Unfortunately, getting in for a closer look at Las Meninas can mean waiting in a long line at the museum’s main gate, slapping down €14, and elbowing your way through crowds for a stressful and expensive outing.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. See our best tips on saving money and time at the Prado, outlined below.

Related: 10-Day itinerary in Spain for touring Madrid, Barcelona & Seville

1. Go first thing in the morning or at lunch hour

Get up early and arrive in the morning about 15 minutes before the museum opens at 10 am. You can book a budget hotel close by to save time. If you’re not an early riser, go in the afternoon and hang tight until just after Spanish lunch hour around 3 pm. Locals are busy eating lunch, and big tour groups have already been in and out, on their way to the next big Madrid attraction.

2. Save during free admission times

Don’t want to fork over the €14 entry fee? Go from 6 pm to 8 pm on Mondays through Saturdays, and 5 pm to 7 pm on Sundays and holidays when admission is free. Of course, you might decide you’d prefer to pay when you see the long line. Come prepared with a book, or a friend that you like having long, public conversations with.

For the smallest crowds, try Mondays through Wednesdays. Madrid isn’t just the Spanish capital, it’s also a college town, and that means Thursdays through Sundays are weekends for broke students on the prowl for free things to do. If you’re interested in the temporary exhibitions, book them during the free evening schedule for half off, then head to the Jerónimos entrance for temporary exhibition ticket holders. The line is usually shorter there. Just remember, last admission is 30 minutes before closing, and the galleries are cleared 10 minutes before lights out.

If it’s an hour until closing and you just joined a long line, you might be better off coming back the next day. Waiting until the last minute may mean you don’t get to go at all. Daring visitors can try to go in through the gift shop during free afternoons — just ask the guard at the door if you can go into the shop, then carry on into the museum after pretending to browse books and postcards.

You can expect big crowds around the famous Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez. Photo: cea

3. Map out what you want to see ahead of time

Scope out the art you want to see before you go on the Prado’s website. There’s even a downloadable Museum plan if you want to get familiar with which floors you want to visit. The museum site also has an explore the collection page where you can search the collection by artist, concept, century, and school of painting, among other qualifiers. If you’re overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of the art on exhibition, a good jumping off point to decide what you want to see is the Prado’s masterpiece page. Notable highlights by Spanish artists include Velazquez’s Las Meninas and Goya’s Maja, in clothed and naked versions.

Related: 10 Spanish phrases every traveler should know

4. Know your entrance gates

The Prado is a big museum. So it’s no surprise it has multiple points of entry — five to be exact. Unfortunately, for the average tourist, you can only buy tickets at two of them, both on Felipe IV Street in Plaza de Goya. Only one of these, the Puerta de Goya Baja, offers the full range of concessions and discounted tickets. At the Puerta de Goya Alta, automated ticket machines can mean shorter lines, but you’ll have to pay full price. The other gates, Puerta de Velázquez, Puerta de los Jerónimos, and Puerta de Murillo are points of access only with no tickets for sale.

The Murillo entrance line is usually shorter than the others, but it’s technically only for educational and cultural groups. Sometimes the gatekeeper will usher you on through, but you run the risk of ending up at the end of the line.

5. Go on a beautiful winter day

Winter in Madrid is slow, with the exception of the busy holiday season around Christmas and New Year. Even on colder sunny days, more tourists and locals choose to stay outside and soak up the sun in Madrid’s parks and green spaces.

6. Reserve your tickets online

Shell out an extra euro to skip the line at the Goya entrances and breeze through the entrances reserved for tickets bought ahead of time. Book online before you go.

7. Buy a combination Art Ticket

If you know you want to visit the Prado, the Thyssen, and the Reina Sofia, the art museums that make up Madrid’s golden triangle, and you’re going to be in Madrid for a good amount of time, then splurge on the Paseo del Arte. You have an entire year from the date of the visit selected upon purchase to visit all three, and it’ll save you over €6 when compared to buying the full-price tickets individually.

