Madrid Tourist Cards

To discover everything there is to see and do in Madrid, a good option is to purchase a tourist card, as it offers discounts on admission to major attractions, as well as on tours, activities, shops, and more.

As for tours, they include not only guided tours of Madrid but also trips to destinations like Toledo, Segovia, and El Escorial. In this article, I’ll tell you which tourist passes are the best, how they work, what they include, how to purchase them, and practical tips so you can make the most of them. The options are:

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

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

The great thing is that you don’t have to decide which attractions to visit when you purchase this tourist pass; instead, you can decide as you go or once you arrive in Madrid. It’s 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 activities require advance booking, such as the visit to the Royal Palace, so it’s best to choose your activities in advance to secure your spot, especially if you’ll be in Madrid for 3 days or less. In addition, you’ll receive the card in digital format and an app with useful information to help you make the most of your trip.

This card is convenient because it not only includes admission to attractions but also guided tours of Madrid that will let you see the city’s highlights. The pass also includes activities such as day trips to Toledo from Madrid, one of the most visited nearby cities, known for its monuments and historic buildings.

Summary of benefits

• You can choose 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 activities to enjoy within a 60-day period.
• Discounts of up to 50% on tickets, tours, and the sightseeing bus.
• More than 17 activities available to choose from.
• App with up-to-date information, tips, and itineraries.
• It activates upon first use and is valid for up to 2 years.
• Cancellation up to 90 days after the purchase date if you haven’t activated the card.

Some of the activities included in the Madrid Explorer Pass

• Guided tour of the Royal Palace
• Guided tour of the Reina Sofía Museum
• Guided tour of the Prado Museum
• Hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus tour to see the best of Madrid
• Flamenco show
• Visit to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum
• Visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
• Visit to the Wax Museum
• Visit to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid
• Visit to Toledo
• Visit to Las Ventas
• Tour of the Cibeles Palace and Retiro Park
• Daytime and nighttime Segway tours of Madrid
• Bike tours of Madrid

Practical Information

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

The Madrid All Inclusive Pass is a tourist card purchased by the day, rather than by the number of activities like the Explorer Pass. In other words, it allows you to enjoy all the activities you choose for the number of days included in the pass. You can purchase a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-day pass in Madrid.

There are more than 20 activities available to enjoy during your stay in the city, with a variety of options for all tastes. It’s important to choose them strategically, considering which activities interest you most, so you can plan an itinerary and make the most of this card.

For example, this card typically includes excursions to Segovia and Toledo, which you must plan and book in advance. It’s also important to keep in mind, for example, the opening hours of the Reina Sofía Museum or the Royal Palace, so you can make the most of your time in Madrid. To help with this, you’ll have an app with up-to-date information, which will make it easier to choose your activities.

Using it is simple, as you’ll have a digital card that you can show at each attraction to enter without delays. As for the pass’s validity period, it is based on consecutive days, and the days are counted starting from the first use, from morning until midnight. You can activate the card at any time within a maximum period of 2 years, after which the pass expires.

Summary of benefits

• All the activities you choose during the number of days you purchase, which can range from 1 to 5 days.
• Discounts of up to 50% on tickets, tours, and the tourist bus.
• More than 20 activities available to choose from.
• App with up-to-date information, tips, and itineraries.
• It activates upon first use, and you have up to 2 years to use it.
• You have up to 90 days to cancel the pass if you don’t activate it.

Some of the activities included in the Madrid All Inclusive Pass

• Guided tour of the Royal Palace
• Guided tour of the Reina Sofía Museum
• Visit to the Prado Museum
• Hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus tour to see the best of Madrid
• Guided tour of Toledo and Segovia
• Flamenco show
• Visit to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum
• Visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
• Visit to the Wax Museum
• Visit to Las Ventas
• Visit to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid
• Visit to Toledo
• Tour of the Cibeles Palace and Retiro Park
• Daytime and nighttime Segway tours of Madrid
• Bike tours of Madrid
• Electric bike tours

Practical Information

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

The Madrid City Card is the official tourist card for the city of Madrid, available for a period of 1 to 5 days. It includes skip-the-line admission to some of the city’s main attractions, such as the Royal Palace, the Atlético de Madrid stadium, the Paseo del Arte, the Cable Car, the Art Museum, and the Liria Palace.

It also includes an unlimited pass for all public transportation, including buses, the Metro, and public e-bikes. The transportation pass is activated upon first use and remains valid for the number of consecutive days you’ve purchased, while discounts for attractions are valid for one month from the date of purchase. For this reason, it’s best to purchase the card close to your travel dates.

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

Although the discounts on admission tickets are smaller than those offered by other cards, and it does not include discounts for some of the main attractions or for tours of Madrid and the surrounding area, its cost is much lower. Keep in mind that you can purchase this card online, but you’ll need to pick up the physical card at the airport or at authorized locations. You can also buy it at authorized stores once you arrive in Madrid.

