Because of the Prado's recent, very drastic renovation, online tour resources are limited. I'm in a regrettable time crunch (thank goodness the Prado is open so late!), and have been searching for quick tour tips similar to those available for the Louvre.

While my best resource ended up being the official website, most specifically the "Your Visit" link--
http://www.museodelprado.es/en/visit-the-museum/
--some of the most pertinent info can be a bit hidden. There is a flash map presentation with some good info in it, but here are what I think are the best nuggets from the website:

Pretty obvious gem of a link: The 15 Masterpieces
http://www.museodelprado.es/en/visit...5-masterpieces

A bit more hidden, but still pretty easy to find: Printable Floor Plan (use LEGAL or bigger paper so it's readable)
http://www.museodelprado.es/fileadmi...lanoIngles.pdf

Pay dirt!: 1, 2, 3 hr tours
http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-c...n/what-to-see/

Other resources:
1) Google /Prado Google Earth tour of paintings. My graphics card is so bad this doesn't help me at all. Those of you with fab new computers might have much better luck.
2) Rick Steve's "Spain 2010" Prado tour--not as good as some of his other tours, and no MP3 options as in other cities.

Now can anyone help me out with trying to buy tickets online? I do plan to rent audio guides once we get there and pick up their Quick Tour leaflet(s), but of our limited time (too bad we have to go home and work for a living), I would like to buy tickets online. The English online purchase link quoted by a Venere poster (see his blog at http://www.venere.com/blog/madrid-prado-museum/) no longer operates. Has anyone had success with finding an operable English purchase link?

Hi,

From your first link: http://www.museodelprado.es/en/visit-the-museum/

In the pink box that says Ticket Sales, the bottom has a link for ONLINE ADVANCE SALES

I clicked on it and got a new window with online ticket purchase. https://www.entradasprado.com/ It's in Spanish only (or at least, I can't find a way to switch to English), but I was able to go through a dummy booking for Feb 4 this week. You can even choose to purchase the audioguide in advance along with your ticket.

Thanks YK. I had done the same thing that you did, but the date I want doesn't work, and that's why I'm searching for any operable English link.

A TripAdvisor poster must have run into the same problem and just ended up calling. While she experienced the usual credit card hassles (you know, one card doesn't work, another one does, call credit card company; same old drill), she WAS able to buy and was emailed her PDF ticket link. So I think that's going to be my course of action.

And I have to admit I like getting those emails, don't you? I once misplaced my Ann Frank tickets and just accessed the link from my In-Box from the hotel computer right before we left the hotel.

I know I am begining to sound like Rain Man but this is what I wrote this week on another Spain Topic:

Someone thought they were giving us a gift when they gave us Little Ricky's Spain. People have said they he is good for guidance on art. In his Spain guide he calls Velásquez the photojournalist of the court. And although photojournalism is a difficult and often dangerous occupation, Little Ricky shows a complete lack of understanding of Spanish and Western art as Velásquez is one its most influential artists.

My last visit to the Prado was just weeks before the expansion, so I wish I could of additional assistance.
But if you can put together a tour that includes the following you will get a taste of some the great Spanish painters plus Bosch, a personal favorite.

Velázquez
Goya
El Greco
Murillo
Ribera
Zurbarán
Bosch

Yep, yep, yep--I'm in your court on this one, Aduchamp, at least for the Prado tour.

There are times when Little Ricky adds value (I actually happen to enjoy his Cluny Museum Tour, for example) and there are times when his stuff has humor but has little substance (my kneejerk reaction to this Prado tour).

That's exactly why I'm trying to assemble my own tour route so we can hit the ground running. And Bosch is our baby to be sure--we did four Netherlands museums last spring, so Bosch is one of the MAJOR reasons we're trying to get the best out of the museum.

The special Dutch/Flemish exhibit may throw me for a loop. I have to decide if we have to broker some time into the special exhibit because desired paintings in regular collection may have been pulled into it. I have the resources, now--I just have to study and work it.

We also want to hustle over to the Reina Sofía for Picasso's <i>Guernica</i>. Luckily, they are open ONE hour later, and we have a shot.

Are you trying to buy a ticket too far advance ahead? Did you try dummy booking for a day before or after the date you want?

I'm pretty sure we're buying too far ahead. That's why I'd like an English site so I could see what's going on (I'm OK in French and a disaster in anything else).

However, really, it's not that big of a deal. Buying online would save minutes on entry, not hours, in the early evening. And since we're coming on a flight into Madrid that day, perhaps it's just better that we can be flexible with hour of entry anyway.

But thank you, YK!

I did not even realize Little Ricky was trying to be funny.

Not found the English online purchase link but found this about the Prado:
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display...useo+del+Prado

Thanks for this useful info. Will check out these links for my upcoming trip.

Revulgo--You just sent me to a really neat website for other information--I'm going to spend the next hour playing with it!

For those that did not check out Revulgo's link, it pretty much dissects the Prado website with screen shots and descriptions, giving us the ability to cut to the chase.

Ironically, this website also demonstrates the problem I specifically encountered--the online tickets sales in English had disappeared.

Here's what I mean: If one goes to the top of the page and clicks on "View Change", it takes you to the differences in the website now. And some of the most useful pages first demonstrated on the
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display...useo+del+Prado link that Revulgo posted
have actually disappeared as demonstrated on the "changes" link:
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/pages/d...inalId=6821997
(darn, I would have loved to have had the family itinerary, even in Spanish).

No matter what, though, this is REALLY cool and I thank you!

Correction: I should have said "the online ticket sales page doesn't exist." What had disappeared between the two analyzations of the Prado website is a family itinerary in Spanish. And again, "Darn!".

And although the wiki.fluidproject.org website that Revulgo so kindly gave us is under construction in areas, I think the page that lists the museum websites that are currently being analyzed is VERY useful:
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display...useum+websites
because so far, these museum websites have been done:

•COSI - Center of Science and Industry
•Design Museum
•The Detroit Institute of Arts
•Exploratorium
•Guggenheim Bilbao
•Indianapolis Museum of Art
•Mass Moca - Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts
•McCord Museum
•Musée d'Orsay
•Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
•Museo Nacional del Prado

It has a beginning list of iphone tours, and that's actually something I had hoped I could find for the Prado (no luck--yet).