Museum
A cultural centre on Paseo del Prado showing ancient, modern and contemporary art alongside music, talks and family workshops. Herzog & de Meuron converted a former electric power station, adding its vertical garden and the building's 'floating' effect. Exhibitions cost €6, and it opens daily 10:00–20:00.
Transport hub
Madrid's first railway station (1851) and now a terminal for AVE high-speed, long-distance and Cercanías local trains. The iron roof over the old hall, built in the 1892 enlargement, is a city landmark. The old hall's tropical garden is temporarily closed for works.
Museum
Founded in 1867 and reopened in 2014 after a six-year remodel, the museum covers Mediterranean cultures from prehistory to the 19th century, including Greek ceramics, Visigothic votive crowns and Spanish Islamic ivories. The Lady of Elche is a highlight. Entry is €3, free on Saturday afternoons, Sunday mornings and 12 October.
Museum
Spain's national art museum, opened in 1819, with the world's most comprehensive collection of Spanish painting, including Velázquez's Las Meninas and Goya's The Third of May, 1808, plus Italian and Flemish masters. It holds 8,600 paintings, so choose your highlights first. The Collection is free in the last two opening hours: from 18:00 Monday to Saturday and from 17:00 on Sundays.
Museum
Traces European painting from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century in a collection of over 1,000 works, strongest in Italian primitives, the German Renaissance, 19th-century American art, Impressionism, German Expressionism and Russian Constructivism. The permanent collection is free on Mondays 12:00–16:00; otherwise a general ticket is €14.
Museum
Madrid's national museum of modern and contemporary art, home to Picasso's Guernica alongside works by Dalí, Miró and Juan Gris. General entry is €12. Free slots, which still need a booked ticket, run 19:00–21:00 on Mondays and Wednesday to Saturday and 12:30–14:30 on Sundays. It is closed on Tuesdays, and entry is free all day on 12 October.
Attraction
Opened in 1909 as the Spanish Post Office headquarters, designed by Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi, and Madrid's City Hall since 2007. The building is free to enter and houses the CentroCentro exhibition spaces, a tourist information point and the Landscape of Light interpretation centre. Exhibitions open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–20:00.
Attraction
The fountain at the centre of this square has shown Cybele on a lion-drawn chariot since 1782; Charles III commissioned it and Ventura Rodríguez designed it. The square marks the start of the Paseo del Arte and is ringed by Buenavista Palace, Linares Palace (Casa de América), Cibeles Palace and the Bank of Spain.
Park
Founded under Charles III beside what is now the Prado and run today by Spain's National Research Council (CSIC), the garden shows some 5,500 species of live plants and keeps a herbarium of over a million specimens. It was declared an Artistic Garden in 1942. Gardens-only entry is €4 and it opens daily from 10:00.