Summary of benefits

• Discounts of 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 on shops, shows, audio guides, and tastings valid for one month from the date of purchase.
• Unlimited public transportation, including electric bikes, which is activated upon first use for the number of days purchased.

What’s included with the Madrid City Card

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

• Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
• Mirador Madrid at the Cibeles Palace
• Moncloa Lighthouse
• Audio guide and shop discounts at the Almudena Cathedral
• Discount on admission to Las Ventas
• Nomad Immersive Museum
• Madrid Zoo Aquarium
• Lázaro Galdiano Museum
• Museum of Illusions
• Wind Tunnel
• Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando
• Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
• Circle of Fine Arts
• Atlético de Madrid Stadium
• Madrid Amusement Park
• Liria Palace
• Caixaforum Madrid

Practical Information

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

The Paseo del Arte Card offers you admission to the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum—the Art Triangle—at a promotional price. It’s ideal if you’re interested in visiting these three museums, which are considered among the best in Madrid. Tickets are skip-the-line, so you can enjoy these three venues without delays.

With these discounted tickets, you can explore the permanent and some temporary collections at the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum, as well as the permanent collections at the Thyssen Museum. It’s perfect if you have a special interest in art and don’t want to miss visiting these museums located on the Paseo del Arte, a site designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The pass is valid for one year from the first use, giving you flexible time to visit the museums at your own pace. However, it’s best to purchase the pass once you’ve decided to visit these museums, as it is non-refundable and cannot be canceled. It also does not offer promotional rates 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 exploring more museums in Madrid and the surrounding area, you can purchase the Annual State Museums Card, which includes admission to about 10 museums in Madrid and about 8 in other cities. It’s a convenient option for longer stays or if, for example, you want to travel from Madrid to Segovia or Toledo to explore the museums in those cities.

Summary of benefits

• Skip-the-line admission to the Prado Museum: permanent collection and some temporary exhibitions.
• Skip-the-line admission to the Reina Sofía Museum: permanent collection and some temporary exhibitions.
• Skip-the-line admission to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: permanent collection.

What to see in the Art Triangle

The Prado Museum is one of the most important museums in the world, where you can see works by renowned artists such as Bosch, Velázquez, Rembrandt, El Greco, Rubens, Ribera, Goya, and Raphael, among others. Some of the best paintings you can see at the Prado Museum are Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son, Velázquez’s Las Meninas, and Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights triptych.

As for the Reina Sofía Museum, it is one of the world’s most important museums of contemporary and 20th-century art, with over 18,000 works of art. Among the best paintings at the Reina Sofía Museum are Picasso’s Guernica, Joan Miró’s The House with the Palm Tree, and Dalí’s Girl at the Window.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is another of Madrid’s essential museums, where you can see works by Gauguin, Van Gogh, El Greco, Rubens, Caravaggio, Degas, and Manet, among others. Some of the notable paintings on display at this museum include El Greco’s The Annunciation, Van Gogh’s Les Vessenots in Auvers, and Degas’s Dancer Balancing.

Practical Information

• Number of attractions: Prado Museum, Reina Sofía Museum, and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
• Validity: 1 year from first use.
• Price: starting at €35 per person.
• Notes: Non-cancellable and non-refundable.

Alternative: guided tours of two museums

If you’re interested in visiting the Reina Sofía Museum and the Prado Museum and exploring them in depth, you can take a tour with an expert guide who will show you the highlights of each museum so you don’t miss a thing. Plus, they’ll provide interesting information about the works and artists, which will undoubtedly enrich your visit.

These are guided tours that generally include skip-the-line tickets to both museums and are conducted in small groups, so you can ask as many questions as you like. If you don’t know much about art and are interested in learning more, these are the guided tours in Madrid you won’t want to miss.

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

The best tourist buses in Madrid offer free stops at major attractions, such as the Prado Museum, Almudena Cathedral, the Cibeles Fountain, and the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. They also feature audio guides and Wi-Fi on board, so you can learn about the sites of interest you can visit. Buses run every 30–40 minutes.

You can purchase a sightseeing bus pass for a stay of at least 1 or 2 days in Madrid, but this is a separate purchase. If you buy a 2-day pass, you’ll get a bigger discount, since the cost for 1 day is about €25 for adults and for 2 days it’s about €30 for adults.

Practical Information

• Number of stops: Historic Madrid route (16 stops), Extended Historic Madrid route (22 stops), Modern Madrid route (16 stops), and Extended Modern Madrid route (20 stops).
• Duration: 1 or 2 days. You can book for more days in a separate transaction.
• Price: starting at €25 for adults and €11 for children and seniors.