museo arqueologico nacional- there is a full Moorish ceiling on display, an exhibit on early humans in Spain, the jewelry of the various tribes of people that lived in Spain, how invaders over the millennia impacted modern Spanishness, and an underground replica of the cave paintings. Highly recommended, great if parents are visiting. Metro stop: Serrano.

Prado- move in. Let the nuclei of your cells fill with the pigment of Goya’s paintings. Let Velasquez’s jabs at the royalty via painting details burn into your retinas. Become el Prado. At the Atocha metro stop.

Something cool they’re featuring now here.

Reina Sofia- let the guards recognize your face. The displays downstairs change pretty frequently, so if you’re a regular you are never bored. A lot of the work they feature is politically motivated, which I really appreciated. The gift store and cafe in the museum complex are both fabulous, I would suggest you take the time to stop into both. Also at the Atocha metro stop.

Theyssens– I never actually went to this one, because it wasn’t free with a student ID like the other museums in the distrito de museos. It’s not free because it is privately owned, very posh. Apparently they have some sweet pieces, but my host mom (THE ART HISTORIAN) told me to skip it (she wasn’t into it being privately owned). I plan to make it there in some future trip back to Madrid. Don’t prioritize it. The third museum at the Atocha metro stop, completing “El triangulo del Arte.”

museo de america– another one I missed out on, waaaaaaah. My dad really wants to go to this one someday. It is essentially a museum of the history of Spain conquering various parts of the Americas and what that looked like on both sides of the equation (though obviously featuring more heavily on the Spain side of things). This is in a part of the city I never actually went into, so the idea of that area is already enticing, I imagine to museum would be worth the trip just to see the neighborhood. Avenido de los Reyes Católicos.