The official Reina Sofía Museum website is museoreinasofia.es, operated by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. The standard adult ticket costs €12. Free entry is available every Saturday from 14:30 to 21:00 and every Sunday from 10:00 to 14:30. Under-18s, students 18–25, seniors 65+, and teachers enter free at all times (collecting free tickets at the museum desk). The museum is open Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 10:00–21:00, and Sunday 10:00–14:30. It is closed every Tuesday.
The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is Spain’s national museum of 20th- and 21st-century art, and the home of Guernica — Pablo Picasso’s 1937 painting of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica, the most politically significant work of art of the 20th century. The museum occupies two buildings: the 18th-century Sabatini hospital (converted in 1992) and the Jean Nouvel extension (2005), linked by the open metallic structure that defines the museum’s exterior from the Calle Santa Isabel side. Beyond Guernica, the permanent collection holds works by Dalí, Miró, Juan Gris, Taulats, Chillida, and an outstanding international 20th-century collection.
The Reina Sofía Museum entrance ticket gives reserved entry with free cancellation, skipping the ticket queue on arrival. For a guided experience, compositional structure, and the rest of the permanent collection, the Reina Sofía Museum guided tour pairs entry with a licensed English guide. For a full Madrid Art Triangle morning, see our guide to Reina Sofía Museum tickets for all options including the Passeport del Arte.
The official website is museoreinasofia.es, operated by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía — a Spanish state institution. The site covers ticketing, the full exhibition calendar, collection database, guided tours, and educational programmes. Available in Spanish and English.
Warning: Several unofficial websites sell Reina Sofía tickets at inflated prices. The standard adult ticket costs €12 on museoreinasofia.es with no booking fee. Always verify the URL is museoreinasofia.es before entering payment details. GetYourGuide is an authorised partner at the same price with free cancellation.
The Reina Sofía has one of the most substantial free entry programmes of any major European art museum: specific free windows that make the museum genuinely accessible every week without charge.
Free entry does not mean short queues: The free Saturday afternoon and free Sunday morning are the busiest periods of the week at the Reina Sofía. The Guernica room in particular can be extremely crowded during free hours. The official site recommends visiting between 14:00 and 18:00 on weekdays for a quieter experience. If Guernica is your primary reason for visiting, a weekday paid ticket (10:00–12:00) gives the most contemplative experience.
| Ticket / Access Type | Book Through | What It Includes | Price (2026) |
| Standard adult | museoreinasofia.es / GetYourGuide | Full access to the permanent collection (Guernica, Dalí, Miró, Picasso) and current temporary exhibitions, in both the Sabatini and Nouvel buildings. | €12 |
| Senior 65+ | museoreinasofia.es | Free. Must collect a free ticket at the museum ticket office on the day. | Free |
| Under 18 | museoreinasofia.es | Free at all times. Must collect a free ticket at the museum ticket office. | Free |
| Students 18–25 | museoreinasofia.es | Free with valid student card. Must collect at the ticket office. | Free |
| Teachers | museoreinasofia.es | Free. Must show valid teaching accreditation at the ticket office. | Free |
| Free hours — Saturday | museoreinasofia.es | Saturday 14:30–21:00. Free entry to permanent collection and most temporary exhibitions. Lines can be significant. | Free (timed slot online) |
| Free hours — Sunday | museoreinasofia.es | Sunday 10:00–14:30. Free entry. Sunday is also the only morning free-entry window. | Free (timed slot online) |
| Free days — special dates | museoreinasofia.es | Free all day on: 18 May (International Museum Day), 12 October (Spain’s National Day), 6 December (Constitution Day). | Free |
| Main Building only (last 2 hrs) | museoreinasofia.es | Free access to the main Sabatini building for the last 2 hours before closing. Check current schedule. | Free |
| Passeport del Arte | All 3 museum ticket offices | One visit each to Reina Sofía, Prado, and Thyssen-Bornemisza within 1 year. Desk purchase only. | Approx. €32–34 |
| Annual State Museums Pass | museoreinasofia.es (desk only) | Unlimited visits to all Spanish State Museums for 1 year. | Desk purchase only |
| Entrance ticket | GetYourGuide | Reserved entry with free cancellation. Skip-the-ticket-desk. Same €12 price. | From €12 |
| Guided tour | GetYourGuide | Reserved entry + licensed guide covering Guernica, the Sabatini collection, Dalí, and Miró. | From €30 |
| Early access Prado + Reina Sofía | GetYourGuide | Early-access guided morning tour of both the Prado and Reina Sofía. Covers Las Menínas, Guernica, and the defining works of both collections. | From €59 |
For a complete guide to all ticket options, the free entry windows, booking strategy, and what to see — see our guide to Reina Sofía Museum tickets.
