Madrid Paseo del Prado Self-Guided Audio Walk: Cibeles, the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía

About this experience

In the 1770s King Carlos III turned a string of meadows into Madrid's grand promenade, with three fountains down the middle and institutions of science around it. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and many of the buildings along it were made for one job and now do another. Start at the Plaza de Cibeles, walk under the plane trees past the Apollo and Neptune fountains, and see the Thyssen and the Ritz. Read the Prado's front from the Goya and Velázquez doors, then the Botanic Garden's gate, CaixaForum's floating power station and the ministry built on the garden's lost ground. Finish at Atocha's 1892 iron hall and the Reina Sofía, a royal hospital that now holds Guernica. Ten stops, about 1.8 km and 75 minutes, gently downhill, at your own pace, in English. Entry to the Prado, the Thyssen, the Reina Sofía, the Botanic Garden and CaixaForum exhibitions is not included.

Experience type

Day tour or activity

Duration

1 hour and 15 minutes

Audio guide

English

Guide

English

Categories

Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours

What's included

Self-guided audio tour in English: 10 stops, 1.8 km, 75 minutes Stops at Cibeles, Apollo and Neptune, Prado's Goya and Velázquez fronts GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it

What's not included

A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee

Please note

To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: Any day except Tuesday if you want to finish inside the Reina Sofía, which is closed on Tuesdays (on a Tuesday morning, though, the Botanic Garden is free from 10:00 to 13:30). Afternoons are best: the Prado's front faces west and is backlit in the morning. To end in the Reina Sofía's free hours, start at about 17:30 on a Monday or Wednesday to Saturday and reach the museum around 19:00 (free 19:00 to 21:00). The Botanic Garden closes at 19:00 in October and 18:00 in November and December, last entry 30 minutes earlier. On Mondays the Thyssen's collection is free from 12:00 to 16:00. Checked 14 October 2026. Getting to the start: Banco de España Metro (line 2) is at the start. Come up on Calle de Alcalá and cross the Paseo's road at the traffic lights to the tip of the central promenade. Recoletos station (Cercanías lines C1, C2, C7, C8 and C10) is also close, and many city buses stop at Cibeles. Checked 14 October 2026. Getting away from the end: Estación del Arte Metro (line 1) is about 150 meters from the Reina Sofía, Atocha Metro (line 1) is a little further, and long-distance and Cercanías trains leave from Madrid-Atocha. Checked 14 October 2026. The Prado (stops 4 to 6): Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 20:00, Sundays and holidays 10:00 to 19:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing. The main ticket desks are at the Goya entrance (stop 4) and open 15 minutes before the museum; desks at the other doors open at 10:00. Groups, and our in-app guide to the inside of the Prado, start at the Puerta de los Jerónimos on the building's east side, about two minutes from stop 4. The last hours of the day are free; check today's price and free hours on the museum's site. Checked 14 October 2026. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (stop 3): 14 EUR; free Mondays 12:00 to 16:00 and Saturdays 21:00 to 23:00. Checked 14 October 2026 at museothyssen.org. Real Jardín Botánico (stop 6): 4 EUR, free on Tuesdays 10:00 to 13:30; in October open 10:00 to 19:00. Entry only by the Puerta de Murillo at stop 6. Checked 14 October 2026 at rjb.csic.es. CaixaForum (stop 7): daily 10:00 to 20:00; exhibitions 6 EUR, free for under-16s. The square, the covered space under the building and the plant wall are free at any hour. Checked 14 October 2026. Cuesta de Moyano bookstalls (stop 8): about thirty second-hand bookstalls, open daily roughly 9:30 to 13:30 and 16:30 to 19:00, each setting its own hours. Walking up the slope and back is a short detour. Checked 14 October 2026 at esmadrid.com. Museo Reina Sofía (stop 10): closed Tuesdays; free Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 19:00 to 21:00 and Sunday 12:30 to 14:30, but you still need a ticket. Jean Nouvel's red-roofed extension, unveiled in June 2005, is round the back on Ronda de Atocha, and it is the recommended entrance with an online ticket. Checked 14 October 2026. The central promenade from stop 1 to stop 3 and again after stop 6 is shaded by plane trees; stops 8 to 10 are open and hot in summer, so carry water. The Cibeles fountain (stop 1) went under scaffolding for restoration in late July 2026, for about five months, so it may still be covered. The stop works without it. The fountains at stops 1 and 3 stand on traffic islands: there is no access to them. Checked 14 October 2026. Atocha's tropical garden (stop 9), inside the old 1892 hall, is temporarily closed for works, and there may be hoardings round the old station. Stop 9 is told from outside. Checked 14 October 2026. Between stops 3 and 4 the route goes down one short flight of steps, with no handrail, into the Prado's north garden. We have not been able to confirm a step-free way into the garden at that point. Cross the Paseo del Prado and the big squares only at the marked crossings on the route, almost all with traffic lights. Between stops 3 and 4 you cross three roads at lights (the Paseo's east side, the Plaza de la Lealtad road and Calle de Felipe IV). Between stops 6 and 8 you cross the Paseo's east side at the lights by the Four Fountains, then the west side at the crossing in front of CaixaForum (twice) and the east side again at lights. Between stops 8 and 10 you cross the Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, the Avenida de la Ciudad de Barcelona and two arms of the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, all at lights. Never cut across the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V elsewhere. Pickpockets work the Prado's queues, the Cibeles bus island and the area round Atocha station. Keep bags closed and in front of you. The Prado's Goya entrance (stop 4) has queues at opening time; keep to the side of the path and do not block the line. The Reina Sofía is closed on Tuesdays, and the Botanic Garden closes at 19:00 in October and 18:00 from November: the walk works from outside at any hour. Checked 14 October 2026. Public transportation nearby

