The Prado sells timed tickets and hardly ever runs out of places for a whole day. What does happen, especially on bank holiday weekends, regular weekends and at Easter, is that the slot you wanted is sold out or the free-hours queue stretches round the block. Neither means you miss the museum. These are the routes, in the order worth trying them.
Which ticket should you choose?
| If you want… | Option | From |
|---|---|---|
| A timed ticket, no guide | Prado Museum entry ticket, 4.7★ (23,273) Book | €18 |
| The top rated | Prado guided tour with entry, 4.9★ (885) Book | €49 |
| All three big museums | Art Walk Pass: Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen, 4.4★ (489) Book | €38 |
| Just your group | Private tour with an official guide Book | €146 |
1. Check the official website again
The official ticket site is entradas.museodelprado.es, linked from museodelprado.es. General admission is €15 and reduced €7.50 (over-65s, youth card holders and members of large families). Under-18s, students aged 18 to 25 and unemployed visitors get in free at any time, with proof at the box office.
- Look at other times on the same day. Each slot has its own allocation, and there's no time limit once you're inside, so going in at 12:00 instead of 10:00 doesn't cost you any museum time.
- Mind the opening hours: Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 20:00, Sundays and public holidays 10:00 to 19:00. On 6 January and 24 and 31 December it closes at 14:00.
- Check it's open that day. There's no weekly closing day, but it closes on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
- If you're going for a temporary exhibition, book ahead and check exactly what your ticket includes.
Don't count on places being released at the last minute: if a slot suits you, buy it as soon as you see it.
2. The box office at the Goya Gate
The box office is next to the Goya Gate, on the north side of the building, and charges the same as the website. If you already have your ticket on your phone, you go in through the Jerónimos Gate and skip the box office. In high season the queue builds by mid-morning: go at opening time or in the early afternoon.
3. Free entry and El Prado de noche
The permanent collection is free for the last two hours of every day: Monday to Saturday 18:00 to 20:00, Sundays and public holidays 17:00 to 19:00. Temporary exhibitions aren't free during those hours, but they're half price. Entry closes half an hour before closing, so in practice you get an hour and a half.
Free tickets are handed out at the box office until capacity is reached, and that's the problem: the queue. It starts forming well before the free slot and on Sundays and holidays the wait can go past an hour. If you go, get there early and bring a short list: an hour and a half is enough for Velázquez, Goya and Bosch, not much more. It's also free all day on 18 May (International Museum Day) and 19 November (the museum's anniversary).
A lesser-known option is El Prado de noche: on the first Saturday of every month, from 20:30 to 23:30, the museum opens some of its galleries for free, with entry through the Jerónimos Gate until capacity is reached. The next one is Saturday 7 November.
4. A resold ticket or a guided tour
When the official site doesn't have the time you want, licensed resellers usually still have places because they buy their allocations ahead. You pay more than on the official site:
- Timed ticket, no guide (from €18): the cheapest way to lock in a time without relying on the box office.
- Guided tour with entry (from €49): the key works with a guide, and the top rated of the ones we link.
- Private tour with an official guide (from €146): for a family or small group who want to go at their own pace.
Before paying, check the listing says "Prado Museum entry included". Some walks round the centre only pass by the façade.
5. The Paseo del Arte card
If you're also visiting the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen, the Paseo del Arte card gives you one visit to each museum's permanent collection within a year. At the museum box offices it cost €32.80 in 2025; the version we link, bought online, is from €38. To decide which of the three deserves most of your time, see our Prado vs Reina Sofía vs Thyssen comparison.
Mistakes to avoid
- Buying from sites that look like the official one. Plenty have "Prado" in the name and overcharge. The official one is
entradas.museodelprado.es. - Turning up for free hours right at 18:00. The queue is already long and entry closes at 19:30, or 18:30 on Sundays.
- Forgetting your ID for free or reduced entry. The box office asks for it to check age, studies or status.
- Going on 1 January, 1 May or 25 December. They're the only days of the year it's closed.
In one sentence
If your slot is sold out, try another time on the official site or the Goya Gate box office, and if you'd rather skip the queues book a timed ticket or a guided tour with entry included; on a tight budget, Madrid on a budget has more free museums, and if the palace is on your list too, read what to do if the Royal Palace is sold out.
