The best time to visit Prado is Sunday because admission is free, but this means that you will have to wait in line to get in. If you want to see the Vermeer exhibit (which I encourage you to see), there is a separate line, so if you are planning on seeing both, get in the line to see Vermeer and you will get two separate tickets.

The entrance to the museum is through the Goya entrance located on the planta baja (lower floor) on the corner of Paseo del Prado and Plaza de las Cortes. The museum building is very large but not extremely impressive in its architecture. It is a typical neo-classical building built in 1785. It has several entrances each named after the most important Spanish painters of the 17-19th centuries: Goya entrance, Velazquez entrance, Murillo entrance, and next to each of these entrances you will see a sculpture of the painter the entrance is named after.

Prado museum is very large, so prepare to spend at least four hours there. Photography is allowed, but without flash, so you better bring some 400 or 800 speed film, because I promise you, you will want to take pictures. One of the unique features of this museum is that in a lot of the rooms you can buy a book on the particular painter or a period for 1€. Even though these books are rather small, they''re very good.

So now let’s start with the museum collection. Obviously this museum has the largest collection of Spanish painters, but when you enter, the whole first floor has very little of Spanish school. Here you will find icons dating back to the 12-13th centuries, followed by Italian Renaissance rooms with paintings by Mantegna, Rafael (a copy of "Transfiguration"), del Sarto, Veronese, Tintoretto, Bellini, four rooms of Titian’s paintings (Titian’s "Danae" is currently on loan to the National Gallery in London, where there is currently a large exhibit of Titian’s paintings that I also highly recommend). Then there is Spanish art with Gothic works by Bermejo, the mannerist style of Luis Morales, and even more so of El Greco’s paintings of apostles and portraits of nobility: here is "Santo Tomas" - his signature piece.

Continued in Part II

Cason del Buen Retiro is closed for restoration.

Phone: 91 330 28 00
Open: Tues–Sun 9am–7pm
Closed on Mondays, Jan 1, Good Friday, May 1, and Dec 25.
Prices: 3.01€–adults, 1.5€–students
Free: Sundays, May 18, Oct 12, and Dec 6. Always free for children and seniors (over 65).

Free floor maps come in Spanish or English and are well marked with directions along with the numbers of the rooms. Each room has the Roman numeral on the wall entrance to it. However I also chose to buy a floor plan book in the gift store for a more comprehensive visit. There are the typical souvenirs in the gift shop and I picked up another Prado book of paintings as well as some coasters, postcards and magnets.

In the Prado, the Spanish artists are probably the most famous, but there are also several paintings by Italian, Greek, French, Dutch, Flemish and other artists. I snapped a picture with a flash before I was gently reminded only pictures without flash may be taken. The photo came out with a big flash in the middle of the painting anyway. However, in some rooms there was enough light to take pictures without a flash and the magnificent El Coliseo de Roba can be seen below.

There are numerous temporary exhibits and lending of paintings to other museums going on at any particular time, so while I was fortunate to see some new paintings, I was also disappointed that some of my favorites from last time were on loan.

However, this time I discovered "Dauphin's Treasures" (or "Tesoros de Defin" in Spanish), in the basement and it should not be missed. I was also the only one down there at the time and enjoying a collection without having to look over others' shoulders makes a big difference. Yet even with people, this collection of delicately ornate cups, vases, plates, glasses and various types of stones, jewels and decorative arts would still be spectacular.

The only thing I recommend to skip is the cafeteria. After 3 hours in the Prado I was still not ready to leave, but I was also starving so I ate there. The food in the main cafeteria is buffet style and though you pay for everything separate there are no prices listed. Not only was the food unappetizing, but the section clearly marked non-smoking meant nothing as there were ashtrays on the tables and the whole room was smoky.

The Prado is spectacular but also eventually tiring and only a few of the rooms have benches in the middle where you can sit. However if you still have energy when you finish with the Prado, the magnificent Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is just up the street.

As with most of the other great European art collections it was built up by royalty - in this case the Spanish Habsburgs. It mainly deals with art acquired in the Spanish occupied Catholic countries although a couple of Durers and Constables sneak in.

Highlights include Peter Breughal the Elders 'Triumph of Death' which shows skeletal hordes massacring the inhabitants of a Flemish village. El Greco's 13 Mayo where the instigators of the 1808 uprising are shot against the wall by Napoleonic troops, and Titian who was court painter to the Habsburgs and on view is his portrait of Emperor Charles V on horseback with that famous extended lower jaw. Also doing portraits of the Spanish Bourbons was Valasquez, and his portrait of the family of Carlos VI made them look like inbreds or idiots (which they practically were at the time) How did he get away with it? Often cited as the greatest painting in the world is 'Las Meninas, with the royal children and a particularly ugly dwarf. It's sense of perspective at the time was considered breathtaking. And my personal favorite was 'Los Barrochos' - the drunks, which made a nice change from the stuffy royal portraits. One thing about the Prado is that the captions are only in Spanish, so you must brush up before you come.

All in all, a mesmerizing gallery which will leave you stunned by the quality and heading for the giftshop to buy postcards of your favorite painting. Nearby is the elegant Buen Retiro with its gardens and lakes, a nice place to rest before hitting the nightlife of Madrid later that evening.