• Private Tour
• Family Friendly
• Instantly Confirmed
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The whole city of Madrid is a masterpiece! Come with me and discover the antique and new artistic faces of Madrid. From impressive XIX and XX century buildings, hidden modern art galleries, quiet courtyards and with a touch of street art, you'll see art all around!

Destination

Madrid, Spain

Category

Art Culture Tours

Duration

2.5 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English, Español, Italiano

Included

• Private guide

What you can expect

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with Elena.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at Plaza Santa Bárbara - Madrid to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. Art Nouveau Spotting

   Admire Madrid's most beautiful art nouveau palace. It's a private building, but that won't stop us from seeing the great facade and even entering the hall!

4. Street Art Hunting

   I'll give you a great map of Madrid street art, and show you a couple of great examples

5. Local Art Galleries

   Visit a couple of modern art galleries to discover what's going on in the local contemporary art scene

6. Designer Shops

   Stop at some of the most interesting designer stores: weaving, antiques, lightning, clothing, jewelry, leather or decoration... you choose!

7. Old & Modern

   Go to one of our great museums that mixes XIX art with modern photography. Let's have a look!

8. Tapas & Answers

   It's time to rest and enjoy a drink and a tapa while I answer all your questions about what to do during your visit

9. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

I can personalize this tour for you

• Tell me your preferred date and group size
• Tell me your preferences and wishes so I can customize the tour for you
• Wait for my personal offer in your inbox!

Contact me

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Joe🇺🇸 United States

11 November 2024

Elena was fantastic and really connected with our group of 6 first time Madrid visitors. She really took at lot of time to get to know us and our preferences, and to design a tour to fit our entire group. We loved the art & architecture focus and really appreciated some special "insider" surprises she provided. We're so glad to have a new best friend in Madrid. Highly recommended!!Look no further

Timothy🇺🇸 United States

27 May 2023

We chose Elena and the artistic walk in Madrid because we have already seen the tourist sites on prior trips. Her walk revealed a new side of Madrid for us - including hidden artist shops and boutiques we would have never found. She is fun and knowledgeable - reserve her time for a non-tourist look into Madrid. Great walk

Victoria 🇺🇸 United States

30 October 2022

I loved this experience learning about historical and contemporary art in Madrid! Elena knows where to find the best art galleries, food and drinks, and handcrafted goods. She is also very knowledgeable about how cultural influences have shaped Madrid and can explain the hidden details in street architecture. Elena gave me some great insider tips about travelling in Spain, and she showed me hidden treasures in a corner of the city I otherwise would not have found. 10/10 recommend this tour! Fantastic tour of artsy Madrid

Camilla🇪🇸 Spain

24 July 2022

We had a wonderful time with Elena! Despite all of us knowing Madrid quite well, Elena managed to show us the hidden gems of Madrid and giving us insights into the small and hidden art galleries and shops. Also Elena has a lot of interesting stories to tell. This was a present for my mom and she loved it. We definitely can only recommend Elena and this tour! