Advice on getting to Prado museum

I would take a taxi to the hotel. Then, if you have plenty of time, walk to the museum. If it's tight, take another taxi.
Of course there is public transport, but with luggage and a tight timeline, I would not bother with that.
I have taken taxi in Madrid and would not hesitate to do so again.

Thanks so much! We are leaving on our trip this Sunday - starting in Portugal and ending in Madrid - and just trying to get everything tied up before we leave on this 5 week adventure. Your reply lightened my anxiety level by 1000%!

Unless you have some kind of unforeseen issue or delay, you will be fine.

2.5 hours is enough time to go back to Toledo and come back again and
still make it.

You can definitely take a taxi from Atocha, but if the line is long, you can
get on the Metro 4 stops to Sol and be crawling distance to the hotel.

From there, it's like 4 blocks to the Prado. While taking a cab may be faster
once you get in the cab, getting a cab is sometimes the issue, even if your
hotel can call one for you.

If you are really delayed and your bags aren't that large, you may be able to
go straight to the Prado and store them there. Or leave them at left luggage
in Atocha.

You should have enough extra time for a coffee before you hit the museum.

Just make sure you know what entrance to go to.

The Prado is more than 4 blocks from Hotel Europa. Walking to the museum from the hotel takes about 20 minutes (.84 miles), but is an easy walk straight down Cra. S. Jerónimo. It turns into Pl. de las Cortes. At Neptune fountain you’ll see the museum across Paseo del Prado on the right.

If you take a taxi from Atocha it will drop you a couple minutes walk from the hotel because the entire Puerta Del Sol area is now pedestrian only.

Thank you- it sounds like we should be able to make it to the hotel by 11:30 or before- which gives us plenty of time to drop bags -and hopefully walk to the Prado! - I so appreciate everyone’s advice!

Make sure you allow enough time to enter the Prado. We were there in December 2022 and even with pre-booked tickets we waited in line a half hour or more. In the rain. Maybe the procedure has changed since we were there. We did have a lovely conversation with a couple of people from Hungary while we were in line, so it wasn’t all bad.

Great advice! I have read about the lines- even when tickets are purchased ahead of time, Thank you!