Rainy Day Madrid
Indoor places for a wet day
Madrid has plenty to do under a roof, from the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen on the Paseo del Arte to market halls such as San Miguel and San Antón. Several museums close on Mondays, so check each place's page before you go.
65 places
All year When
The places
Museum · Salamanca Bullfighting Museum A museum in the Patio de Caballos of the Las Ventas bullring, opened in 1951. It has three rooms, one on the bullring itself and others on bulls, bullfighters and costumes.
Museum · Paseo del Prado CaixaForum Madrid A cultural centre of the CaixaBank foundation on Paseo del Prado, with temporary exhibitions, a shop and a restaurant and cafe.
Museum · Moncloa and Argüelles Cerralbo Museum A museum in the 19th-century town palace of the 17th Marquis of Cerralbo on Calle de Ventura Rodríguez. It shows how an aristocratic family lived at the end of the 1800s.
Museum · Chamberí Chamberí Station (Andén 0) A disused Metro station on Plaza de Chamberí, closed since 1966 and designed by Antonio Palacios. It is open to the public as a museum through free guided visits.
Museum · Malasaña Conde Duque A large cultural centre on Calle del Conde Duque, with several exhibition rooms, an auditorium and a theatre for the performing arts.
Museum · Moncloa and Argüelles Costume Museum A museum of clothing and fashion history on Avenida de Juan de Herrera, opened in 2004. It reopened in autumn 2021 with a new permanent exhibition.
Museum · Salamanca Fundación MAPFRE Recoletos Hall An exhibition hall of Fundación MAPFRE on Paseo de Recoletos, opened in 2008, for art from the late 19th century to after the Second World War. It occupies a building put up between 1881 and 1884.
Museum · Chamberí Geominero Museum A geology museum of the Spanish geological survey (IGME) on Calle de Ríos Rosas, with minerals, rocks and fossils from Spain and abroad.
Museum · Huertas and Barrio de las Letras ICO Museum A museum next to the Paseo del Arte on Calle de Zorrilla, opened in 1996. Since 2012 the ICO Foundation has run it as an exhibition space.
Museum · Salamanca Juan March Foundation A cultural centre on Calle de Castelló, created in 1955 by the financier Juan March Ordinas. It has exhibitions, a shop, a library and a cafeteria.
Museum · Lavapiés La Casa Encendida A social and cultural centre of the Fundación Montemadrid on Ronda de Valencia with exhibitions, a library, cinema and concerts.
Museum · Huertas and Barrio de las Letras Lope de Vega House Museum The house on Calle de Cervantes where the playwright Lope de Vega lived from 1610 until his death in 1635. The house dates from the 16th century.
Museum · Salamanca Lázaro Galdiano Museum An art museum in a former mansion on Calle de Serrano, opened in 1951. The collection includes works by Goya, El Greco, Zurbarán and Bosch, plus bronzes, ceramics and textiles.
Museum · Arganzuela and Madrid Río Madrid Planetarium The city planetarium in Parque Enrique Tierno Galván. It runs projections, exhibitions and observation sessions led by experts.
Museum · Salamanca Madrid Wax Museum A wax museum on Paseo de Recoletos, opened in 1972. The tourism board's page recommends it for visits with children.
Museum · Chueca Museum of Romanticism A museum of 19th-century painting, furniture and decorative arts in the former palace of the Marquis of Matallana on Calle de San Mateo, built in 1776.
Museum · Moncloa and Argüelles Museum of the Americas A state museum of the Americas on Avenida de los Reyes Católicos, founded in 1941. The building was designed by the architects Luis Moya and Luis Martínez Feduchi.
Museum · Malasaña Museum of the History of Madrid The city's history museum, in the former Hospicio de San Fernando on Calle de Fuencarral, a major Madrid Baroque building. The museum began as the Museo Municipal in 1929 and took its present name in 2007.
Museum · Salamanca National Archaeological Museum Spain's national archaeology museum, on Calle de Serrano. It is run by the Ministry of Culture and has a cafeteria and a library.
Museum · Retiro National Museum of Anthropology The first Spanish museum devoted to anthropology, on Calle de Alfonso XII. It presents the cultures of peoples from around the world.
Museum · Retiro National Museum of Decorative Arts A museum created in 1912 on Calle de Montalbán, between the Paseo del Arte and El Retiro. It shows the decorative arts and is run by the Ministry of Culture.
