Prado National Museum, Madrid

Excellent museum! I’ve been there times and still haven’t been able to cover everything! It’s easy to get to and the start of the tourist bus route. From 18:00 - 20:00 they are open everyday. It’s not a bad place for lunch either. They usually have good reasonable priced meals.

I understand this is supposed to be a great European art museum, but it's just not on the level of museums like you'd find in Paris, London or New York. No matter what people tell you. There are tons of well painted but somewhat tedious portraits of Hispanic nobility and about as many overwrought religious paintings. I found little that really touched me or that stuck with me after I left If you're in Madrid, it's kind of a must see, but be forewarned to keep your expectations lower than I did. Yeah, yeah, Hieronymus Bosch... If you think you might like to buy a few gifts or souvenirs on your way out, you should know that the shop closes exactly when the museum does. Odd, I know. So factor that in when you decide when to head for the door. A smart operation would shift the shop opening and closing time an hour later to account for the fact that people spend money when leaving a museum, but not generally before they've seen the exhibition. Maybe they do on some days, but when we visited, we ended up being herded out of the shop moments after arriving with at least 200 other visitors. Furthermore, the postcard section, usually where we spend money, was closed even before closing time.

I’m in love with this museum, if you are going with kids ask at the information about their activity to engage kids at the museum. They also have a audio guide for kids! Do not doubt to ask for a tour guide! They will give you the most curious tips about the paintings, but make sure to have extra time to go back to enjoy the paintings. Also they have a great memory game and card game you can buy at the museum shop, it saved us during train time.

Fantastic building with an astonishing collection that's just the right size to be doable in 2-3 hours without feeling like you've missed much. Detailed descriptions of every painting in Spanish and English also means you don't need an audio guide or guidebook - much better to just get lost and stumble on things at random. Small rooms and expert arrangement of key works means there's any number of surprising lines of sight to something world famous through the large doorways - the only downside being that small rooms mean those same key works can get swamped. The Garden of Earthly Delights needs careful examination - but raise it up by a couple of extra feet, and more people would be able view it over the heads of the people squinting at the details in the front row of the scrum. That's a minor quibble, though. Everything else about the place is superb.

I have to give 5 stars for this place. MOST OF MADRID, I have to give them 7stars. Fell in love with the museum. If your favorites are Goya, Dali, then this is the place for you to enjoy there thoughts and dreams. Need to go early so as not to miss all what the museum has to offer. If you visit Madrid then don't miss this. They have special discounts for students and elderly and kids.