Top things to do in Madrid

Quick overview

  • Access: Included in all Prado Museum tickets
  • Separate ticket: Not required
  • When you’ll see it: Midway on most Prado routes; you can head there directly
  • Visit duration: 20–30 min self-guided / 30–40 min with audio guide or guide
  • Best time: First weekday slot at 10am, before guided groups and free-entry crowds build
  • Restrictions: No photography. Food and drinks prohibited.

Goya’s Black Paintings are included with all Prado Museum tickets. No separate ticket is needed. They hang in the Prado’s Goya galleries on the ground floor, and because the museum has no compulsory route, you can choose to go there early rather than leaving them for the middle or end. Book timed entry, an audio guide, or a guided tour if you want enough quiet time and context for works that reward slow looking.

Best tickets to experience Goya’s Black Paintings

Painted between about 1819 and 1823 on the walls of Goya’s Quinta del Sordo, the Black Paintings were never meant for a public audience. In the 1870s they were transferred from plaster to canvas, which is why you’re seeing private murals transformed into museum objects. What began as house decoration became one of the starkest late statements in European art, and today they anchor how the Prado presents Goya’s final years.
👉 Explore the full history of the Prado Museum