trip.
★ 4.7 · 157,363 reviews
Plan around the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid's great temple of Spanish painting beside Retiro. Spend a few hours in front of masterpieces by Velázquez, Goya and El Greco, moving through centuries of European art.
★ 4.5 · 72,263 reviews
Spend an afternoon at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid's home of modern Spanish art. Walk its multi-floor galleries past Picasso, Dalí and Miró, and follow the movements that shaped the 20th century.
★ 4.7 · 48,468 reviews
Discover the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, where 700 years of European art unfold in one central Madrid building. Move room by room from Old Masters and Dutch painting through to modern art and Pop Art.
★ 4.7 · 28,961 reviews
Walk into the National Museum of Archaeology, a neoclassical landmark in Salamanca that follows Iberian history from prehistory onward. Explore cave art, Islamic pottery and ancient artifacts laid out in clear chronological order.
★ 4.6 · 6,003 reviews
Step into the Galería de las Colecciones Reales, the museum beside Madrid's Royal Palace. Spend about ninety minutes among royal treasures that deepen the story you see next door.
★ 4.5 · 24,615 reviews
Step into CaixaForum Madrid, a former power station turned arts centre in the heart of Centro. Take in rotating exhibitions and immersive projections across its floors, then admire the building's floating brick facade from outside.
★ 4.7 · 2,293 reviews
Step inside Atlético de Madrid's Riyadh Air Metropolitano and follow the route through the players' tunnel, changing room and presidential box. Finish in the interactive museum, trying virtual reality and games built around the club's history.
★ 4.6 · 4,482 reviews
Explore the San Fernando Fine Art Royal Academy, a quieter art stop inside a Neoclassical palace in central Madrid. Climb through five floors of paintings, sculpture and architectural drawings, with works by Goya, Sorolla and El Greco along the way.
★ 4.5 · 6,822 reviews
Go underground at Estación Museo de Chamberí, a Metro station frozen in time since 1966. Walk the old platforms among original tiles and signage while live trains rumble past on Line 1.
★ 4.5 · 13,799 reviews
Dive into the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, a grand 19th-century natural history museum in Chamartín. Wander past dinosaur fossils, a whale skeleton and animals from around the world across its two buildings.
★ 4.6 · 12,265 reviews
Step into the Naval Museum, right beside the Spanish Navy headquarters, for a free look at Spain's seafaring past. Follow centuries of exploration through ship models, navigational instruments and displays running from the age of Isabella and Ferdinand onward.
★ 4.7 · 1,660 reviews
Step through the gates of the Lázaro Galdiano Museum, a grand Salamanca mansion full of art. Move through rooms of Goya and Bosch paintings, medieval armour and fine jewellery, then pause in the little garden.
★ 4.6 · 7,774 reviews
Explore Espacio Fundación Telefónica, a free exhibition space in central Madrid devoted to communication technology. See vintage telephones, network equipment and archive photographs, plus whichever temporary exhibition is on.
★ 4.5 · 11,113 reviews
Explore the Madrid History Museum, set in an old orphanage with a Baroque façade. Follow the city's story through maps, documents, artworks and models, all free to enter.
★ 4.7 · 3,014 reviews
Visit the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, the small chapel where Goya is buried. Tilt your head back to read his frescoes across the ceilings, after watching the short introductory film.
★ 4.7 · 8,957 reviews
Step inside the Royal Basilica of Saint Francis the Great, a neoclassical church with an enormous frescoed dome. Look up at the dome and find the chapel painted by Goya.
★ 4.8 · 504 reviews
Step into the Banksy Museum in Madrid's Arganzuela district and meet the street artist's work up close. Walk through recreated murals and more than 170 pieces, reading the critical messages behind each section before finishing in the gift shop.
★ 4.5 · 9,684 reviews
Slip into the Cerralbo Museum, a nineteenth-century mansion in Moncloa that still feels like a collector's home. Walk through ornate rooms of Old Master paintings, furniture and antiques, finishing among the medieval armour.
★ 4.7 · 6,763 reviews
Visit the Lope de Vega Casa Museo, the preserved home of one of Spain's greatest playwrights. Walk through period-furnished rooms, then slow down in the secluded garden behind the house.
★ 4.7 · 4,684 reviews
Visit Fundación Juan March, a free cultural foundation in Salamanca with an excellent modern art programme. See the current exhibition, then relax in the secret garden among sculptures and jasmine with an art book in hand.
★ 4.5 · 1,792 reviews
Step into Contemporánea Condeduque, a converted 18th-century barracks turned cultural centre in central Madrid. Move through free contemporary art exhibitions in its atmospheric courtyards, and see if a theatre performance fits your schedule.
★ 4.4 · 23,844 reviews
Test your senses at the Museum of Illusions Madrid, a family-friendly attraction in the centre. Step into tilted rooms and optical tricks, and snap photos that seem to defy reality.
★ 4.5 · 9,553 reviews
Step into the Museo del Romanticismo, a Centro mansion arranged as a window onto 19th-century taste. Move through period rooms of paintings and furniture, then relax in the garden cafe.
★ 4.6 · 4,298 reviews
Pop into Fundación MAPFRE's exhibition rooms, set in a grand old building in central Madrid. Move through several floors of carefully curated 19th- and 20th-century art, all with free entry.
★ 4.5 · 5,996 reviews
Head out to El Pardo Royal Palace, a former hunting lodge and later home of Franco on Madrid's northern edge. Tour the furnished rooms and chandeliers, then stroll the surrounding grounds if the weather allows.
★ 4.4 · 3,223 reviews
Explore the Museo del Traje in Moncloa, a museum devoted to how Spain has dressed through the ages. Study garments from the 1800s onward, with bilingual information beside each display.
★ 4.3 · 3,063 reviews
Slip into the National Museum of Decorative Arts, a calm Retiro-area stop for anyone who likes period interiors. Wander more than 60 rooms of ceramics, glassware, silver and furniture, many from the 16th and 17th centuries.
★ 4.4 · 4,785 reviews
Step into the Museo de América in Moncloa, a national museum tracing the art and cultures of the Americas. See Mayan, Aztec and Andean artifacts, including gleaming gold pieces and an Inca quipu.
★ 4.4 · 4,535 reviews
Step into the Palacio de Velázquez, a free neoclassical pavilion tucked inside Retiro Park. Browse the current contemporary art exhibition, admire the red-brick architecture and cool off indoors before returning to the park's paths.
★ 4.5 · 19,057 reviews
Wander through the Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid, housed in a grand former station in Arganzuela. Walk among old locomotives and carriages, following Spanish rail history up to trains only recently taken out of service.
Madrid · 🎨 Museum
Museo Nacional del Prado
2h30
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
2h
National Museum of Archaeology
1h30
Galería de las Colecciones Reales
CaixaForum Madrid
Madrid · ⚽ Sport
Atlético de Madrid Stadium Entry
San Fernando Fine Art Royal Academy
1h15
Estación Museo de Chamberí
30 min
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
Naval Museum
Lázaro Galdiano Museum
Espacio Fundación Telefónica
45 min
Madrid History Museum
Madrid · 🏛️ Landmark
Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida
Royal Basilica of Saint Francis the Great
Banksy Museum Entrance Ticket
1h
Cerralbo Museum
Lope de Vega Casa Museo
Fundación Juan March
Contemporánea Condeduque
Madrid · 🎭 Entertainment
Museum of Illusions Madrid
Museo del Romanticismo
Fundación MAPFRE - Sala de exposiciones
El Pardo Royal Palace
Museo del Traje
National Museum of Decorative Arts
Museo de America
Velázquez Palace
Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid
