Home » Madrid » Thyssen Museum tickets

Thyssen Museum – tickets, prices, discounts, guided tour, what to see

Edited by: Rekha Rajan
Fact checked by: Jamshed V Rajan

4.9
(184)

Thyssen Bornemisza Museum in Madrid is one of the most extraordinary private collections of art in the world. Second only to the royal family’s collection in England. 

It is the private collection of Baron Heinrich Thyssen Bornemisza, taken forward by his son Hans and daughter-in-law Carmen.

Thyssen Museum’s collection of over 1500 pieces of art consists of old masters, painters of the early 1900s, and recent artists. 

In this article, we explain everything you need to know before you book your Thyssen Museum ticket.

Thyssen Museum

Thyssen Museum hours

From Tuesday to Sunday, the Thyssen Museum in Madrid opens at 10 am and closes at 7 pm. 

The last entry is half an hour before closing. 

On 24 and 31 December, the Museum closes early at 3 pm. 

The art museum in Madrid is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

Thyssen Museum free hours

Every Monday, the Thyssen Madrid Museum opens at noon, and till 4 pm, art lovers can enter it for free. 

Mastercard sponsors this Monday free entry, during which the public gets to access the Permanent collection without tickets.

Ticket office timings

From Tuesday to Saturday, the Thyssen Museum ticket office is open from 10 am to 8.30 pm. 

On Sundays, the counters open at 10 am and close at 6.30 pm. 

The ticket office remains closed on Mondays. 


Back to Top


Best time to visit Thyssen Bornemisza Museum

The best time to visit Thyssen Museum is as soon as they open at 10 am, on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. 

Since Mondays are free entry days, they get crowded. 

Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays get the weekend crowd. 

On bad weather days, Thyssen Museo gets double the number of visitors because it is an indoor attraction.


Back to Top


How long does Thyssen Museum take

According to the Thyssen Museum officials, it takes two and a half hours to explore their Permanent Collection.

The Museum’s audio guide also lasts two and a half hours.

Tourists focusing only on the masterpieces on display are known to finish their tour in an hour. 


Back to Top


Thyssen Museum tickets

More than a million people visit the Thyssen Museum annually, translating to about three thousand visitors a day. 

This is why booking your tickets online, much in advance, is a better idea. 

Booking earlier helps you save up to 20 minutes of waiting time at the ticket counters. 

As soon as you make the purchase, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum tickets get emailed to you. 

On the day of your visit, at the Museum entrance, you can show the tickets in your email and walk in. You don’t need to take printouts. 

There are different kinds of Thyssen Museum experiences you can book, and we list them below.  

Skip the Line Thyssen Museum tickets

These are the cheapest and most popular tickets to enter Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.

This ticket gets you to access both the permanent and ongoing temporary collections. 

For 5 Euros extra, you can book your tickets with the audio guide experience. 

Ticket price (without audio guide)

Adult ticket (18 to 64 years): 13 Euros
Seniors ticket (65+ years): 9 Euros
Student ticket (valid student ID): 9 Euros
Child ticket (up to 17 years): Free entry

Ticket price (with audio guide)

Adult ticket (18 to 64 years): 18 Euros
Seniors ticket (65+ years): 14 Euros
Student ticket (valid student ID): 14 Euros
Child ticket (up to 17 years): 5 Euros

Thyssen Museum entry + lunch

Besides access to permanent and ongoing temporary collections, this ticket also gets you a sumptuous three-course meal at Thyssen Cafeteria.

A table gets booked under your name, and you can enjoy your lunch of starters, main course, and desserts between 12 and 1:45 pm.

You can either have your lunch first and then explore the Museum or vice versa. 

Ticket price

Adult ticket (19 to 64 years): 28.50 Euros
Seniors ticket (65+ years): 24.50 Euros
Student ticket (valid student ID): 24.50 Euros
Jobseeker ticket (valid documentation): 15.50 Euros
Teacher ticket (valid documentation): 15.50 Euros
Disabled ticket: 15.50 Euros
Child ticket (up to 18 years): 10 Euros

Thyssen Museum guided tour

Art lovers usually prefer to visit art museums under the guidance of a local art expert. 

Expert guides share in-depth knowledge, exciting stories, anecdotes, etc., about the artwork and the Museum, making the tour far more memorable. 

During this guided tour, the art expert helps you locate and understand the most famous masterpieces displayed at Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

After the tour, you are free to hang around the Museum for as long as you want. 

Tour price

Adult ticket (5+ years): 29 Euros
Infant ticket (up to 4 years): Free entry


Back to Top


Paseo del Arte ticket

Madrid has three of the most beautiful art Museums – Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Prado Museum, and the Reina Sofía Museum making the city an art lover’s paradise. 

All three Museums are next to each other, forming what is known as the ‘Golden Triangle of Art.’

Map of 'Golden Triangle of Art' in Madrid

Paseo del Arte pass is one ticket for entry into all three Museums, and it is valid for one year from the date selected during your purchase.

With this pass, you save 20% on entrance tickets and skip the lines too!

Each of the museums is unique, and visitors who have used this pass have left positive reviews. 

It costs around 30 Euros per person. 


Back to Top


Thyssen Bornemisza Museum map

The Thyssen Museum may not be as massive as the Louvre Museum, but it offers its visitors a lot over a large area.

It is important not to get lost and not miss out on the masterpieces.

If you have booked a guided tour of the Thyssen Museum, you don’t need its map.

But if you haven’t, it is better to get familiar with the floor plan of the Thyssen Museum.

Ground floor’s layout

Thyssen Museum Ground Floor Plan

First floor’s layout

Thyssen Museum First Floor map

Second floor’s layout

Thyssen Museum Second Floor layout

On the day of your visit, you can pick up the free map and layout plan at the Museum’s entrance as well.

Besides the layout, you also get a handy guide to the masterpieces inside and where to find them. 


Back to Top


Thyssen Bornemisza Museum artworks

While the Prado Museum and Reina Sofía Museum focus on the depth – they have many paintings of the same artists, Thyssen Bornemisza Museum offers an incredible breadth of artistic styles. 

At this Museum you would find the whos who of the art world, sometimes with only a single painting. But that’s the allure of Thyssen Madrid. 

It represents various art movements, not to mention the personal taste of the original collectors – Baron Heinrich Thyssen Bornemisza and his family.


Back to Top


What to see in the Thyssen Museum

The Museum recommends visitors start with the 13th-century art on the 2nd floor and work their way down to the ground floor where 20th-century artworks are on display. 

Second floor

The Museum’s second-floor houses mostly 13th and 14th-century medieval art from predominantly Italian, Flemish, and German religious painters.

If you skipped the video, continue reading below to get a summary of what to expect on the topmost floor of Thyssen.

Room 5: Portrait of a Boy by Piero Della Francesca and Portrait of King Henry VIII by Holbein the Younger

Room 10: Massacre of the Innocents by Lucas Van Valckenborch

Room 11: Three masterpieces by El Greco and one each by Tintoretto and Titian

Room 12: Paintings by Caravaggio and Spaniard José de Ribera

Room 14: Two paintings by Zurbarán

Room 15: A painting by Murillo

Rooms A to H: These are the extension rooms that house Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza’s collections. Canaletto and Van Gogh’s paintings are in Room C, while Room H displays artwork by Monet, Sisley, Renoir, and Pissarro.

Hint: Some visitors miss rooms 19 to 21 because to explore them requires walking back. 

Room 19, 20, 21: Paintings by 17th-century Dutch and Flemish masters such as Anton van Dyck, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Rubens, and Rembrandt

First floor

Thyssen Madrid’s first floor is equally impressive with paintings from across the spectrum. 

The video below helps you understand what to expect while exploring the first floor.

Don’t have time for the video? No problem. Here is a quick summary of the best painters to expect on the first floor of Thyssen. 

Room 28: Gainsborough’s painting

Room 31: Three paintings by Goya

Room 32: Van Gogh’s Les Vessenots, and paintings by Gauguin and Cézanne

Room 33: Paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas

Rooms I to P: Room K has art by Pissaro and Sisley on display, and Room L has Gauguin’s Mata Mua and other paintings. You will find Kandinsky, Munch, Matisse, Edward Hopper, and Juan Gris in the other extension rooms.

Ground floor

The Ground floor of Thyssen Museo is dedicated to the 20th-century, and artwork ranges from Cubism to Pop Art.

Here is a quick rundown on what to expect on the last floor before you exit the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum. 