The post Madrid: How to save money and time at the Prado Museum appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

If you are a “Museum Geek,” or at least feel more tempted by the Prado than Prada, you’ll want to keep in mind these money-saving museum tips, as visits to Madrid’s galleries can really add up fast.

Prado Museum

Opening times-
From Monday to Saturday 10 am – 8 pm
Sundays and holidays 10 am – 7 pm
Closed: January 1, May 1, and December 25
Reduced opening hours: 10 am – 2 p m: January 6, December 24 and 31.

The Prado is Madrid’s most popular museum, so be prepared to wait in line. Why is it worth the wait? Because it houses paintings such as Las Meninas by Velázquez and  The Third of May: the Executions on Príncipe Pío by Goya.

At €12 a pop (or €22 with a guided tour), it’s worth looking into the Prado’s free days and discounts. Those 65 and older, or who have the Carné Joven, or are part of a “familia numerosa” (large family) get half off, paying just €6 per person. The museum is free for everyone under the age 18, journalists, tour guides, students with a valid ID between the ages 18 -25, the unemployed, the handicapped, and members of the organizations listed here.

Plus, the Prado museum is free for all Monday to Saturday from 6 pm to 8 pm and on Sundays and holidays from 5 pm to 7 pm. On November 19 and Museum Day, the Prado is free all hours.

Reina Sofía

Opening times-
Monday – Saturday from 10 am – 9 pm
Sundays from 10 am to 2:30 pm
Tuesdays Closed
The Museum is also closed on: January 1 & 6, May 1 & 15, November 9, and December 24, 25 and 31.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía shows art produced from the late 19th century to present day. The museum has over 20,000 pieces and is one of the most important museums in Spain. Look for paintings and art by Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Picasso and Antoni Tàpies among many others.

At just €6 a ticket to see the permanent and temporary collections, this national art museum is not expensive. If you are only interested in the temporary exhibition, then it’s just €3 to get in. The museum also offers plenty of free days, including the International Museum Day, Mondays – Fridays from 7 pm to 9 pm, Saturdays from 2:30 pm to 9 pm, Sundays from 10 am to 2:30 pm, the 18th of April, the 12th of October and the 6th of December.

In addition, the museum entrance fee is waived for everyone under 18 years of age, students with a valid ID, everyone 65 and older, the handicapped, those who accompany the handicapped, tour guides and journalists.

Thyssen-Bornemisza

Opening times-
Tuesdays to Saturdays- 10 am to 11 pm.
On Sundays and Mondays, 10 am to 7 pm.
Closed Monday August 20th.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum offers visitors an overview of art from the 13th century to the late 20th century. In addition to a permanent collection, there are temporary exhibitions throughout the year. From June to September 2012, Hopper’s works will be on display.

If you’re under 12 years of age or unemployed then you get into Thyssen-Bornemisza for free. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay €9 for general admission and €6 if you’re a student with a student ID, 65 or older, have the Carné Joven, are a Fine Arts professor, handicapped, or part of a “familia numerosa” (large family). A combined ticket for Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections and Hopper exhibition is €15.

The only day that the museum is open to all for free is on the International Museum Day, once a year. Also, all of you out there born in 1992 get into Thyssen-Bornemisza for free during 2012 in honor of the museum’s 20th anniversary. You can buy tickets online here.

The Madrid Card

It may also pay to get a Madrid card for about €38 for 24 hours if you’re into to seeing all the museums. The Madrid Card  will get you into the three biggies listed above, plus many other museums in the city.

At this price though, you’d have to see at least four or five museums in 24 hours to make it a deal, and that’s a lot of art in a short time span, even for your most enthusiastic “Museum Geek.” Another option is Tarjeta Paseo del Arte, which gets you into the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza for about €22. This is probably your best bet if you can’t hit the free days or times. The Tarjeta Paseo del Arte can be purchased at any of the three museums.

Also in our guide: If you’re in the process of researching a trip to Madrid and are looking for budget-friendly hotel suggestions, be sure to swing by our Madrid guide. Our editors have visited and inspected affordable hotels all over the city’s center.

The post Madrid: Free and reduced times to visit the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.