Museum · Chamberí National Museum of Natural Sciences A natural history museum on Calle de José Gutiérrez Abascal, run by the CSIC. It manages and displays a large collection of specimens.
Museum · Paseo del Prado Naval Museum The Spanish Navy's museum on Paseo del Prado. Entry is free and the museum asks for a voluntary contribution towards its upkeep.
Museum · Chamartín and Tetuán ONCE Tiflological Museum A museum on Calle de la Coruña opened in 1992 with artworks and tactile material for blind and visually impaired people, run by ONCE.
Museum · Paseo del Prado Prado Museum The national art museum on Paseo del Prado. It holds about 8,600 paintings and more than 700 sculptures, with rooms for Velázquez, Goya and El Greco.
Museum · Arganzuela and Madrid Río Railway Museum A railway museum in the old Delicias station, a 19th-century iron building, opened in 1984. It shows historic rolling stock from locomotives onward.
Museum · Sol and Centro Ratón Pérez House Museum A small museum on the first floor of Calle del Arenal 8 about Ratón Pérez, the tooth mouse created by the Jesuit Luis Coloma in the 19th century for the young Alfonso XIII.
Museum · Paseo del Prado Reina Sofía Museum Spain's national museum of 20th-century art, on Calle de Santa Isabel, in the Sabatini and Nouvel buildings. One general ticket covers the collection and the temporary exhibitions.
Museum · Retiro Royal Tapestry Factory A tapestry workshop founded in 1721 and housed in a neo-Mudéjar building on Calle Fuenterrabía. It still makes tapestries and carpets by hand.
Museum · Sol and Centro San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando on Calle de Alcalá, opened in 1752 under Ferdinand VI. Its museum holds the permanent collection and a Goya gallery.
Museum · La Latina San Isidro Museum, the Origins of Madrid A city museum on Plaza de San Andrés, set in the house where Madrid's patron saint lived. It covers the history of Madrid from prehistory to the establishment of the court.
Museum · Paseo del Prado Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum A national museum on Paseo del Prado with the permanent Thyssen-Bornemisza collection and the Carmen Thyssen collection, plus temporary exhibitions.
Landmark · Paseo del Prado Casa de América A cultural institution in the Palacio de Linares on Plaza de Cibeles, run by a consortium of the foreign ministry, the Comunidad de Madrid and the city council to build ties with Latin America.
Landmark · Paseo del Prado Cibeles Palace and CentroCentro The former Palace of Communications on Plaza de Cibeles, now the home of CentroCentro and Madrid's city hall. The building can be entered free and has a viewing gallery, Mirador Madrid.
Landmark · Moncloa and Argüelles Liria Palace An 18th-century palace on Calle de la Princesa, the Madrid residence of the House of Alba and the main home of its art collection and historical archive.
Landmark · Salamanca National Library of Spain Spain's national library, founded by Philip V in 1711 as the Real Biblioteca. Its building on Paseo de Recoletos opened in 1896 and has free exhibitions.
Landmark · Retiro Palacio de Velázquez An exhibition hall in the Retiro run by the Reina Sofía Museum. It was built between 1881 and 1883 for the National Mining Exhibition.
Landmark · Palacio and Ópera Royal Palace of Madrid The royal residence from Charles III to Alfonso XIII, on Calle de Bailén.
Landmark · Palacio and Ópera Teatro Real Madrid's opera house on Plaza de Isabel II, designed by Antonio López Aguado and opened in 1850. It offers guided and audioguide tours as well as performances.
Day trip · Segovia Alcázar of Segovia A fortress and palace of the kings of Castile that looks like a fairy-tale castle. Visits cover the Palace and Museum, and there is a separate climb up the Tower of John II.
Day trip · Toledo Army Museum in the Alcázar of Toledo The Spanish Army Museum, housed in the Alcázar of Toledo. Its displays tell the history of Spain and the military's part in its progress.
Day trip · Alcalá de Henares Cervantes Birthplace Museum The house on Calle Mayor where Cervantes spent his first years, now a museum recreating the customs of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Day trip · Toledo El Greco Museum The only museum in Spain devoted to El Greco, on Paseo del Tránsito in the Jewish quarter. It shows 16th and 17th-century pieces tied to the painter and Toledo of his time.
