Guided tour of Prado

We took a guided tour there several years ago and it was really good. We are doing it again in a couple weeks. Booked this time through the website.

We did an English guided tour offered through the Prado two days ago, on Sep 10. Absolutely worth it. I think there were about 10 or 11 people. After the 90 minute tour, we spent an additional 4.5 hours in the Prado.

The tour only looked at a few works, but the explanations of the paintings, from what angle to view them, etc, were incredibly educating. The time flew by.

Note that the English tours appear to fill quickly. On Sep 11 there were two English tours available, one in the morning and one in the afternoon (at 1pm). On the day the tours opened up for booking, the morning tour filled up first and so I then jumped on the 1pm tour.

GeoffB, how did you book your tour? Is there a link that you can share to reserve tickets? What was the cost?

Thanks in advance!

GeoffB, how did you book your tour? Is there a link that you can share to reserve tickets? What was the cost?

Hi CaliMom! Tickets are available for purchase on the Prado Museum web site 60 days in advance of one's desired visit date. As I think you will understand from the below list of steps, purchasing the guided tour tickets is a bit clumsy and not particularly intuitive. I had to repeat the pre-final steps several times in order to get it right -- especially as regards the entry times for both the guided tour and the general entry.

For my wife and me, I purchased the following:

• 2x General @ 30€ (15€ each)
• 2x Audioguide @ 10€ (5€ each)
• 2x Guided Tour to the Collection - English @ 20€ (10€ each)

It is necessary to first choose a date for a General entry (unguided visit) ticket. Then one is presented options to add the Guided Tour and/or the Audioguide. (The Audioguide can be used during the unguided portion of your visit to the Prado. We found it to be worthwhile.)

The English tours are currently offered twice daily: 11am and 1pm. Regardless of which time you select, I recommend doing the guided tour BEFORE the unguided visit. That is, after the guided tour you would pick up your audioguide (if you are renting one) and spend as many hours as you want on your unguided visit. This will allow you to have a more efficient unguided visit as you can choose to skip some or all of the pieces presented during the guided tour.

Purchase steps:

1. Go to Prado Museum web site.
2. Click on the ticket icon in the upper right-hand corner. (It is in the 4th and final box from the right. FYI the language interface selection is in the 3rd box.)
3. Under "CHOOSE A DAY", click on the desired date of your visit in the displayed calendar. If General entry tickets are (still) available for that day, they will then be shown below the calendar.
4. Under the "CHOOSE THE TICKETS" phrase that appeared below the calendar (after Step 3), select the number of General entry tickets you want. (We simply chose two of the one labelled "General".)
5. Under the "CHOOSE THE TIME FOR YOUR VISIT" phrase that appeared below the General tickets list (after Step 4), click on the red box labeled "SET HOUR".
6. In the "CHOOSE THE HOUR" dialog box that appeared (after Step 5), from the list click on the desired start time of your unguided visit. NOTE: it must be BEFORE the start time of your guided tour. For example, if you are going to attend the 1pm guided tour and will do the unguided visit afterwards, you can just select 12:30 or 12:45 here.
7. Click on the red box labeled "CONTINUE".
8. Below the "COMPLEMENT YOUR VISIT" phrase that appeared (after Step 7), select the number of "Guided Tour to the Collection- English" that you want. If you want audioguides for the unguided portion of your visit, select the number of "Audioguide Collection" that you want.
9. Under the "CHOOSE THE TIME FOR YOUR VISIT" phrase that appeared (after Step 8), click on the red box labeled "SET HOUR".
10. In the "CHOOSE THE HOUR" dialog box that appeared (after Step 9), click on either 11:00 or 13:00 (if either is still available).
11. Click on the red box labeled "CONTINUE".
12. Enter your credit card info and make your purchase.

Notes:

• After purchase you will be presented one pdf with a QR code for General entry, as well as pdfs WITHOUT QR codes for the Guided Tours and Audioguides you purchased; bring all these pdfs with you. The pdf with the QR code is what you will need to enter the Prado. Once inside there is an information desk where you can ask the location of the guided tour. (If it is the same case as us, the tour members will wait on some backless benches near the entry door.)
• The Prado "Mona Lisa" is not in the Audioguide nor a part of the Guided Tour. To locate it quickly we asked the information desk.

Thank you GeoffB. Truly a huge help and greatly appreciated!

Prado tickets and English-guided tours are reserved for December! Thank you again!