THREE FOR FREE
Did you ever take a humanities class in high school or an art history elective in college? Well, lots of the pieces you remember from the slide show on the overhead projector permanently live in Madrid. A short walk from Puerta del Sol and you can be at three of the most important art museums in the world, the so-called Golden Triangle of Art: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (the Reina Sofía), Museo Nacional del Prado (the Prado) and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo Nacional (the Thyssen). Unlike school, you’re not going to be graded on your understanding of art, so don’t feel obligated to be comprehensive. Whether you tour one museum or all three, see them on your own terms.
An art museum can be a tricky proposition for a young family. Any child’s behavioral swings are amplified in a museum setting. A ‘hangry’ child or a kid who wants to take off running down a hallway full of Goyas doesn’t get any leeway from the serious art aficionado types. Yelling and whining echo in rooms designed for quiet reflection. It’s a potential parenting nightmare. “Why can’t you appreciate Picasso like the rest of us?”
We recommend visiting these museums during their free hours. This became our de facto practice after a harrowing visit to the Prado. We had paid full admission, motivated our two toddlers with promises of treats and set forth to explore. Fifteen minutes later we were forced to abandon the museum because our kids were simply too loud and naughty! They fought, they pestered one another, they yelled, they ran up and down every set of stairs. It was a special kind of torture as we tried to admonish our children in hushed tones while grave adults judged us.
Several days later, we mustered the courage to try again – during the free admission time frame. Sure, you will wait in line and there will be more people than normal hours. But, look around! You will see strollers. You will see families of all shapes and sizes. These are your people! Your children’s behavior suddenly seems tame compared to all those other rugrats. With admission prices mitigated, you don’t have to live in fear of pulling the ripcord on the whole operation. The Prado and Reina Sofía only offer 2-hour free admission blocks, but that’s ample time to see the masterpieces within. Truncated time in exchange for tolerant vibes is a fair trade-off.
Prado
Free Admission Mondays through Saturday 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Sundays & Holidays 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
What was once the Royal Spanish Collection, is now art for the people. The 16th and 17th century court paintings by Velázquez and Goya will serve as contextual visual aids to any Spanish history you’ve gleaned on your trip. The rest of the museum is like a Renaissance Hall of Fame with works by El Greco, Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian.
Target the Prado after a properly long lunch or a lazy afternoon in El Retiro (a park also reclaimed from the crown for the people). The free admission queue starts forming at least an hour early, so if you arrive right at opening time, you will wait. But, it’s been our experience that once near the front entrance, families with strollers get plucked from the line and whisked through security and into the museum.
Reina Sofia
Free Admission Monday, Wednesday through Saturday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Sundays 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Within the halls of this converted hospital is a survey of 20th century art, culminating with what’s widely considered the most important piece of its time, Picasso’s Guernica. All the big art ‘isms’ (modernism, cubsim, surrealism) are on display from the biggest names of contemporary times (Dalí, Miró, Kandinsky). Queuing up outside, you will see the aptly named Plaza Museo Reina Sofía come to life as local teens can’t resist the mammoth exterior museum staircases as a hangout spot. Tip: Reina Sofía now offers day-of free admission tickets on-line. So, you can essentially skip the line and enter for free!
If you want to reward yourself with a “good job, team” post-art meal, La Caníbal is around the corner and behind Reina Sofía – perfect for a very late lunch or very early dinner. Cheese boards, natural wines and an impressive beer list will get you started. This is our current favorite restaurant in Madrid. Staff is kind and informative. We successfully billed the fried cod to our children as ‘fancy fish sticks.’
Thyssen-Bornemisza
Free Admission Monday 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
This is a private art collection (of a baroness!) so complete and so all-encompassing that it needed its own museum. The Thyssen offers a crash course in art history as its displays span all of modern humankind from the 13th century to now. You start on the third floor and work your way downwards through time. The chronological layout allows the visitor to see what was important in art when – fear of God, human form, nature, emotion – and put together your own understanding of western art’s evolution over time. The real strength of the collection is in 19th century American art and Impressionism, so if your family’s clock is running down, make a bee-line here, located on the first floor. You could use a Thyssen outing as a springboard to an impromptu tapas crawl on nearby Calle de Jesus.