After recently telling you about the things to do and see in Madrid in my article “Visiting Madrid”, let’s now talk about the city pass for Madrid. The city pass is a "pass", a card, grouping several entries, visits, allowing you to save money on your visits.
Rather than buying your visits and your transport tickets independently, the city pass combines all of this in a single card.
Each city has one or more city passes, more or less customizable, grouping together the main places to visit in the city. In this article we will see why it is interesting to buy a city pass in Madrid, how much does it cost, where to get it and above all, what does it include?
Summary:
- Why a city pass to visit Madrid?
- What does the Madrid city pass include?
- Alternatives au Madrid city pass
- Summary of Madrid city passes
- My opinion on buying a city pass in Madrid
Book your city pass for Madrid directly online: See prices
Why a city pass to visit Madrid?
We started to answer this question in the introduction to this article, the main benefit of a city pass is to save money.
Indeed the purpose of the Madrid city pass is to combine the main attractions, visits and entrance tickets to the monuments of Madrid in order to obtain a reduction.
The second advantage of buying a city pass is time saving. Indeed, during the same reservation you will get entrance tickets for the main places such as the Royal Palace or the Prado Museum.
These tickets will allow you to enter the various visit sites WITHOUT WAITING. You will receive your tickets by email, no need to print them, your tickets will never leave you and can be presented from your mobile.
The purchase of the Madrid city pass will save money but also save time when accessing sites to visit.
This pass also offers another advantage, that of offering an optional transport pass. This transport pass includes a public transport card on the Madrid bus and metro network valid for 3 days, as well as a shuttle transfer from the airport to your accommodation.
What does the Madrid City Pass include?
Now that we have seen the benefits of the Madrid city pass, let's take a closer look at what this pass includes. We will also perform a quick calculation to see if this city pass is really worthwhile during a stay in Madrid.
Skip-the-line ticket to the Royal Palace
One of the highlights of a visit to Madrid, the Royal Palace is one of the most impressive places to visit in the city. You can discover the many rooms that make up the palace, the armory but also the temporary exhibitions.
The palace can be visited alone, with the help of an audio-guide in French. Note that it is also possible to buy the official smartphone application, similar to the audio guide provided on site. Less expensive than the audio guide, you can relive the visit to this palace from your home.
Value: € 13
Skip-the-Line Prado Museum Ticket with Audio Guide
The Prado Museum is another must-see during a stay in Madrid. The Prado Museum is compared to the Louvre Museum in Paris. It houses hundreds of works, paintings and sculptures by the most illustrious Spanish artists, but not only.
The audio-guide (in French) is a real plus during a visit to the museum. To learn more about the Prado Museum, take a look at our article dedicated to it.
Value: €15,50 + €3,50 audio guide
Madrid city audio guide
Take advantage, throughout your stay, of an audio guide to discover the main places of interest in the city.
Full-day access to the Hop On Hop Off Bus from Madrid
For one day you can take the unlimited Hop On Hop Off Bus in Madrid and thus reach more than 40 unmissable places in the city for free.
Value: € 22
20% discount on the following activities
- Real Madrid Stadium Tour (Santiago Bernabeu)
Value: € 5 - Visit to the stadium of Atletico Madrid (Wanda Metropolitano)
Value: € 4 - Visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Value: € 2,60 - Visit of the Reina Sofia Museum
Value: € 2 - Tapas tour
Value: Approx. 5€ - Flamenco show
Value: Approx €5
Our Madrid City Pass, costing €61, therefore has a value of almost €80. So it's almost €20 in savings if you choose to use most of the activities and promotions included in this pass.
We will see, further down in the article, that there are alternatives if you do not expect to make as many visits.
You will save more than €20 if you take the visits included in the Madrid city Pass.
There is a “transport” option, costing an additional €49 including 3 days of unlimited public transport (bus and metro) as well as private transport, by taxi, between the airport and your hotel. Depending on your place of arrival in Madrid (airport or train) and the length of your stay, this option may also be interesting.
Let's take a look at how this Madrid City Pass works
- Step 1: Go to TicketBar to buy the Madrid City Pass
- Step 2: Fill in the number and type of Pass as well as your personal information
- Step 3: Once the payment has been made, you will receive an email which will allow you to reserve a time and date for the visit to the Prado Museum and the Royal Palace.
- Step 4: You will then receive your skip-the-line tickets for these two visits, a 20% promo code on all the sites allowing you to book the above activities, as well as a link for downloading the audio guides and your ticket for the Madrid Hop On Hop Off Bus
- Step 5: Then go to the sites listed in your discount coupon to book your other activities and take advantage of the various discounts.
