Museums in Madrid: What to See, Madrid, Spain

Madrid is a city of museums – there are nearly 50 of them, ranging from historical to whimsical. Once you’ve hit the big three – the unreal classic art collection at the Prado, the Reina Sofia, the modernist dream and home to Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica, and the extensive private collection at the Borneo-Thyssen – there are loads of lesser-known museums that are well worth the time.

If you’re looking for things to do on a rainy day in Madrid, these museums are open to the general public on most days and offer free afternoons or days throughout the year. Madrid’s cultural, historical and empirical legacy is one display at museums great and small, but here are the five best small museums in the Spanish capital: 

A museum so well hidden in the stately buildings of the Almagro district that you’d never know it was there. Joaquín Sorolla, a celebrated Valencian impressionist, worked and lived in this mansion and its tranquil gardens, designed by the artist himself. At the request of his widow, the home was turned over to the state in 1925 and houses the largest collection of his works.  ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).