Living in a European capital is not cheap (and it’s getting less and less so), so finding free plans in Madrid is sometimes necessary to survive in the city without leaving your entire paycheck without knowing quite what to do. Having the option of going out without having to consume anything in particular or resorting to something as simple as enjoying the green spaces and cultural centers that the city offers for free are just some of the options.
1. Stroll along Madrid Río
Madrid Río is one of the great green projects of Madrid that has changed the lives of the citizens of the southern area of the capital. There are seven kilometers of green route along the banks of the Manzanares that have given the river back to the people of Madrid. Especially recommended is the area that has been called the beach of Madrid Rio has large lawns, fountains and even slides and is away from the bike path area. If it is a plan with children, here they will not get bored.
📍Location: Madrid Río
2. Culturízate in Matadero Madrid
It is one of the strongest cultural bets of the city. It is one of those places that you have to review the program every so often because it always has something interesting, and often free, to attend. There is literature, cinema, art, theater, music and in summer it is a pleasure to enjoy the good weather in its open-air cinema.
📍Location: Plaza de Legazpi, 8 (Legazpi)
3. Take advantage of the free days at the major museums
Yes, almost all the major museums have a free day or hours to visit them, in addition to Museum Day and other festivities in which the entrance is free, such as October 12. For the Reina Sofia museum the entrance is free every day from 19h and on Sundays from 13:30h. In the Prado Museum the entrance is free from Monday to Saturday from 18h to 20h, Sundays and holidays from 17h to 19h. You can visit the Thyssen for free on Mondays during reduced hours, from 12h to 16h, and on Saturday evenings from 21h to 23h.
📍Location: Various locations
4. The Campo del Moro Gardens
Behind the Royal Palace are the gardens of Campo del Moro, one of the essential free plans of the capital. It is fenced and has only one entrance, and is only open from 10 am to 7:30 pm. It is not usually crowded, for how beautiful it is, which adds to its charm. It is one of the most bucolic parks in the city and hides the pavilions of the nineteenth century and the Chalet de la Reina, which, although you can not visit inside, are unusual buildings in the city.
📍Location:Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, 1
5. Free temporary exhibitions
Free exhibitions in Madrid are an ideal alternative when we want to continue to broaden our horizons, but not spend money on it. Some cultural spaces in the capital are always free admission, such as the Sala Alcalá 31, the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo or the Espacio Fundación Telefónica, among others. Also the most relevant art galleries have temporary exhibitions that are worth taking into account (even if you are not going to buy).
📍Location: Various locations
6. El Capricho Park
Between spiritual retreat and history lesson, El Capricho is one of those parks you can’t miss, its sort of monopole temple, more typical of the landscape of a Jane Austen novel, included. The park is one of those romantic oases that greens Madrid. This stately and historic garden keeps its biggest secret in plain sight: a Civil War bunker that can be visited only at specific times of the year.
📍Location:Paseo Alameda de Osuna, 25 (Alameda)
7. Sitting by the Casa de Campo lake shore
Among the free plans must be a classic: the Casa de Campo. In its 1,700 hectares it is easy not to decide on a specific place to sit and enjoy the sun, food and flowers, but the surroundings of the lake are ideal for picnics and you can also see the emblematic Edificio España from some points. If they are too crowded there is an area behind the tennis courts with tables and a gazebo, probably less crowded and much greener.
📍Location: Casa de Campo
8. Royal Palace
On a stroll through Madrid de los Austrias it is easy to stumble upon the Royal Palace of Madrid, which is the largest in Western Europe and one of the largest in the world. Its more than 135,000 square meters and 3,418 rooms have witnessed centuries of Spanish history. It is one of the few official residences of Heads of State that is open to the public and can be visited free of charge from Monday to Thursday from 5 pm to 7 pm.
📍Location:Calle de Bailén, s/n (Downtown)
9. Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida
This hermitage on the banks of the Manzanares River is dedicated to San Antonio de Padua. To demonstrate the historical devotion of the people of Madrid to his figure, Goya adorned it with frescoes, making it one of his most important works. It can be visited free of charge during its opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 am to 8:00 pm.
Declared a National Monument since 1905, here also lie the remains of the painter since 1919, when they were transferred from Bordeaux, where he died. Another peculiarity is its twin and adjoining chapel, a modern replica built by Juan Moya in 1928.
📍Location:glorieta San Antonio de la Florida, 5 (Manzanares)
10. Geominero Museum
The Geominero Museum has one of the most beautiful interiors in the city and the entrance is free, one of the best free plans in Madrid. Crowned by a stained glass window of the Maumejean House, this building was declared of Cultural Interest (BIC) in 1998, in the category of Monument. The origin of the institution, the IGME, dates back to 1849: it was at that time when Isabel II created a commission of experts to create the first geological map of Spain. But it was in 1926 when Alfonso XIII inaugurated the hall, whose museography -the way in which the pieces are exhibited- responds to the way museums were conceived in the 19th century: as large exhibition warehouses that sought to show the more, the better.
