Museo Lázaro Galdiano is a house-museum in Madrid’s Salamanca district, built around the private art collection of publisher and collector José Lázaro Galdiano.
This guide was updated in July 2026. General admission is now €8, up from the €7 that some older guides still quote, and the free entry window runs strictly from 2pm to 3pm, Tuesday to Friday, different from the varying free-hour times listed on several outdated pages. You can book in advance through Viator to confirm your ticket before you travel.
Quick facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Address | Calle Serrano 122, 28006 Madrid |
| Hours | Tue–Fri 9:30am–3pm and 4:30pm–7:30pm; Sat–Sun 9:30am–3pm; closed Mondays |
| General admission | €8 |
| Reduced admission | €5 |
| Free entry | Tue–Fri, 2pm–3pm, for everyone |
| Nearest transit | Gregorio Marañón (Metro lines 7 and 10, step-free) |
| Typical visit duration | 1–2 hours |
Why book Museo Lázaro Galdiano tickets?
- 🏛️ A private collection turned public museum: founded in the collector’s own former home.
- 🎟️ Free every Tuesday to Friday, 2pm to 3pm: for every visitor, no conditions attached.
- 🌿 A free garden: open throughout museum hours, no ticket required.
- 📜 Works by Goya, El Greco, and Zurbarán, alongside Hieronymus Bosch’s famous “Saint John the Baptist in Meditation.”
- 💰 One of Madrid’s most accessible museums: with tactile guides, sign-language video, and a dedicated sensory space.
Opening hours for Museo Lázaro Galdiano
The museum is open Tuesday to Friday, 9:30am to 3pm, then again from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. On Saturdays and Sundays, hours run straight through from 9:30am to 3pm. It’s closed every Monday, plus 15 August and 24, 25, and 31 December. Entry closes 15 minutes before the stated closing time, and room clearing begins 5 minutes before that.
5 Madrid experiences worth booking
- 🍷 Hit the taverns and tapas bars on a highly knowledgeable food tour.
- 🖼️ Skip the lines and take a guided tour of the Prado’s masterpieces.
- 🏰 See two hugely underrated cities on a Segovia and Ávila day tour.
- 💃 Enjoy a flamenco show at Torres Bermejas.
- 👑 Combine a historic walking tour with skip-the-line Royal Palace tickets.
Ticket prices for Museo Lázaro Galdiano
| Ticket type | Price |
|---|---|
| General admission | €8 |
| Reduced (65+, students, large families, children 7–10 with an adult) | €5 |
| Free entry window | Tue–Fri, 2pm–3pm, for all visitors |
| Free (under 7s with an adult, unemployed, 33%+ disability card holders, teaching staff) | Free |
The official site doesn’t state whether prices include tax. Guided tours with an in-house guide run several times a week for €12 for adults and €8 for reduced-rate visitors, including museum admission. Book through Viator if you’d rather have your ticket confirmed ahead of time.
How to get to Museo Lázaro Galdiano
By metro: Gregorio Marañón (lines 7 and 10) has a lift and is the most step-free route. Rubén Darío (line 5), Núñez de Balboa (lines 5 and 9), and Avenida de América (lines 6, 7, and 9) are all a short walk away.
By bus: routes 9, 12, 16, 19, 27, 45, 51, and 150 all stop near Calle Serrano.
By car: the museum sits on Calle Serrano in the Salamanca district, with metered street parking and nearby car parks.
Parking
Museo Lázaro Galdiano has no dedicated car park. Metered street parking and public car parks are available nearby in the Salamanca district.
How long to spend at Museo Lázaro Galdiano
Most visitors spend 1 to 2 hours across the museum’s four floors, longer for those taking a guided tour or exploring the accessible Laboratory of the Senses on the third floor.
