Tix for the big 3 museums in Madrid

Since we planned on seeing all three museums anyway, the Paseo del Arte ticket was a good deal for us. You don't have to pre-select your dates. We bought our passes on line and redeemed them at the Thyssen-Bornemisza - no waiting at all. The Thyssen-Bornemisza was not very crowded on the day we visited last October, except around the Impressionist paintings.

At the Prado, staff initially directed us to the wrong line, but we eventually found the correct line, which was much shorter than the queue of people waiting to buy tickets. We were there shortly after it opened and made a bee line to the Velasquez works and had Las Meninas practically all to ourselves for a few minutes.

The lines were long enough at the Reina Sofia to make us once again appreciate the Paseo del Arte ticket. Of the three, this was my least favorite, but Guernica made it well worth our time.

I can’t speak to the ticket, but the Reina Sofia museum has free entrance for a few hours in the evening. To me, a couple hours there is sufficient with the major draw being Picasso’s Guernica (photos not allowed in that room). When we went during the free entrance, there was a line, but it moved quickly.

The Prado is free daily 6-8 PM except Sundays and holidays, when the free period is 5-7 PM. I think you have to go through a line to pick up a ticket during the free periods. I don't know that I was ever in the museum during that late-afternoon free period. One of my visits was on Museum Day, which was remarkably peaceful. I can only assume that most people didn't know the museum was free all day. I didn't see a significant line at the door on either visit; there might have been a minor one on the day I used my Paseo del Arte ticket.

The Prado's always busy, but the only real clots of visitors on the days I was there were in front of "Las Meninas" and Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights".

The places is quite large; don't expect to see it all in one visit. Your feet will give out long before you reach the end. I think with dedication it's possible to go through every room if you make two trips, it requires a significant amount of time. It will help if there are periods of art you don't much care for! The typical visitor who doesn't want to spend more than 2 hours or so in the museum definitely should spend some looking at the building plan to figure out where to spend his time.

If you're going to all three anyway, then yes the pass is worth it. We bought our pass at the Thyssen (less crowded than the Prado). You can wait until you get to Madrid to get it. You don't have to choose your dates ahead of time. It is valid for one visit to each museum within a period of 1 year from its date of issue at the Museum ticket office. Just checked, it's 29.60 EUR. If you bought them separately, it would be 37 EUR.

Thanks all!