Itinerary

1. 1
   Day 0

   Plaza de Cibeles: The Goddess and the Palaces

   Plaza de Cibeles, Paseo del Prado side (Metro Banco de España), Madrid

   A goddess in a lion-drawn chariot opens the promenade, ringed by a bank and a post office palace that is now the city hall.

2. 2
   Day 0

   Fuente de Apolo: The Middle of the Plan

   Paseo del Prado, at the Fuente de Apolo, Madrid

   Apollo and the Four Seasons stand at the promenade's exact center, the middle of Carlos III's three fountains.

3. 3
   Day 0

   Fuente de Neptuno: The Thyssen and the Ritz

   Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, by the Neptune fountain, Madrid

   Neptune's fountain is the hinge of the walk, with the Thyssen museum, the Ritz and a war memorial round one square.

4. 4
   Day 0

   Puerta de Goya: A Stair Added Later

   Paseo del Prado, at the Prado Museum's Goya door, Madrid

   Goya in bronze guards the Prado's north end, where a grand stair climbs to a door left high above the street.

5. 5
   Day 0

   Puerta de Velázquez: Reading the Prado's Front

   Paseo del Prado, at the Prado Museum's Velázquez door, Madrid

   This is the classic view of the Prado's long front, with Velázquez in bronze before its Doric portico and a carved frieze above.

6. 6
   Day 0

   Plaza de Murillo: The Botanic Garden Gate

   Plaza de Murillo, at the Royal Botanic Garden gate, Madrid

   The science half of the king's plan faces the art half here, between the Prado's south door and the Botanic Garden's gate.

7. 7
   Day 0

   CaixaForum: The Floating Power Station

   Paseo del Prado 36, facing CaixaForum Madrid, Madrid

   An old brick power station floats over a covered square, beside a wall of living plants.

8. 8
   Day 0

   Palacio de Fomento and Cuesta de Moyano

   Cuesta de Moyano, by the bookstalls and the Palacio de Fomento, Madrid

   A ministry stands on ground taken from the Botanic Garden, with bronze winged horses on its roof and bookstalls beside it.

9. 9
   Day 0

   Estación de Atocha: The Iron Hall

   Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, facing Atocha station's 1892 hall, Madrid

   Atocha's iron and glass hall of 1892 became a palm garden, beside the working trains.

10. 10
    Day 0

    Museo Reina Sofía: The Unfinished Hospital

    Plaza de Juan Goytisolo, at the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid

    Only a third of this royal hospital was ever built, and it was saved from demolition, given glass towers and made the home of Guernica.

Meeting point

Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid Plaza de Cibeles, Paseo del Prado side (Metro Banco de España), Madrid, Community of Madrid, ES

Pick up

Pickup is not provided.

Cancellation policy · Madrid Paseo del Prado Self-Guided Audio Walk: Cibeles, the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía

Standard Viator policy

• Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
• Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.

Good to know

Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.