Madrid City Pass

To know everything there is to see and do in Madrid, a good option is to buy a tourist card, as they offer discounts on tickets to major attractions, and also on tours, activities, stores and more.

In the case of tours, not only include guided tours of Madrid, but also to destinations such as Toledo, Segovia or El Escorial. In this article I will tell you which are the best tourist passes, how they work, everything they include, how to buy them and practical tips so you can take advantage of them in the best way. The options are:

• Madrid Explorer Pass: from 64 €.
• Madrid All Inclusive Pass: from 69 €.
• Madrid City Card: from 8.40 €.
• Paseo del Arte Card: from 35 €

With the Madrid Explorer Pass you can get discounts on 3, 4, 5, 5, 6 or 7 activities of your choice in the city of Madrid and surroundings. The price of the pass varies according to the number of activities you include and the discount is greater the more activities you choose. For example, the pass for 3 activities costs about 64 € for adults (21 € per activity) and 7 activities, about 134 € for adults (19 € per activity).

The interesting thing is that you do not have to decide which attractions you will know at the time of acquiring this tourist pass, but you can decide on the fly or when you arrive in Madrid. It is a flexible time pass, as you have 60 days to visit the attractions or take the guided tours of your choice.

Keep in mind that most of the activities require prior reservation, such as the visit to the Royal Palace, so it is advisable to choose the activities in advance to ensure your place, especially if you will be in Madrid for 3 days or less. In addition, you will have the card in digital format and an application with useful information to take advantage of during your trip.

This card is convenient because it not only includes tickets to attractions but also guided tours of Madrid that will allow you to know the highlights of the city. The pass also includes activities such as excursions to Toledo from Madrid, one of the most visited surrounding cities for its monuments and historic buildings.

Summary of benefits

• You can choose 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 activities to do within a period of 60 calendar days.
• Discounts of up to 50% on entrance fees, tours and tourist bus.
• More than 17 activities available to choose from.
• Application with updated information, tips and itineraries.
• Activated upon first use and valid for up to 2 years.
• Cancellation up to 90 days after the purchase date if you have not activated the card.

Some of the activities included in the Madrid Explorer Pass

• Guided visit to the Royal Palace
• Guided visit to the Reina Sofia Museum
• Guided visit to the Prado Museum
• Tourist bus tour with free stops to get to know the best of Madrid
• Flamenco show
• Visit to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum
• Visit to the National Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza
• Visit to the Wax Museum
• Visit to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid
• Visit to Toledo
• Visit to Las Ventas
• Tour to Cibeles Palace and Retiro Park
• Daytime and nighttime Segway tours around Madrid
• Bicycle tours in Madrid

Practical information about Madrid

• Number of activities: from 3 to 7 activities.
• Validity of the pass: 60 days, starting from the first use.
• Maximum validity: you can use the card for a maximum of 2 years.
• Price: from 64 € for adults and 54 € for children.

The Madrid All Inclusive Pass is a tourist card that is contracted by days and not by number of activities as the Explorer Pass. That is, it allows you to do all the activities you choose during the number of days included in the pass. You can buy a pass 1, 2, 3, 3, 4 or 5 days in Madrid.

There are more than 20 activities available to enjoy during your stay in the city, with varied proposals for all tastes. It is important that you choose them strategically, taking into account what activities interest you most, to plan an itinerary and make the most of this card.

For example, this card usually includes excursions to Segovia and Toledo, which you should plan and book in advance. It is also important that you take into account, for example, the opening hours of the Reina Sofia museum or the Royal Palace, in order to make the best use of your time in Madrid. To do this, you will have an application with updated information, which will facilitate the choice of activities.

Its use is simple, as you will have a digital card that you can show at each attraction to enter without delay. As for the duration of the pass, it lasts for consecutive days, and the days start counting from the first use, from the morning until 00:00 hours. You can activate the card at any time for a maximum period of 2 years, which is when the pass is no longer valid.

Summary of benefits

• All the activities you choose during the number of days you contract, which can be from 1 to 5 days.
• Discounts of up to 50% on tickets, tours and tourist bus.
• More than 20 activities available to choose from.
• App with updated information, tips and itineraries.
• It is activated with the first use and you have up to 2 years to use it.
• You have up to 90 days to cancel the pass if you do not activate it.

Some of the activities included in the Madrid All Inclusive Pass

• Guided visit to the Royal Palace
• Guided visit to the Reina Sofia Museum
• Visit to the Prado Museum
• Tourist bus tour with free stops to get to know the best of Madrid
• Guided visit to Toledo and Segovia
• Flamenco show
• Visit to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum
• Visit to the National Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza
• Visit to the Wax Museum
• Visit to Las Ventas
• Visit to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid
• Visit to Toledo
• Tour to Cibeles Palace and Retiro Park
• Daytime and nighttime Segway tours around Madrid
• Bicycle tours in Madrid
• Electric bicycle tours

Practical information

• Number of activities: unlimited.
• Number of days: 1, 2, 3, 3, 4 or 5 days.
• Price: from 69 € for adults and 59 € for children.

The Madrid City Card is the official tourist card of the city of Madrid, which you can purchase for a period of 1 to 5 days. It includes queue-free entry to some of the city's main attractions, such as the Royal Palace, the Atletico de Madrid stadium, the Paseo del Arte, the Cable Car, the Art Museum or the Liria Palace.

It also includes a free pass to use all means of transport, such as buses, the Metro and public electric bicycles. The transportation pass is activated from the first use and for the number of consecutive days that you have contracted, while the discounts for the attractions are valid for one month from the date of purchase. For this reason, it is a card that you should purchase close to the date of your trip.

