The Paseo del Prado: the back story

About The Paseo del Prado: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Madrid Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

In 2021 UNESCO inscribed “Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences” on its World Heritage List. The avenue runs from the Cibeles fountain past the Prado to Atocha, with the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Real Jardín Botánico along its length and El Retiro rising behind.

The avenue

The Paseo del Prado is lined with plane trees and punctuated by three great fountains, Cibeles, Apollo and Neptune.

The museums

The Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and, at the southern end, the Reina Sofía, home of Picasso’s Guernica, are a short walk apart.

Pick one museum a day, and walk the avenue between them.

El Retiro

Behind the Prado, El Retiro has the lake, the Palacio de Cristal (a glass pavilion built in 1887, in esmadrid’s words) and long avenues of trees.

Planning

The Prado opens 10am–8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am–7pm on Sundays and holidays (museum and esmadrid.com); book tickets on the museums’ own websites.

Our advice: arrive at the Prado when it opens, and keep the Retiro for the late afternoon.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Paseo del Prado: the back story before you go.