📍Location:Calle de Ríos Rosas, 23 (Chamberí)
11. Royal Academy of San Fernando
This jewel so unknown to most people houses one of the most important art collections in the country. The Museum of the Academy preserves an exceptional heritage of more than 1,400 paintings, 1,300 sculptures and 15,000 drawings, as well as prints, furniture, silver and goldsmith objects, porcelain and other decorative arts. Admission is free on non-holiday Wednesdays for the public.
📍Location:Calle de Alcalá, 13 (Downtown)
12. The Congress of Deputies
The place where the destiny of the Spanish people is governed is a must visit before or after, the good thing is that the visit is free, you just have to book in advance. Admission is free from Monday to Thursday from 9h to 14:30h and from 16h to 18:30h and Friday from 9h to 13:30h except in August, as long as the parliamentary activity allows it.
📍Location:Carrera de S. Jerónimo, s/n (Downtown)
13. Visiting the Temple of Debod and its gardens
The temple in honor of Amun, father of all Egyptian gods, was donated to Spain by the Egyptian government in 1968 in consideration of their efforts in contributing to the salvage of the temples of Abu Simbel and to prevent it from being flooded after the construction of the Aswan High Dam. To top off this free plan for an icon of the city, you have to know that hide one of the best sunsets in Madrid. Visiting it is free but you must book in advance at https://servpub.madrid.es/TemploDebod/Login.
📍Location:Ferraz street, 1 (Argüelles)
14. Visit the Juan March Foundation
There are some plans for zero euros that are hard to believe and the free exhibitions of Juan March is one of them. This foundation was created by the financier Juan March in 1955. You can see exhibitions dedicated to artists and movements historically less known, but which are key figures of modernity, in many cases are presented for the first time in Spain. Many of the exhibitions are complemented by lectures and concerts, as they also have a theater and a music library.
📍Location:Calle de Castelló, 77 (Lista)
15. Chamberí Station
The network of museums of Metro de Madrid (Platform 0) has a jewel in Chamberí: here was born the Madrid subway, a first line inaugurated by Alfonso XIII in 1919. On May 22, 1966, Chamberí station closed its doors to no longer admit passengers. Only visitors in what is now configured as a subway museum. To go down these stairs is to go to the depths of a Madrid that no longer exists, with the Sevillian tiles, the advertising posters of the 20s, the signage and the old turnstiles… And the entrance is free, a great free plan.
📍Location:Calle de Luchana, 36 (Chamberí)
16. La Casa Encendida
Cultural, social and educational center, a space for reflection and debate, a platform for support and dissemination, a laboratory for creation? La Casa Encendida brings together many of the most alternative and youthful leisure proposals. Along with Matadero and Conde Duque, it is one of the most important cultural centers in the city. And it offers the opportunity, almost constantly, to make free plans thanks to its constantly changing programming.
📍Location:Ronda de Valencia, 2 (Lavapiés)
17. Glass palaces
And yes, glass palaces in plural because in Madrid there are two. The best known, as is obvious, is the Retiro, but in Arganzuela is another. It is a large greenhouse that is home to 9,000 species of plants from around the world. Its transparent walls contain up to four different microclimates where plants grow at ease among waterfalls, fountains and a pond of African fish.
While the one in the Retiro serves as an exhibition hall for the Reina Sofia Museum, and is one of the definitive free plans, the history of the ” other” glass palace in Madrid is as fascinating as the greenhouse itself: some people still call it a potato shed and some people look at the heads of cattle that crown the roofs in amazement.
📍Location:paseo de la Chopera, 10 (Arganzuela)
18. Discover the Museum of Contemporary Art of Conde Duque
Another of the cultural centers of the city is Conde Duque. It also has the Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid that shows in two rooms part of the objects that make up the collection of modern art belonging to the City of Madrid. Among them is one of its most important funds: the office of Ramón Gómez de la Serna. This reconstruction of the writer’s office, a central figure in the artistic avant-garde of Madrid in the first third of the 20th century, is one of the center’s main attractions. Admission is always free.
📍Location: Conde Duque Street, 9
19. The Alameda Castle
The Castillo de la Alameda is one of those places where history accumulates as part of the strata of the earth. It is also known as Castillo de Barajas, since it is located between Alameda de Osuna and Barajas, near the Jarama valley. It was built in the 15th century as a stately castle by the lord of Barajas, Juan Zapata. In the 16th century it was converted into a Renaissance palace and attracted the Madrid elite during the summers. During the Civil War it was used as a Republican stronghold. And as if this were not enough, there are Roman and Bronze Age archaeological remains.
📍Location:1 Antonio Sancha Street (Alameda de Osuna).
20. The historic Beti Jai fronton
Since October 2024, the people of Madrid can make one of the most original free plans in Madrid: visit what was one of the great temples of the Basque pelota game in the history of the capital. After having been abandoned, the Madrid City Council proceeded to its restoration and is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday in the morning, from 10h to 14h. Activities are also often scheduled.
📍Location: calle del Marqués de Riscal, 7 (Chamberí)