Considering visiting the Prado one or two of the free evenings. I read that after the tour bus and cruise ship crowds have left that it should not be crowded. Your knowledge and information appreciated.

Huh? What were you reading?

How in G-d's name can a cruise ship dock in Madrid?

Go google Museo del Prado and find out what evenings it's open.

this is from a couple years ago. I think the free hours were 6-8pm. If you arrive before that to line up, it takes awhile to get in once they start admitting at 6. So the first time we stood in line, til we figured let's try getting there a little later. So we arrived at maybe 6:30 and then you have about 1 1/4 hrs.

Not too much time but we were staying nearby and went over on a few different evenings. Nice stop for a brief visit each time. Of course you will have to decide if it's worth it- as I said, being close by made it convenient. We're better with multiple shorter visits than marathon ones!

BigRuss- thank you!! I keep getting my sights and cities confused. We are going to Madrid and Barcelona and the cruise ships definitely apply to Barcelona. Glad you are so sharp today.��

nvl-thanks, think I will just purchase online before we go. It would not be a good thing to miss the Prado. I so dislike having to reserve a certain entry time and think it requires one.

If you can spend some time at El Prado when it is free, by all means, do so! But depending on your interests, that might not afford you enough time in this extensive and impressive museum.

I go to the Prado during the free hours a lot. It is definitely better to arrive at around 6:30 pm when the line is gone, and also you need to be prepared as to which rooms you want to see - because you don't have a lot of time to lollygag.

Also if you want to visit the gift shop do it as soon as you arrive because it closes earlier than the museum (at around 7:15 or 7:30.)

If you are staying close to the Prado, and have two nights or so, you can go more than one night and see quite a bit.

You might consider paying and going in for a good long visit, then go at the free time to see the rooms that you want to revisit. There is SO much that it can be a bit overwhelming with one visit. Have fun!