Private Palace and Prado in English, Walking the Old Town Between

A private tour in English covering the Royal Palace and the Prado, with both entrance fees included and preferential access at each door.

The palace comes first, one of the largest in Europe, walked through its state rooms with an official guide.

The leg between the two institutions is guided rather than driven, and that is the argument for booking this version. Walking from the palace to the museum means crossing the Plaza de la Villa, the Plaza Mayor, the Puerta del Sol and the Congress of Deputies in order, which is the medieval city, the Habsburg city, the modern city and the parliament in about forty minutes. A taxi covers the same ground in six and explains none of it.

The Prado ends the day, with Velázquez, Goya, Murillo, Rubens and Titian, and the account of how these particular pictures became the standard against which European painting is measured.

Being private, the pace is set by the group, and the guiding is in English throughout rather than in whichever language the largest part of a mixed group happens to share.