Room 41: The big three of cubism – Picasso, Georges Braque, and Madrid’s local boy Juan Gris

Room 43: Kandinsky is the main attraction

Room 44: Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and Paul Klee dominate this room

Room 45: Dalí’s Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate dominates the room, followed by masterpieces by Marc Chagall

Room 46: Joan Miró’s Catalan Peasant with a Guitar, Jackson Pollock’s Brown and Silver I, and Mark Rothko’s Green on Maroon

Rooms 47: This room is dedicated to Neo-Dada and Pop Art

Room 48: The last room contains European post-war abstract and figurative art


Back to Top


Audio guides at Thyssen Museum

You can either book your Thyssen Museum ticket with the audio guide, or without it. 

When you book it with your online tickets, an audio guide costs 5 Euros per person. At the venue, it costs 6 Euros per person. 

You can use the audio guide either on your smartphone or the device offered by the museum. 

Tourists use audio guide at Thyssen Museum
Tourists who prefer to know more about the exhibits end up using the Thyssen Museum audio guides extensively. Image: Mike Steele

If you plan to use your smartphone, you can bring in your headphones or use the single-use headphones the museum gives free. 

At the museum’s Audioguides Center, you must scan the QR code and download the audio guide to your mobile. 

The Thyssen Museum audio guide explains 50 works of art and is 2.5 hours long. A shortened 30-minute version is also available, which only covers the masterpieces. 

It is available in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.

Thematic tours, which focus on specific topics, are also available. 

These tours are 45-minutes long and focus on Jewellery, Fashion, The museum as a mirror of Don Quixote, Inclusive Love, Sustainability, Food, and Wine Culture.

Children’s audio guide

The Thyssen Museum also offers a kid’s version of the audio guide, which is best suited for children between 6 and 12 years. 

It chronicles 14 works of art and is 40 minutes long. 


Back to Top


How to reach Thyssen Museum

Address: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado, 8, 28014 Madrid. 
Get Directions

It is best to use public transport to get to Thyssen Bornemisza Museum.

By Metro

Banco de Espana station serviced by Red Line (L2) is closest to the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum.

Banco de Espana station is 350 meters (one-fifth of a mile) from the art museum, and you can walk the distance in two minutes. 

Banco de Espana station to Thyssen Bornemisza Museum

For Metro tickets, check out Madrid Metro’s website.

By Train

If you are getting to the Museum from outside the Madrid city, you can take a train to either Atocha Station (also known as Estación de Madrid Atocha) or the Recoletos Station.

Atocha Station is 1.4 km (almost a mile) from the Museum, and you can walk the distance in about 20 minutes. Recoletos Station is a brisk 10 minutes walk away.

For timings and tickets, check out Renfe, the company that manages trains in Spain. 

By Bus

On weekdays, buses in Madrid run from 6 am till 11.30 pm with a frequency of 4 to 15 minutes.

On weekends and public holidays, Madrid buses start at 7 am and stop at 11 pm.

To get to the Thyssen Museum, you can board bus numbers 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 14, 15, 20, 27, 34, 37, 41, 51, 52, 53, 74, 146, 150.

Car Parking

Thyssen Museum doesn’t have parking of its own. 

However, you can park your car at Las Cortes parking, a 2-minute walk from the Museum.

Popular attractions in Madrid

Royal Palace of MadridBernabeu tour
Prado MuseumReina Sofia Museum
Thyssen MuseumEl Escorial Monastery
La Cueva de LolaTablao Torres Bermejas
Tablao Las CarbonerasEmociones Live Flamenco
Metropolitano StadiumLiria Palace
Madrid FlyIKONO Madrid
Café ZiryabTablao Las Tablas
Centro CulturalRoyal Academy of Fine Arts
Fundación MAPFRE MadridMuseum of Illusions
Parque Warner MadridOpera and Zarzuela Show
Faunia Nature ParkPuy du Fou España
Royal Palace of AranjuezRoyal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso
Sweet Space MuseumAtlantis Aquarium Madrid
Velázquez Tech MuseumAlcázar of Segovia
Monastery of las Descalzas RealesLas Ventas Bullring & Museum
Zoo Aquarium MadridWax Museum in Madrid

Sources

# Museothyssen.org
# Wikipedia.org
# Tripadvisor.com
# Lonelyplanet.com

The travel specialists at TheBetterVacation.com use only high-quality sources while researching & writing their articles. We make every attempt to keep our content current, reliable and trustworthy.

Parking near Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

It is better to reserve your slot at Las Cortes parking.

# Royal Palace of Madrid
# Bernabeu tour
# Prado Museum
# Reina Sofia-Museum

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Check out all the things to do in Madrid

This article was researched & written by