Accessibility at Museo Lázaro Galdiano
Museo Lázaro Galdiano is one of the most accessible museums in Madrid. Entry from Calle Serrano is step-free, with only a small 4cm threshold eased by a mat. A wheelchair is available on site, and guide and assistance dogs are welcome. Ten GVAM multimedia guides offer sign-language video, subtitles, and audio description, alongside 50 tactile diagrams and 21 NaviLens codes in 39 languages for visually impaired visitors. The historic public lift is narrow, so wheelchair users are guided to a service lift accompanied by staff. An adapted toilet is available on the ground floor.
What to see at Museo Lázaro Galdiano
The ground floor introduces the collection with smaller, more accessible works, from portraits and drawings to decorative objects.
The first floor, the palace’s original noble floor, holds the core of the Spanish art collection, spanning the 15th to 19th centuries beneath painted ceilings, including paintings, drawings, and engravings by Goya.
The second floor covers European schools beyond Spain, including Hieronymus Bosch’s celebrated “Saint John the Baptist in Meditation,” alongside works by El Greco, Murillo, Zurbarán, Claudio Coello, Luis Paret, Federico de Madrazo, and Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The garden, free to enter throughout museum hours, offers a quiet break from the galleries.
José Lázaro Galdiano (1862–1947) was a publisher, businessman, and collector who spent six decades gathering more than 12,600 pieces, from paintings and sculpture to jewellery, arms, and manuscripts. The museum opened in his former residence on 27 January 1951.
Practical visitor tips
| Tip | Detail |
|---|---|
| Visit during the free hour | Tuesday to Friday, 2pm to 3pm, is free for everyone, though some listings still quote different, incorrect times. |
| Book the in-house guided tour | It runs several days a week and the price includes museum admission. |
| Bring ID for reduced or free entry | Needed at the ticket desk for students, seniors, large families, and disability card holders. |
| Use the free multilingual app | Available in Spanish, English, and French, with an accessible version featuring audio description and sign language. |
| Don’t skip the garden | It’s free to enter during museum hours, separate from the paid collection. |
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How much does a ticket cost? | €8 general admission, €5 reduced, higher than the €7 some older guides still quote. Booking in advance confirms your ticket ahead of time. |
| Is there a free entry window? | Yes, Tuesday to Friday, 2pm to 3pm, for every visitor, regardless of age or status. |
| Is it wheelchair accessible? | Yes, extensively. It’s one of Madrid’s most accessible museums, though wheelchair users use a service lift rather than the narrow historic one. |
| How long does a visit take? | Most visitors spend 1 to 2 hours across the museum’s four floors. |
| What’s the museum’s best-known work? | Hieronymus Bosch’s “Saint John the Baptist in Meditation,” alongside paintings by Goya and El Greco. |
Things to do nearby
Calle Serrano, Madrid’s “Golden Mile” of luxury shopping, runs right past the museum’s front door.
The National Archaeological Museum, a short walk away, covers Spain’s history from prehistory to the modern era.
Retiro Park, one of Madrid’s best-loved green spaces, is within easy walking distance for a break between museums.
Museo Sorolla, the former home and studio of painter Joaquín Sorolla, is a similarly intimate house-museum a short distance across the city.
Museo Cerralbo, the eclectic former palace of the Marquis of Cerralbo, offers another glimpse into a private 19th-century collector’s world, on the other side of central Madrid.
What to visit tomorrow
The El Greco Museum, Toledo, recreates the atmosphere of the painter’s adopted city in an early 20th-century house built specifically to evoke his era, filled with period furnishings and several of his works. It’s about an hour’s drive or train ride from Madrid, and pairs a similarly intimate house-museum experience with one of Spain’s great historic cities.
More Madrid travel
Other Madrid travel guides on Planet Whitley include:
- Guide to visiting the Royal Palace of Madrid.
- How to get into Madrid’s Royal Palace when tickets have sold out.
- The three cities day tour to Toledo, Ávila and Segovia from Madrid: How it works.
- What you need to know about the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid.
- What to know before booking the Atlético Madrid stadium tour.
