Reina Sofía Museum tickets: €12, free evenings, Guernica in room 205.10 and the Tuesday closure

💡 The Short Version: The Reina Sofía is €12 and closed on Tuesdays. It is free from 19:00 to 21:00 Monday and Wednesday to Saturday and 12:30 to 14:30 on Sundays, but you still need a ticket, which is free and booked online. The museum says the busiest times are 10:00 to 12:00 and 19:00, and quieter between 14:00 and 18:00. Guernica is on floor 2, room 205.10. Use the Nouvel Building entrance on Ronda de Atocha 2 with an online ticket. Bags: 40 x 30 x 10 cm at most; no suitcases. Or book a tour: the Reina Sofía guided tour with ticketsad is from €38.64 (GetYourGuide).

Tickets and prices

The museum sells tickets at entradas.museoreinasofia.es and describes its visits at museoreinasofia.es. Search results for “Reina Sofía tickets” include sites with the museum’s name in their web addresses that are not the museum’s. Prices are the adult rate.

The Sabatini Building of the Reina Sofía and its glass lift towers. Photo: Luis García (Zaqarbal), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 es.

• Time slots. Between 10:00 and the start of the free hours, every ticket is assigned a time. It is valid from that time on the day, and you may come and go.
• Free for these visitors. Under 18, over 65, students and others at the ticket offices only, with ID or a passport. The ticket offices close 30 minutes before the museum.
• Free days. 18 April, 18 May, 22 May, 12 October and 6 December.

The free hours

• Individuals only. Groups do not use the free hours.
• Entry stops 30 minutes before closing, and the rooms are cleared 15 minutes before.
• Busiest at 19:00. The museum says the busiest times are 10:00 to 12:00 and the start of the free hours, and the quietest 14:00 to 18:00.

Where to buy

The museum runs guided tours at no charge, at set times and meeting points. Registration is at the meeting point, in order of arrival, from 30 minutes before the start.

Tours worth paying for

A paid tour adds a guide who is yours for the visit and a fixed start time. These two on GetYourGuide include the ticket. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

Guided tour with tickets

From €38.64 · 1.5 to 3.5 hours · 134 reviews

Madrid: Reina Sofía Museum Guided Tour with Ticketsad is run by Rutas Madrid in a small group, in English, Spanish or French. The ticket, an art guide and headsets are included, and the group skips the ticket queue. A three-course lunch with a drink at a restaurant is an optional add-on, and the longer duration is for that option. The meeting point depends on the option you choose. Cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.

Picasso and Guernica

From €39 · 1.5 hours · 51 reviews

Madrid: Picasso and Guernica Experience at the Sofia Museumad is run by Fun and Tickets, in English or Spanish, and covers Picasso rather than the whole museum. The fast-track ticket, a guide and an audio guide are included. The guide waits at the main entrance on Calle de Santa Isabel 52, 10 minutes before the start. Cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.

What to see

The museum recommends around two hours. Its collection holds about 25,000 pieces from the late 19th century to the present, and it is being rehung in stages until 2028, so the floor plan handed out at the entrance is the reliable guide. The permanent collection is on floors 2 and 4 of the Sabatini Building.

1. Guernica, floor 2, room 205.10. Picasso painted it in 1937 for the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition. It measures 349 by 777 centimetres. The Spanish state bought it in 1937, it stayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York until 1981, and it has been in the Reina Sofía since 1992.
2. Ángeles Santos’s Tertulia, room 205.06, on the same floor. The museum also holds works by Dalí, Miró and Juan Gris.
3. Floor 4, contemporary art from 1975 to the present, in the Sabatini Building.
4. The Nouvel Building’s rooftop terrace and the garden, where the museum shows sculpture outdoors.

What to skip: the cafés and shops, unless you need a break. The temporary exhibitions are included in the ticket and change often; the museum’s programme lists them.

The Nouvel Building’s red roof over its glass and slatted walls. Photo: Luis García (Zaqarbal), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Retiro galleries

The museum also runs two halls in the Retiro. The Palacio de Velázquez is free and open every day except 1 and 6 January, 1 May and 25 December, from 10:00 to 18:00 from October to March. The Palacio de Cristal is closed for renovation. The Retiro page has both.

Practical information

• Where: Calle de Santa Isabel 52, 28012. Metro Atocha (line 1), Estación del Arte (line 1) or Lavapiés (line 3). Cercanías trains stop at Atocha.
• Hours: Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 10:00 to 21:00; Sunday 10:00 to 14:30.
• Bags: handbags no larger than 40 x 30 x 10 cm, worn at the front. Lockers are at both entrances. Suitcases are not allowed in the museum or the lockers, and backpacks or objects longer than 50 cm cannot be stored.
• Entrances: the Sabatini Building on Plaza de Juan Goytisolo, and the Nouvel Building on Ronda de Atocha 2, which has fewer visitors.
• The one thing that ruins a visit: the closed days. The museum is shut every Tuesday, on 15 May and on 9 November, which is a Monday in 2026. The museum says the May and November dates can move with the Community of Madrid’s calendar.

The Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza are on the same avenue. The Paseo del Arte card covers all three, and free things to do in Madrid maps every free window. Museums in Madrid covers the smaller ones, and what to book before you go to Madrid lists the closed days for every sight.