Madrid walking tours compared: the pay-what-you-wish Walkative walks, paid walks from €19, evening walks, bike tours from €14.50 and the hop-on hop-off bus at €33

💡 The Short Version: For a first look, Walkative’s “Welcome to Madrid!” walk runs on tips: 2½ hours from Plaza de Isabel II, ending at the Fuente de Neptuno, with booking obligatory. A paid walk is from €19 for 2 hoursad or from €25.11 for the 2½-hour Lexi Walking Tours walkad. Evening walks start at €18, bike tours at €14.50, and the Madrid City Tour hop-on hop-off bus is €33 for 24 hours. Museum and palace entries are separate tickets. Prices on GetYourGuide are the lowest “from” prices for one adult and move with the date (GetYourGuide).

The tours, compared

Tip-based walks

Walkative: Welcome to Madrid!

Pay what you wish · 2 hours 30 minutes · Plaza de Isabel II

Walkative runs the walk from the Royal Palace through the Plaza de la Villa and the Plaza Mayor to the Puerta del Sol and the Gran Vía, and past the Prado to the Fuente de Neptuno. It follows the city from its Islamic origins as Mayrit through the Habsburg and Bourbon eras to the Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship. There is no fixed price: the operator says most guests give between €10 and €50 a person. Booking is obligatory, groups of 8 or more cannot join, and the walk runs in all weather; Walkative cancels only for extreme weather, a guide’s illness or fewer than 5 registered guests. Groups book its paid option at €20 a person, or a private tour. The meeting point is Plaza de Isabel II, in front of the Teatro Real, beside Ópera station, and the guide carries a yellow umbrella. The walk suits reduced mobility and strollers.

The Plaza de la Villa, with the Casa de la Villa at right. Photo: Anagoria, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Walkative: 20th Century Madrid

Pay what you wish · 2 hours · same meeting point · ends at Plaza del Dos de Mayo

The same operator’s second walk covers the Spanish Civil War, Franco’s dictatorship and the cultural explosion of La Movida Madrileña. It meets at Plaza de Isabel II and ends at Plaza del Dos de Mayo, in Malasaña, under the same booking rules. Walkative lists paid walks too, among them Modern Madrid and a Prado masterpieces tour, each 2½ hours.

Paid city walks

Lexi Walking Tours

From €25.11 · 2½ hours · 4.9 stars, 2,397 reviews

Madrid: Welcome to Madrid Guided Walking Tourad is the paid orientation walk of the oldest part of the city. The operator’s own site also lists The Other Side, a walk through the contemporary city, a Prado tour with an art expert, a food and wine walk and a Spanish Civil War tour.

The must-see walk and the Walkative paid tour

From €19 · 2 hours · from €25.50 · 2½ hours

Madrid: Must-See Attractions Walking Tourad is from €19 for 2 hours (118 reviews, 4.7 stars). Walkative sells its English-language walk on GetYourGuide as Welcome to Madrid Guided Walking Tour in Englishad, from €25.50 for 2½ hours (440 reviews).

Evening walks

From €18 · about 2 hours

Madrid: Spanish Inquisition and Legends Evening Walking Tourad is from €18 for 110 minutes (1,623 reviews, 4.8 stars), run by Mysterium Tours. Madrid: Dark Side Walking Tour with True Crime & Legendsad is from €26 for 2 hours (325 reviews, 4.9 stars).

The Plaza del Cordón in the Madrid de los Austrias, with St Michael’s Basilica at right. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Bike tours

From €14.50 · 2½ to 3 hours

Tim Bikes, at Calle del Espejo 9, lists a Highlights Bike Tour that passes the Royal Palace, the Prado, the Plaza Mayor, the Puerta del Sol, the Retiro, the Mercado de San Miguel, the Almudena Cathedral, CaixaForum, the Puerta de Alcalá and the Cibeles fountain, and a Tapas Highlights tour with three pinchos and a drink. It also rents bikes, and its office is open 10:00 to 18:00 every day (timbikes.com).

To ride without a guide, the city’s electric BiciMAD bikes are on the public transport page.

Tuk-tuks and the hop-on hop-off buses

Eco tuk-tuk

From €23.70 · 1 to 4 hours · private

Madrid: Private City Tour in a 100% Electric Eco Tuk Tukad is a private tour in an electric tuk-tuk, from €23.70, with a length of 1 to 4 hours depending on the option (4,263 reviews, 4.8 stars).

Madrid City Tour

€33 for 24 hours · €44 for 48 hours · 34 stops on 3 routes

The Madrid City Tour is the sightseeing bus the operator calls official since 2011. The ticket allows hopping on and off at any of 34 stops on 3 routes, with an audio guide in 10 languages and a children’s guide in Spanish and English, an app that tracks the bus in real time, free wifi and a wheelchair space. The operator lists the 24-hour ticket at €33 and the 48-hour ticket at €44, shown from €29.70 and €39.60 with an online discount. A walking tour of Madrid with prior registration is included. Madrid City Tour - Hop On Hop Off Busad is from €29.70 on GetYourGuide (13,615 reviews, 4.1 stars).

Big Bus

From €29.70 · night tour from €23.40

Madrid: Big Bus Hop-on, Hop-off Open-Top Sightseeing Tourad is from €29.70 (1,178 reviews, 4.2 stars), and the Big Bus Panoramic Night Tour by Open-top Busad is from €23.40 for 70 minutes (1,469 reviews, 4.3 stars).

Which tour

• A free first look at the centre: Walkative’s “Welcome to Madrid!” walk, on tips.
• A paid walk with a booked guide: the must-see walk from €19, or Lexi’s from €25.11.
• The 20th century: Walkative’s second walk, on tips.
• An evening out: the Inquisition and legends walk from €18.
• Covering more ground: a 3-hour bike tour from €28, or a hop-on hop-off ticket at €33.
• A private ride: the electric tuk-tuk from €23.70.

The walks are outdoors, so the sights they pass have their own tickets: Royal Palace tickets, Prado Museum tickets and Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol. Madrid food tours cover the walks that end at the table, and the Madrid tourist pass compared shows whether a pass that bundles a bus or a tour pays. What to book before you go to Madrid lists the sights that sell out, free things to do in Madrid lists what costs nothing, and Madrid public transport covers the way to the meeting points. Madrid in one or two days fits a tour into the days around the sights, and where to stay in Madrid compares the areas.