Reina Sofia Museum Opening Hours

The so-called Art Triangle, the area where the Reina Sofia, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Prado museums are located, should be part of any list you prepare on what to visit in Madrid. In fact, if you wanted to see these museums in depth, you would definitely need several full days.

In the case of the Reina Sofia museum, opened in 1992, the collection is focused on modern and contemporary art from around the world. The works in its permanent exhibition are focused on the 20th century, while the temporary exhibitions cover up to the present day. To visit it comfortably it is necessary to have some information, starting with the opening and closing hours.

The normal opening hours of the main building of the Reina Sofia Museum (composed of the Sabatini building and the Nouvel building) are from 10:00 to 21:00, with the exception of Tuesdays when it is closed.

On the other hand, its other venues (the Crystal Palace and the Velazquez Palace, both in the Retiro), open every day at 10:00 am. Between April and September, they close at 21:00 in the case of the Crystal Palace and at 22:00 in the case of the Velazquez Palace.

In October, the two palaces close their doors at 19:00 hours, while the rest of the months they do it at 18:00.

All this information is subject to change by decision of the museum, so I recommend that you check it on the official website before planning your visit. In any case, so that you have more clear these schedules, here I leave them in the form of a list:

Main Headquarters: Sabatini Building and Nouvel Building

• Monday and Wednesday to Saturday: opening at 10:00 am and closing at 21:00 pm
• Tuesday: closed
• Sunday: opening at 10:00 am and closing at 14:30 pm.

Headquarters Parque del Retiro: Palacio de Velázquez and Palacio de Cristal

• Open every day of the week
• January and February: from 10:00 to 18:00
• March: between 10:00 and 19:00
• April - September: from 10:00 to 22:00
• October: opens at 10:00 and closes at 19:00
• November - December: between 10:00 and 18:00

Three notes to keep in mind

• Ticket sales end 30 minutes before museum closing time.
• The galleries should begin to empty about 15 minutes before closing time, regardless of which venue you are visiting.
• Some days of heavy rain or heat alert may cause the Palacio de Cristal to close due to the characteristics of the building. Therefore, check the weather forecast before you go.

Like other national museums, the Reina Sofia allows free admission on certain days and times. Please note that you must still pick up your ticket at the ticket office before entering.

• Monday: from 19:00 to 21:00, only for individuals
• Wednesday-Saturday: between 19:00 and 21:00, also only for visitors who do not go in groups
• Sunday: from 12:30 to 14:30

Also, you can also enter for free on some holidays, such as October 12. I recommend that you check these dates on the museum's website, as some of them change every year.

The Reina Sofia Museum closes very few days a year, but it is always convenient to know the dates to avoid arriving at the door and find it closed:

• January 1 and 6: during these days the Retiro venues are open until 17:00 hours
• May 1: the same consideration as in the previous days
• 24, 25 and 31 December: the Retiro venues also remain open

In addition, it can also close on some holidays in the Community of Madrid, such as the day of San Isidro and the Almudena.

If you want to buy a souvenir of your stay in Madrid (either for yourself or to make a gift), the Reina Sofia museum store is a great option. There you will be able to find a lot of interesting products related to the exhibitions and you are sure to find something you like. The opening hours are as follows:

• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: the store is open from 10:00 to 21:00 hours
• Tuesday: closed
• Sunday: the opening is at 10:00 in the morning and closing at 14:30 hours.

Of course, you can also browse the catalog before your visit or buy something directly from the online version of the museum store.

A little known option offered by the Reina Sofia museum for some groups of visitors is to hire a private tour.

This type of guided tour is intended for individuals, companies or organizations that want to organize a tour of the museum in a special way. If desired, the visit can focus on a specific theme, such as architecture, history, pictorial movements or theater.

The museum also offers the possibility of ending the private visit with a reception, cocktail, lunch or dinner in the rooms set up for this purpose within the building itself.

Those interested in this type of event should note that they can only be held outside normal visiting hours:

• Tuesdays throughout the day
• Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8:00 p.m.
• Sundays from 2:30 p.m.

It is very common that those who visit the Reina Sofia Museum combine it with another of the best museums in Madrid and the whole country: the Prado Museum. Not only because of its geographical proximity, but also because few want to miss the best paintings exhibited in its facilities.

If that is your case and you want to go before or after the Prado Museum, here are the opening hours:

• Monday to Saturday: between 10:00 and 20:00 hours
• Sundays and holidays: opens at 10:00 and closes at 19:00 hours

Free admission hours

• Monday to Saturday: from 18:00 to 20:00 hours
• Sundays and holidays: between 17:00 and 19:00 hours

It is important to keep in mind that you can only access the museum until 30 minutes before closing time.

The third great museum located in the so-called Art Triangle is the Thyssen Bornemisza. Although it is possibly the least visited of the three, it never hurts to know its opening hours in case you want to take the opportunity to see its collections.

• Permanent Collection: Mondays between 12:00 and 16:00 hours and the rest of the days of the week between 10:00 and 19:00 hours.
• Temporary exhibitions: the schedules are different depending on the exhibition, so if you are interested in any of them, please visit their website for information.
• Museum Day and Night: in addition to free admission, the museum is open until 1:00 am.
• December 24 and 31: open between 10:00 and 15:00
• On January 1, May 1 and December 25 the museum is closed

This question, frequently asked when planning a tour of Madrid (or any other city), does not have a simple answer. The wide collection of the museum can lengthen the time spent in the facilities, although most often each person pays more attention to the works that interest them most.

Generally speaking, those who are true fans of modern art will need several hours to contemplate all the works. For those less passionate, it can take between 1 and 2 hours to go through the most important areas and enjoy the main works of the museum.

My advice is not to try to see everything in one day, as you run the risk of ending up too saturated and not enjoying the exhibition as it deserves. Plan well which works interest you the most and if you see that it is impossible to see them all, you can always start organizing your next visit.

Although you can enter the Reina Sofia Museum for free at certain times, the truth is that it is not the most appropriate. If there are usually a lot of people at all times, at that time the number of visitors increases and you will not be able to enjoy the most important works in a comfortable way.

My advice is to plan your visit to the Reina Sofia museum early in the morning, just at the time it opens. If you have bought a skip-the-line ticket, you won't have to wait at all (other than the time it takes to get through the security check) and you will find many of the rooms still empty or with very few people.