Free things to do in Madrid

The Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums in Madrid each offer free entry every week, a fact most visitors know in outline and few know in detail. What changes from one museum to the next is whether a ticket is needed at all, whether it can be booked in advance, and how much of the collection the free entry covers. All three sit along the Paseo del Arte, close enough to walk between them, which is why they are known together as the Golden Triangle of Art. Here is what each one requires, museum by museum.

August in Madrid means heat, and this year it also means an unusually strong run of free, air-conditioned exhibitions to duck into. Quantum Revolution and Exponential, tucked inside Espacio Fundación Telefónica, are the kind of shows you're meant to touch rather than just read about, and Yo fui a EGB at Conde Duque works the same way, filling its rooms with the actual school supplies and toys a whole generation grew up with. Alongside them sits a career-spanning Annie Leibovitz show, the first time Robert Frank's The Americans has been exhibited In full in Spain, and a national museum reopening a restored 19th-century palace in the middle of Retiro. Ten shows in total, all free, all running at least through the end of August.

By nine in the morning on a July weekend, the slide hill at Madrid Río already has a queue. The city does not leave families without options in summer — the problem is knowing what is open when, and which things are genuinely free versus cheaper than expected. This guide covers the best plans with kids for summer 2026, in order of how much they cost (starting from nothing).