Day trip · El Escorial Monastery of El Escorial A royal monastery and palace on the slope of Monte Abantos in the Sierra de Guadarrama, about 50 kilometres from Madrid. It is the main attraction of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
Day trip · Alcalá de Henares Regional Archaeological Museum The archaeology and palaeontology museum of the Comunidad de Madrid in Alcalá, opened in 1999 in a 17th-century Dominican college and convent. It presents the region's history in a teaching format.
Day trip · Toledo San Juan de los Reyes Monastery A monastery put up by the Catholic Monarchs to mark the Battle of Toro in 1476, with a plan by Juan Guas. It is one of the best examples of Hispano-Flemish Gothic.
Day trip · Segovia Segovia Cathedral The cathedral of Segovia, whose single ticket also covers the Episcopal Palace, the cloister, chapter house, chapels and exhibition rooms. Guided tours of the tower are sold separately.
Day trip · Toledo Sephardic Museum, Sinagoga del Tránsito A museum in the Sinagoga del Tránsito, called the most beautiful medieval synagogue still standing. Its permanent exhibition covers the history of the Jews in Spain up to the present.
Day trip · Cercedilla Ski Museum, Cercedilla The Museo del Esquí Paquito Fernández Ochoa, opened in 2009 in a building in the centre of Cercedilla. It covers skiing, high-mountain sport and the nature of the Sierra de Guadarrama.
Day trip · Toledo Toledo Cathedral The Primate Cathedral of Toledo, begun in 1226 on the order of Archbishop Ximénez de Rada and finished in 1493. Its Sacristy holds El Greco's El Expolio, and the Treasury has the Arfe monstrance.
Park · Arganzuela and Madrid Río Palacio de Cristal de Arganzuela Greenhouse A greenhouse and botanical garden of about 7,100 square metres in the former municipal slaughterhouse, which Luis Bellido built between 1908 and 1928. It was restored in 1992.
Market · Huertas and Barrio de las Letras Mercado de Antón Martín A market on Calle de Santa Isabel that joins traditional fresh-food stalls with several restaurants, in the style of Madrid's newer gourmet markets.
Market · Chueca Mercado de Barceló A food market in Chueca on Calle de Barceló, rebuilt in a new building after a full renovation. The top floor has restaurants.
Market · Chamartín and Tetuán Mercado de Chamartín A market opened in 1962 at Calle de Bolivia and Calle de Potosí, in a trapezoid building of nearly 1,600 square metres on two levels.
Market · Chamberí Mercado de Chamberí A market on Calle de Alonso Cano opened in 1943, with entrances from Alonso Cano, García de Paredes and Viriato. It has run continuously for over 80 years.
Market · Chamberí Mercado de Guzmán el Bueno A municipal market opened in 1951 with traditional stalls for fish, fruit, meat and charcuterie, plus a supermarket and tasting stalls.
Market · La Latina Mercado de la Cebada A market on Plaza de la Cebada, opened in 1875 and one of the largest food markets in Madrid.
Market · Salamanca Mercado de la Paz A market in the Salamanca district opened in 1882 and built with an iron structure. It is among the best-known markets in the district.
Market · Palacio and Ópera Mercado de los Mostenses One of the older markets of the city, on Plaza de los Mostenses, opened in 1946. Its mix of cultures shows in the food it sells.
Market · Chamartín and Tetuán Mercado de Maravillas A market on Calle de Bravo Murillo opened in 1942, one of five municipal markets in the Tetuán district. The tourism board calls it the biggest in Madrid.
Market · Chueca Mercado de San Antón A market in Chueca rebuilt in 2011 as a modern building with food shopping and eating space. Its origins go back to the 19th century.
Market · Lavapiés Mercado de San Fernando A market on Calle de Embajadores that has stood since 1944, close to the former Escuelas Pías, the Corrala de Tribulete and the Casino de la Reina park.
Market · Malasaña Mercado de San Ildefonso A street-food market on Calle de Fuencarral, set up as a place to meet after work or stop for an aperitif.
Market · Sol and Centro Mercado de San Miguel An iron-and-glass market opened in May 1916 as a food market. It became the first gastronomic market in Madrid in May 2009.
Market · Chamberí Mercado de Vallehermoso A municipal market on Calle de Vallehermoso that opened in 1933. Its colourful facade makes it easy to spot.