Square
Plaza Mayor, Madrid
Madrid, Spain
A grand enclosed seventeenth-century square surrounded by arcades, cafes and painted facades.
Museum · Spain · Community of Madrid
Prado Museum
One of the world's great art museums, with Velazquez, Goya and El Greco at the centre of its Spanish collection.
Paid entry about 3 h
For storytellers
Why Prado Museum matters
If you only visit one museum in Spain, make it this one. The Prado holds the royal collection of Spanish painting, and walking through it feels like a history of the country told in faces. Velazquez's Las Meninas is the star, and its strange, layered gaze follows you around the room. Goya's dark late works sit not far away, and the Italian and Flemish rooms are rich too. Go with a plan; it is large.
Talking points
- Velazquez's Las Meninas is one of the most discussed paintings in Western art.
- Goya's Black Paintings were painted on the walls of his own house and later moved here.
- The museum is one corner of a triangle of great art museums along the Paseo del Prado.
Free to read aloud or adapt in your video. Check facts that matter to you against an official source before you publish.
Good to know: Go in the last hours of the day or at opening time to avoid the longest queues.
More in Madrid
Museum
Reina Sofia Museum
Madrid, Spain
Modern and contemporary art museum, home of Picasso's Guernica.
Park · UNESCO
Retiro Park
Madrid, Spain
Madrid's beloved green lung, with a boating lake, a glass palace and shady avenues for strolling.
Palace
Royal Palace of Madrid
Madrid, Spain
A vast eighteenth-century royal palace with over a thousand rooms, used today for state ceremonies.
Square
Puerta del Sol
Madrid, Spain
The symbolic heart of Spain, where the clock chimes ring in the New Year with twelve grapes.
Museum
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Madrid, Spain
A private collection that takes you from medieval painting to Pop Art in one walk.
Also nearby
Within about 40 km, closest first.