520

Does anyone have information about the Madrid paseo del arte card? It's not clear on any of the museum sites whether the card can only be used on ONE day for all THREE museums (the Prado, Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen) of whether one can use it on three separate days for each of the museums. We leave on Tuesday and would like to purchase it in advance if we could find this out.

Maribel

It's good for a year. You can certainly use it on 3 separate days for each of the 3 museums.

520

Maribel, Many thanks!! No one I know has used it--and as I said in my question it isn't at all clear in any of the information I could find whether it could be used on three separate days. Did you find it to be the good deal it seems to be?

Maribel

At 14.40€ it's a money saver over the
general entrance fees of the 3, total of 16€, so long as you don't plan to visit the special exhibits at the Prado which require a timed ticket or the Thyssen, which require an extra fee of 3€.

So it depends on whether your visit will coincide with the Goya exhibit at the Prado, April 15-June 13 or others, or with the current Modigliani exhibit, until April 18, at the Thyssen, or other future ones.

And the Prado is free now Tues.-Sat. from 6-8 pm and Sun. from 5-8 pm. Not really time enough to do it justice, but it's enough time for a second visit, to concentrate on the rooms of a particular artist.

Maribel

I meant to write general entrance fees of the 3, 18€ (6€ at each museum).

520

Yes, it is slightly cheaper than paying the three separate entrance fees. Did you buy it on line--and if so at what site? I've tried to google paseo del arte card countless times and can't get a site. Somewhere I read that it can only be bought on line, but I may be misremembering. And, yes, I do know that it's not good for the special exhibits--we probably will pay to see the Modigliani and the Picasso shows. We are only going to be in Madrid from this Tuesday to this Sunday, so won't be there for the Goya.

Maribel

One can't buy the Paseo del Arte online.
You do NOT pay extra for the Picasso show at the Reina Sofía; it's included in the general admission. I just saw it 2 weeks ago.

520

Thank you again!! So where does one buy it? (All that time wasted searching the net. Asi es la vida.) And that's great news about the Picasso show for the same price. Were the lines very long?

Maribel

Hi 520,
We went after 5 pm on the very first day it opened, and lines weren't long at all. Took just a minute to buy tickets, but I think many didn't realize that the exhibit had opened that day.

You can buy the Paseo del Arte at any of the 3 museums, but I buy mine at the Reina Sofía or the Thyssen, since the lines in front of the Goya sales booth outside the Prado can be very long at peak times.

Maribel

Hi 520,
Me again.

I think the card you might have read about that one can purchase online is the new Madrid Culture Card.

It offers free entrance to 43 museums plus the soccer stadium tour and allows the holder to skip the lines at the big 3 art museums (but doesn't include special exhibits requiring a separate ticket). Plus they throw in some discounts on restaurants & shopping.

But I just don't see it as a money saver. You can buy it for 24, 48 or 72 hours and costs 28, 32 and 36€

It's a shame you'll miss the Velázquez Fables special exhibit at the Prado which closes tomorrow, but there's PLENTY of spectacular art left there to savor! We enjoyed the big "19th century in the Prado" exhibit, which doesn't require a special ticket. Works by Fortuny, Madrazo, Sorolla and others.

Hope you enjoy the Modigliani and those 400+ Picassos. Enjoy your trip!

520

Hi Maribel,

Again, thanks, for your very helpful and useful information. I may have gotten the Madrid info and the Paseo del Arte confused--I've never been interested in the Madrid card--it seemed like a waste of money, but that site kept coming up when I'd search for the PDA card. I had started to think the the museums were the place to buy the PDA card, but none of their sites actually state that. Anyway, we'll plan at getting it at one of the other two--not the Prado.

I haven't been to Madrid for 30 years--and my husband has never been there. In my early 20s I spent quite a bit of time in Spain,and we were in Barcalona and the Basque country in 2003, but this is really a quickie trip--just the four days in Madrid.

Also, thanks for all your great suggestions on Chowhound. Sounds like you know Madrid quite well, indeed. Glad I saw them.

Maribel

Hi 520,
If you need more info (more than you'll probably every need!), I have a very looooong (70 pages & counting) Madrid guide you can download at
www.maribelsguides.com

Have a great 4 days!

520

Thanks, again. I see that you ARE an expert on Spain. We already have more guides than we need for four days--but may yield to temptation.