"Guernica"

During my Best of Spain tour, the group actually went to the Reina Sofia to see Guernica. So it was included in my tour.
But even if your tour doesn't go there, there is free time in the afternoon to visit.
What do you consider the city center? If your RS hotel is near Puerto del Sol, you can walk to the Reina Sofia and to the Prado as well.

Or you can take the metro from Sol Metro station to Estacion del Arte or Atocha metro stations and its a short walk from there.

It's a 20 minute walk from Puerta del Sol or a 18 minute Metro ride.

When we were in Madrid in 2016, we simply walked to the Reina Sofia. It's about 1.3 miles from Plaza Mayor. We didn't purchase tickets in advance and there was no line to get in. Guernica was amazing. The rest of the museum was not exactly my cup of tea.

I have seen it twice: once in 2014 and again in 2017. Both times we just showed up without tickets and and got in easily after walking from our hotel near Puerto del sol.

Last September we went in mid-afternoon without tickets and walked right in!

I wasn't sure where our RS hotel will be located. It looks like our hotel will be near the Puerto del Sol. So it should be a fairly easy walk to get to the museum. Or maybe an Uber, depending how tired we are after the walking tour. Sounds like we won't have to worry about advanced tickets. Thanks so much!

The Rena Sofía is a 20 minutes (slightly downhill) walk from the Puerta Del Sol as Derek stated; 15 minutes from the Plaza Mayor.

If the only reason for going there is to see that one painting, you could save some money by going during the free admission hours. Get in line about 20-30 minutes before the admission time. The line moves quickly once the museum opens.

You could also just ask your guide on the first day of your tour, it won't be the first time they've helped a tour member get to see that specific painting. You might also be able to pop in after your Prado tour and before dinner on day 3 of the itinerary, unless that happens to be a Tuesday when they're closed.

Day 4 of the tour, which is a Thursday, looks like the best bet for us to have enough time to get to the museum and back, and have sufficient time to leisurely browse the exhibits and soak up the experience of seeing "Guernica." I'm a student of art history, so this is especially important to me. I'm sure the RS guide would be helpful, but I appreciate all your input. Thank you!

As an aside, if you are ever in northern Spain near San Sebastian/Bilbao,a trip to the actual Guernika to see the memorial museum is worth a visit.

Continuing with Lin aside note, Gernika (as spelled in Basque and now the official name of the town) is very symbolic for us Basques, as it holds our Assembly Hall, dated back (as far as we know) to the 9th century, one of the oldest forms of parliamentary democracy in the world and still working (we elect our representatives to this Assembly every 4 years). And also one of the reasons John Adams and his sons John Quincy and Richard stayed in Bilbao back in 1780 (there´s a statue dedicated to him in Bilbao) for nine days, on their way to Paris. Gernika also holds the Museum of Peace, as the title of the painting refers to the bombing of this town in 1937 by the Luftwaffe (Condor Legion) and the italians, as a retaliation against the Basques aim for independence for Spain. There´s also a Guernica made of tiles, an exact replica, on a wall near both places.

There´s quite a lot of symbolism in the painting, but Picasso said "this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse...of course they are symbols too".

The Reina Sofia museum is free if you are over 65. The guard at the door waved us in via an express line and to a dedicated ticket window. The Reina Sofia was crowded, particularly with school groups, but we were able to get positioned to see the painting well. We went to this museum twice when we were in Madrid last month.

It’s nice to read that it’s free entrance for the over 65 age group. I saw it eight years ago - had read about it in research ahead of time, so I knew the history & symbolism. Quite moving to stand in front of it for awhile and take it all in. I appreciated at least at that time that no photos were allowed.

Thank you, Mikel, on the background info for the town of Gernika. As an art historian, I enjoy learning as much as possible about the historical and cultural context of the artwork. And thank you, Elizabeth, for pointing out that seniors over 65 are admitted free; I hadn't noticed that on the website. I hope we are able to see "Guernica." If so, I'll let you all know how it went, and what I thought of seeing the painting firsthand. Of course, I'm so excited to tour the Prado on the tour, especially the work of Velázquez, El Greco, and Goya.

I'm going on RS Spain tour in June 2025. I called the Rick Steves office and she recommended making reservations for Reina Sofia for Day 4, in the afternoon after the Royal Palace. She thought 2 pm for Reina would work well.

Thanks, Seasampler, for sharing what you found out from Rick Steves. Turns out I have a friend of a friend who is in Spain right now. She went to the museum with Viator, and even the guide was surprised by the long lines in March. So definitely we'll have to get tickets in advance. Now I just have to convince my husband that it's worth all the trouble to "just see one painting." Lol

If you are over 65, you won't have to get tickets for the Reina Sofia. Just show up and follow the security person's instructions to the dedicated line for free entrance. As for seeing just one painting, the museum has many other interesting works.

If you have any extra time, you may want to return to the Prado or stay longer after the RS group moves on. We spent two full days there, concentrating on the Spanish masters you listed. Don't forget to add Ribera to your list of artists' works to see.