Madrid in a Day Tour:Royal Palace, Historic Center & Prado Museum
Description
Explore the best of Madrid with this expertly guided walking tour featuring skip-the-line tickets to the Royal Palace, one of Europe’s most breathtaking royal residences, and to the Prado Art Musuem - the cultural jewel of Spain. If you wish, choose the Prado Early Access option when booking for a VIP experience in the Prado Museum where you'll enjoy a guided tour of the galleries one hour before they open to the public. As you make your way through the stunning galleries of the Prado Museum, through the charming historic center, and wrap up at the grandiose Royal Palace, you'll be accompanied by an insightful local guide who will decode the city's lesser-known stories and hidden secrets every step of the way. And with a small group of just 16 guests maximum, you'll enjoy a more relaxed and intimate experience with easy access to your guide so you can ask them all your burning questions.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your tour starts when you skip the line and enter the Prado art museum, home to one of the greatest collections of European art in the world. Breeze past the crowds and head straight inside to enjoy a full tour of the museum’s highlights. Along the way, you'll meet the masters who have defined Spanish art throughout the centuries, from the court painters of the Spanish Royal Family to legendary artists like Goya, Velazquez, El Greco, Bosch, Tintoretto and more. Your guide will tell you the stories behind the art and help you understand what makes each piece so celebrated—which just isn't possible to do on your own in a museum boasting over 1,000 pieces on display! If you wish, choose the Prado Early Access option for a VIP experience in the Prado Museum where you'll enjoy a guided tour of the galleries one hour before they open to the public.
Leaving the museum, you’ll walk the medieval streets of central Madrid, stopping at famous landmarks like the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol as your guide tells your story of how the city went from an outpost of a crumbling Moorish empire to the preeminent Catholic power in Europe. And while there's plenty of history to be found in these streets, today the area is one of the city's coolest neighborhoods. You'll also learn how to make the most of it during the rest of your stay as your guide shares tips on where to eat, shop, and relax.
Sightseeing & photo stop.
Stroll towards the heart-stopping Royal Palace, where you'll enter with skip-the-line tickets to explore an incredible collection of paintings and textiles in each room. On your guided visit of the world's largest in-use royal palace, you'll see the palace's impressive chapel, the king's and queen's dressing rooms, the throne room—where bureaucrats are still received by the king and queen today—and more. You'll also hear the story of Madrid's most famous "mayor", King Carlos III, who was instrumental in shaping the modern city you've gotten to know throughout the day.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- This tour is in English.
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
- Sites on this tour are subject to occasional closures. If modifications are needed and time permits, we will reach out to you prior to your tour.
- Walks and Devour comply with all local government regulations. Please refer to local government guidelines for the most up to date information.
- Please note: This tour offers multiple options. Take a moment to choose the one that best suits your interests.
Reviews(842)
Our tour guide, David, was excellent and we really enjoyed the experience once we met him. The only challenge was finding the meeting point. It was difficult to locate David, and when I called the tour operator for help, the person on the phone was not helpful and made me feel unsure about making the tour. My recommendation would be to provide clearer directions to the meeting point and ensure phone support is more helpful in guiding customer
Being in the Prado before opening time us an outstanding experience, no crowds! Maria is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. Her choice of works to highlight was perfect. Highly recommend!
We’ve done a lot of walking tours in Europe, this was by far the best! Our guide, Adam, was very friendly and had a vast knowledge and enthusiasm which he happily shared. We learned so much about the artists in the Prado as well as Spanish royal history! Well worth your time while in Madrid .
Great and full of fun… our guide Adam was great speaker and run quite smoothly the tour. We enjoyed the day
David was a wonderful tour guide. We enjoyed our time in the Prado museum and his explanation of the different works of art. We were even allowed a stop to see some Bosch paintings before we left since we were the only ones on the tour that day. He is very knowledgeable of the cities history through the ages. A definite asset to the city tours. 5 stars! Gracias por todo!
Absolutely stunning site walk and thorough introductuon with LOLA!!
Excellent tour to get to know Madrid if you only have one day to visit the most iconic places in the city. The Prado Museum with its main works explained, as well as a guided tour through each of the rooms of the Royal Palace… highly recommended! Our guide Adam made the tour very pleasant with his charisma and extensive knowledge of the city's history.
A good tour to get to know the main places in Madrid during a morning, the visit to the Prado Museum with explanations about the most important works in the museum, and a tour with all the explanations about the Royal Palace, our guide Adam was very charismatic and well-prepared regarding the history of the city, providing new facts that are not normally heard on an audio guide, highly recommended.
Great experience. Great information. Great guide. Highly recommend. The four hours are perfect and just enough time.
This was a beautiful experience and our tour guide was so sweet and so wonderful. Thank you so much David for giving us so much information and answering all of our questions about Madrid, we really appreciated it! The Prado museum was amazing, and the Grand Palace was magical!