The 18th-century former Hospital General de Madrid, designed by Francesco Sabatini and converted into a museum by architects José Luis Íniguez de Onzoño and Antonio Vazáquez de Castro, opened in 1992. The building’s four iconic glass elevators on the exterior façade are one of Madrid’s most recognisable architectural features. Floors 2 and 4 hold the permanent collection, including Guernica on Floor 2.
The extension designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, connected to the Sabatini building and identifiable from outside by its metallic red and orange canopy structure. The Nouvel Building houses temporary exhibitions, the library, the auditorium, the bookshop, and the museum’s restaurant.
Guernica (Pablo Picasso, 1937) is a 3.49 × 7.76 metre oil on canvas depicting the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the Spanish Civil War on 26 April 1937. Picasso painted it in six weeks for display at the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. It lived in New York’s MoMA from 1939 to 1981, when it was transferred to Spain on Picasso’s instruction that it should not return until Spanish democracy was restored. It hangs in Room 206 on Floor 2 of the Sabatini Building.
The Passeport del Arte covers one visit each to the Reina Sofía, the Prado, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza within one year of first use, for approximately €32–34 — a saving versus individual tickets. At €12 for Reina Sofía, €15 for the Prado, and €13 for the Thyssen, three individual tickets would cost €40. The Passeport is sold only at the ticket desks of the three museums — not online.
| Official Site (museoreinasofia.es) | GetYourGuide | |
| Face-value price | €12 — no booking fee | Same price; free cancellation |
| Free entry (Sat/Sun) | Yes — online slot booking | Same policy applies |
| Free categories (desk) | Yes — seniors, under-18, students, teachers | GetYourGuide standard ticket only |
| Passeport del Arte | Desk purchase only | Not available |
| Annual State Museums Pass | Desk purchase only | Not available |
| Guided tour | Not on official site | Yes, available |
| Prado + Reina Sofía combo tour | Not available | Yes, available |
| Free cancellation | No — non-refundable | Yes, available |
| Language | Spanish and English | 20+ languages |
The official website is museoreinasofia.es. The adult ticket costs €12. For a complete guide to all ticket options, the free entry windows, and how to book, see our guide to Reina Sofía Museum tickets.
Partially. Free entry is available every Saturday from 14:30 to 21:00 and every Sunday from 10:00 to 14:30 — the entire Sunday opening. Three national dates are also free all day: 18 May, 12 October, and 6 December. Under-18s, students 18–25, seniors 65+, and teachers are free at all times but must collect a free ticket at the museum desk on the day with valid accreditation.
Guernica hangs in Room 206 on Floor 2 of the Sabatini Building — the central floor of the original hospital building. It is displayed behind a protective barrier at the far end of a long room designed to allow the full 7.76-metre width to be seen in a single view. Photography is not permitted in the Guernica room.
No. Photography and video are explicitly prohibited in the Guernica room. Photography for personal use (no flash, no tripods) is permitted in the rest of the permanent collection galleries. This is one of the few photography restrictions in a museum that is otherwise relatively permissive.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 10:00–21:00. Saturday: 10:00–21:00 (free from 14:30). Sunday: 10:00–14:30 (free all Sunday morning). Closed every Tuesday. Also closed on 1 and 6 January, 1 and 15 May, 9 September, and 24, 25, and 31 December.
Floor 2 (1900–1945): Dalí’s The Great Masturbator (1929), Miró’s The Farm (1921–22), Juan Gris and Cubism, Julio González’s sculptures, and the full Spanish avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century. Floor 4 (1945 to the present): Abstract Expressionism, Arte Povera, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and Spanish post-war painting including works by Antoni Tàpies and Eduardo Chillida.
The Reina Sofía opens on Sundays from 10:00 but closes early at 14:30 — approximately 4.5 hours, compared to 11 hours on weekdays. Critically, the entire Sunday opening is free. This makes Sunday morning an appealing free visit, but with reduced time and higher crowd density. Visitors planning a thorough visit to the collection should allow a weekday slot.
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