Discounts on attraction tickets range from 10 to 50%. In case you wish to visit the Prado Museum, it offers free admission during the last two hours of opening every day. It also offers discounts on activities, audio guides, shows and stores, and even some tastings in selected businesses.

Although the discounts on tickets are less than those of other cards, and it does not include discounts for some of the main attractions or for tours of Madrid and its surroundings, its cost is much lower. Note that you can buy this card online, but you will have to pick up the physical card at the airport or at authorized stores. You can also buy it in authorized stores when you arrive in Madrid.

Summary of benefits

• Discounts from 10 to 50% on tickets to selected attractions.
• More than 17 attractions available in the city of Madrid.
• Fast pass: skip-the-line access to included attractions.
• Discounts in stores, shows, audio guides and tastings valid for one month from the date of purchase.
• Free pass on public transportation, including electric bicycles, which is activated with the first use for the number of days contracted.

What Madrid City Card includes

Madrid City Card includes discounts from 10 to 50% at the following attractions in the city:

• Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum.
• Mirador Madrid at the Cibeles Palace
• Moncloa Lighthouse
• Audioguide and discounts in the Almudena Cathedral store.
• Discounted admission to Las Ventas
• Nomad Immersive Museum
• Madrid Zoo Aquarium
• Lázaro Galdiano Museum
• Museum of Illusions
• Wind Tunnel
• San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts
• Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
• Fine Arts Circle
• Atlético de Madrid Stadium
• Madrid Amusement Park
• Liria Palace
• Caixaforum Madrid

Practical Information

• Number of attractions: more than 17.
• Duration: from 1 to 5 consecutive days.
• Price: from 8.40 € for adults and 4 € for children.

Paseo del Arte Card offers you the entrance to the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Art Triangle, at a promotional price. It is ideal if you are interested in visiting these three museums, which are considered among the best museums in Madrid. Tickets are without queues, so you can enjoy these three spaces without delay.

With these discounted tickets you can explore the permanent and some temporary collections of the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofia Museum, and the permanent collections of the Thyssen Museum. It is ideal if you have a special interest in art and do not want to miss touring these museums located in the Paseo del Arte, a site considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The pass is valid for one year from the first use, which gives you a flexible time to visit the museums at your own pace. However, it is best to purchase the pass when you have already made up your mind to visit these museums, as it is non-refundable and non-cancelable. Nor does it offer a promotional price for children, teenagers or seniors, but the museums themselves offer discounts of up to 50%.

On the other hand, if you have a special interest in visiting more museums in and around Madrid, you can purchase the annual State Museums Card, which includes admission to about 10 museums in Madrid and about 8 in other cities. This is a convenient alternative for longer stays or if, for example, you want to go to Segovia from Madrid or Toledo, and explore the museums in those cities.

Summary of benefits

• Queue-free admission to the Prado Museum: permanent and some temporary collections.
• No-queue entry to the Reina Sofia Museum: permanent collection and some temporary exhibitions.
• No-queue entry to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: permanent collection.

What to see in the Art Triangle

The Museo Nacional del Prado is one of the most important museums in the world, where you can see the works of outstanding artists such as El Bosco, Velázquez, Rembrandt, El Greco, Rubens, Ribera, Goya and Rafael, among others. Some of the best paintings you can see at the Prado Museum are Saturn devouring his son by Goya, Las Meninas by Velazquez and the Triptych of the Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch.

As for the Reina Sofia Museum, it is one of the most important contemporary and 20th century art museums in the world, with more than 18 thousand pieces of art. Some of the best paintings at the Reina Sofia Museum include Picasso's Guernica, Joan Miró's La casa de la palmera and Dalí's Muchacha en la ventana.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is another of Madrid's fundamental museums, where you can see works by Gauguin, Van Gogh, El Greco, Rubens, Caravaggio, Degas, and Manet, among others. Some of the outstanding paintings exhibited in this museum are El Greco's The Annunciation, Van Gogh's Les Vessenots en Auvers, and Degas' Dancing Ballerina Tilting.

Practical information

• Number of attractions: Prado Museum, Reina Sofia Museum and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
• Validity: 1 year from the first use.
• Price: from 35 € per person.
• Observations: non-cancellable and non-refundable.

Alternative: guided tours to two museums

If you are interested in visiting the Reina Sofia Museum and the Prado Museum, you can take the tour with an expert guide who will show you the highlights of each museum so you don't miss anything. In addition, he or she will provide you with interesting information about the works and artists, which will undoubtedly enrich your visit.

These guided tours usually include skip-the-line entry to both museums and are conducted in small groups of people, so you can ask as many questions as you wish. If you do not have much knowledge of art and you are interested in learning more, these are the guided tours of Madrid that you cannot miss.

In the Spanish capital, you have other alternatives to save money during your stay, such as the tourist bus passes, which are a comfortable way to move around the city and see its main attractions.

The best tourist buses in Madrid have free stops at the main attractions, such as the Prado Museum, the Almudena Cathedral, the Cibeles fountain or the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. They also have an audio guide and Wi-Fi on board, so you can find out about the places of interest you can visit. The frequency of the buses is 1 every 30-40 minutes.

You can purchase a tourist bus pass for your stay of at least 1 or 2 days in Madrid, but in another purchase transaction. If you hire it for 2 days you get a bigger discount, since the cost for 1 day is about 25 € for adults and for 2 days is about 30 € for adults.

practical information

• Number of stops: Historical Madrid route (16 stops), Extended Historical Madrid route (22 stops), Modern Madrid route (16 stops) and Extended Modern Madrid route (20 stops).
• Duration: 1 or 2 days. It can be contracted for more days in a different purchase operation.
• Price: from 25 € for adults and 11 € for children and seniors.