Prado Museum guidet tur med skip-the-line billet

Isabella was a GREAT guide who shared her deep knowledge in a fun and inviting way. So glad we booked this tour.

Isabella was phenomenal- she was so knowledgeable and asked great questions to draw in the group. It was clear that she knew her stuff and we learned so much and made great connections with other art we’ve seen in other museums.

Our tour was scheduled to start at 4, but earlier in the day, the tour office called me and asked if we could start at 3 instead, which would make our schedule a little tight, but we agreed. Then they told us that we HAD to be at the meetup spot at 2:30 to make sure the tour started on time, which was a very strict schedule. Well that made our day even tighter, but we agreed. We showed up at the meeting place at 2:30 after rushing through our earlier activities to get there, and we were immediately irritated. The "meeting place" is a sidewalk outside of a restaurant a couple of blocks from the museum. It was 95 degrees outside, and the meeting place had no shade or seats. Just a hot sidewalk. AND no one from the tour company even showed up for 10 more minutes! When she showed up, she checked us in but then just stood there. Turns out she wasn't even the tour guide. The tour guide herself (who seemed very nice) showed up AFTER 3PM! At that point we were so hot and tired and irritated that we did not even want to go on the tour. The tour guide tried to give us the radios and we told her that we did not want them, we just wanted our tickets, and we would tour the museum on our own. But here's the thing -- she did not even have our tickets! We then walked as a group the 2-3 blocks to the front of the museum, where there were seats under a lot of shade. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN THE MEETING PLACE!!! She gave us our tickets and as we were walking to the group entrance, the tour guide says that we were not allowed to take pictures in the museum, were not allowed to drink water in the rooms where paintings were, and could not take backpacks into the museum. NONE OF THIS INFORMATION WAS IN THE TOUR INFORMATION. WE would NOT have chosen to take this tour had we known these things. I had to check my backpack at the front. They were "required" to check the entire tour group's bags together, but our nice guide fought a little bit for me to check my bag separately because we were not going to stay with the group and would likely leave long before they were done. Thankfully, she won that fight. The museum is fine. It's not our favorite museum, but there are some nice works in there. Highly recommend the Cloister area, and check out the Mona LIsa (the first copy of the original Da Vinci made). NO water fountains and scant few bathrooms. We do NOT recommend booking this tour. The lines (that the tour "skips") were not very long, even on a summer weekend day. If you book a museum ticket on your own and buy the audio guide for you to take yourself on the tour of the museum, you will pay about half of the price of this tour, be able to move at your own pace, and won't have to sit outside in the heat waiting for your tour guide to show up to start the tour. BE PREPARED to not have a backpack, not take any pictures, and not drink water unless you are in a corridor with no paintings. We only gave this 2 stars instead of 1 because the tour guide (who did show up late) did seem very nice. We are sure that she was a lovely guide, the little bit of time we spent with her.

We had an exceptional experience with our guide Isabelle. Her knowledge and enthusiasm made the experience with each painting and artist much more engaging and educational. To make the scope of such a vast collection of works of art more manageable (so many paintings!), she focused on works by Bosch, Goya, Velazquez, and El Greco. I’m now much more aware of symbolism, technique, and elements to be noticed in these works of art. Very enriching tour!

We paid for a tour that we never got. They changed the time, meeting point was not clear, no one at meeting point within the said window, didn’t offer different tour time, and will not refund our money. We will NOT BE USING TRIPADVISOR AGAIN.

Felt rushed, could understand tour operator and headset didn’t work. Plus tour operator left me and I lost 1/2 my tour

Sara the guide was great and we really enjoyed our tour of the Prado. This tour really just hits the highlights of the collection so plan to stay for a few more hours to even scratch the surface of the enormous collection. The one star off was for the audio equipment, which constantly cut out randomly. Several other participants experienced the same and the poor guide could only do so much in the crowded and loud museum.

Alot of information in a short time. Maria was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Fantastic tour. Highly recommend. Maria was extremely knowledgeable in art and European history. I learned a lot !

Our visit to the Prado Museum was truly unforgettable thanks to our wonderful guide. Maria was incredibly knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate, making every artwork come to life with her fascinating stories and insights. Her enthusiasm and professionalism made the experience both enjoyable and inspiring. I highly recommend her to anyone visiting the Prado Museum. Thank you for such an amazing tour!