Madrid in 6 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
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6 days in Madrid city, no day trips needed to fill it
Days 1-3 here follow the same Golden Triangle, Royal Palace, and Retiro Park core as the 3-day itinerary , timed around the free museum evenings. Days 4-6 go deeper into the city itself: the free hidden-gem museums, Salamanca and Chamberí, and the barrios that don’t make a 3-day trip. Expect roughly EUR 55-100 a person a day. Only got a week? The 7-day itinerary adds one more barrio-focused day on top of this plan.
Book these before you go
- A timed Prado ticket for Day 1 if your evening misses the free window
- A Royal Palace entry ticket for Day 2 if you don’t qualify for the EU/Ibero-American free slot
- A Santiago Bernabéu Stadium tour for Day 5, closed on match days so check the fixture list first
- A room booked ahead if you land during San Isidro (7-17 May 2026) or Pride week (25 June-5 July 2026)
Day 1: Museo del Prado and Retiro Park
The Museo del Prado runs EUR 15 general, free Mon-Sat 18:00-20:00 and Sun/holidays 17:00-19:00 with a same-day reservation. Spend the day at Retiro Park first (free, always open) so the free evening lines up. Lunch on a menú del día (EUR 10-16, Mon-Fri) rather than Mercado de San Miguel’s tourist prices. Dinner in La Latina.
| Day 1 cost (EUR, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 25 | 45 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 6 |
| Menú del día lunch | 10 | 16 |
| Prado (free evening window) | 0 | 0 |
| Dinner | 12 | 20 |
| Transit | 3 | 6 |
| Day 1 total | 53 | 93 |
Day 2: Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor, and a tapas crawl
Morning at the Royal Palace , EUR 14 or free for eligible EU/Ibero-American citizens walk-up, Mon-Thu 16:00-18:00 (Oct-Mar) or 18:00-20:00 (Apr-Sep), rules on patrimonionacional.es . Walk Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol, both free. Evening: a Cava Baja tapas crawl, 3-4 stops.
| Day 2 cost (EUR, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 25 | 45 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 6 |
| Royal Palace (or free EU window) | 0 | 14 |
| Lunch | 12 | 18 |
| Tapas crawl dinner | 15 | 25 |
| Transit | 3 | 6 |
| Day 2 total | 58 | 114 |
Day 3: Reina Sofía, Gran Vía, and Temple of Debod
The Museo Reina Sofía (Guernica) is free Mon, Wed-Sat 19:00-21:00 and Sun 12:30-14:30, closed Tuesdays entirely. Walk Gran Vía during the day, then Temple of Debod for sunset (free year-round), arrive 30-45 minutes early for the reflecting-pool shot.
| Day 3 cost (EUR, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 25 | 45 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 6 |
| Menú del día lunch | 10 | 16 |
| Reina Sofía (free evening window) | 0 | 0 |
| Dinner | 12 | 20 |
| Transit | 3 | 6 |
| Day 3 total | 53 | 93 |
Day 4: The hidden free museums and Chamberí
This is where a 6-day trip pulls ahead of a 3-day one. Cerralbo Museum is permanently free, a 19th-century mansion intact with El Greco and Zurbarán on the walls; see the hidden gems guide for the full list. Lázaro Galdiano Museum (a private mansion collection, Goya paintings and Renaissance jewellery) and the Sorolla Museum (the painter’s preserved home and garden, confirm it’s reopened before you go) round out the morning. In Chamberí, ride down to Andén 0, the free 1919 ghost metro station museum with live trains still passing behind glass. Evening in Malasaña, rooted in the 1980s Movida countercultural scene; Bodega de la Ardosa (since 1892) is the name-check bar for a vermouth before dinner.
| Day 4 cost (EUR, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 25 | 45 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 6 |
| Cerralbo + Andén 0 (both free) | 0 | 0 |
| Lázaro Galdiano | 0 | 8 |
| Lunch | 10 | 16 |
| Malasaña dinner + one vermouth | 15 | 25 |
| Transit | 3 | 6 |
| Day 4 total | 56 | 106 |
Day 5: Thyssen-Bornemisza, Salamanca, and the Bernabéu
Monday is the day to do this one: the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is free 12:00-16:00 for the permanent collection, walk-up only, no online booking, so arrive right at noon. Walk into Salamanca for the upscale shopping streets (free to window-shop even if the prices aren’t), then take the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium tour, EUR 35 online, closed on match days. Chueca in the evening, Madrid’s LGBTQ+ heart, Plaza de Chueca functions as an open-air social hub day and night.
| Day 5 cost (EUR, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 25 | 45 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 6 |
| Thyssen (free Monday window) | 0 | 0 |
| Bernabéu tour | 35 | 35 |
| Lunch | 10 | 16 |
| Chueca dinner | 15 | 25 |
| Transit | 3 | 6 |
| Day 5 total | 91 | 133 |
Day 6: San Antonio de la Florida, the Muralla Árabe, and a farewell rooftop
San Antonio de la Florida, an 18th-century hermitage with a dome Goya frescoed in 1798, is free to visit. Walk to the Muralla Árabe, roughly 120 metres of Madrid’s 9th-century Moorish wall, free to view near Puerta del Sol . If it’s a Sunday, El Rastro flea market (free to browse, 09:00-15:00) is worth folding in here instead. Close the trip with Mirador Madrid, the Cibeles rooftop viewpoint at EUR 3, or the Círculo de Bellas Artes rooftop at roughly EUR 5, cheaper and less crowded than most Madrid rooftops.
| Day 6 cost (EUR, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 25 | 45 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 6 |
| San Antonio de la Florida + Muralla Árabe (free) | 0 | 0 |
| Lunch | 10 | 16 |
| Rooftop viewpoint | 3 | 5 |
| Farewell dinner | 15 | 25 |
| Transit | 3 | 6 |
| Day 6 total | 59 | 103 |
For more on stretching six days without a day trip, see the main Madrid guide and the things to do guide .
Book the free windows first: Prado Day 1, Reina Sofía Day 3, Thyssen Day 5. Everything else on this list is free or under EUR 15, so the museum schedule is the only thing worth locking in ahead.