- Step 6: If you have subscribed to the "transport" option, then a taxi, with your name, will be waiting for you at the airport on your arrival with your 3-day transport pass.
Madrid City Pass :One of the best city passes to visit Madrid at your own pace. Learn more
Alternatives au Madrid city pass
After introducing you to the Madrid City Pass which is, for me, the best city pass for visiting Madrid and the most advantageous, let me introduce you to 3 other city passes dedicated to Madrid.
iVenture Card Madrid
The iVenture Card, which exists in many cities, is also present in Madrid. This card, which can be seen as a city pass, gives you access, depending on the option chosen, to 3, 5 or 27 activities from a list of 27 activities to do in Madrid.
This card, valid for 7 days, will cost you 78, 128 or 255€ respectively.
Among the 27 activities, you will find guided tours of Madrid, the Prado Museum, the Royal Palace but also more original activities such as bike or motorbike rentals.
This city pass can, in certain cases, prove to be very interesting. It will nevertheless be necessary to check, according to the activities which interest you, if it is not cheaper to take them separately.
If you stay long enough and want to do a lot of visits then the option with the 27 visits can be interesting.
iVenture Card Madrid :The most complete à la carte city pass. Choose from 27 activities to do in and around Madrid. Learn more
Madrid Musuem Pass
The Madrid Museum Pass is a city pass exclusively dedicated to the various museums of the city. The pass includes access, with a skip-the-line ticket, to the three main museums in Madrid, which are:
- The Prado museum
- The Reina Sofia Museum
- The National Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
This pass, worth €36, will cost you €32 to purchase. A small saving of €4 which will also save you time.
Madrid Musuem Pass :The most complete à la carte city pass. Choose from 27 activities to do in and around Madrid. Buy this city pass
GoMadrid Explorer
Madrid's latest city pass, the GoMadrid Explorer.
This city pass works like the iVenture one. Depending on the option chosen, you will have the possibility of accessing 3,4,5 or 7 activities of your choice from a selection.
This selection is made up of the main visits such as the Royal Palace, the Prado Museum or the visit to the Real Madrid stadium, the Santigao Bernabeu.
You can consult the list of proposed activities by clicking on this link.
GoMadrid Explorer :A second à la carte city pass to visit Madrid. Decide which activities and tours to include yourself. Buy this city pass
Book your visits alone
Another alternative to the different city passes that may exist in Madrid is to make reservations independently of each other.
Depending on how much time you will have to visit Madrid and what activities you want to do, then it may be more beneficial to book your tours individually.
Even if, depending on the case, this may not be a bad idea, it is nevertheless essential to book your activities in advance in order to avoid wasting time in queues.
Here are some links allowing you to book the main activities and visits in Madrid:
- Skip-the-line ticket and guided tour of the Royal Palace
- Skip-the-line ticket to the Prado Museum
- Skip-the-line ticket to the Reina Sofia Museum
- Hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Ticket
- Attend a Flamenco show
- Las Ventas Bullring Ticket
- Real Madrid Santiago Bernabeu Stadium Tour
- Visits du stade Wanda Metropolitano de l'Atletico Madrid
Summary of Madrid city passes
Here is a summary of the 4 passes that we have discovered and which will allow you to visit Madrid more easily.
- City Pass Madrid
Certainly the best city pass to visit Madrid. It combines the main visits and offers an audio guide to visit Madrid on your own and at your own pace.
It offers optional transport and transfer from the airport. See this pass - iVenture Card Madrid
The iVenture Card Madrid can be a good choice if you are staying several days in Madrid and want to visit a lot of places. See this pass - Madrid Musuem Pass
An ideal pass for museum enthusiasts. This pass includes the 3 main museums of the city. See this pass - GoMadrid Explorer
A good alternative to the Madrid City Pass for those who would like an à la carte city pass. See this pass
My opinion on buying a city pass in Madrid
Buying a city pass during a short stay in a city is, for me, often a good purchase.
In the case of Madrid, some activities will be essential such as visiting the Prado Museum, the Royal Palace and depending on your tastes, the Reina Sofia Museum or one of the two emblematic stadiums of Madrid.
Before buying your pass, compare the cost of buying the tours or tickets alone, to the latter.
As for the transport passes or the transport options to add to the different passes, it also depends on your needs. Are you arriving in Madrid from the airport? Would you like a private shuttle, a taxi or rather public transport? If public transport doesn't scare you and your hotel is located in central Madrid, then a transport pass may not be necessary. It is possible to buy a transport card and recharge it whenever you want.
I hope this article has been able to help you in choosing your city pass for Madrid.
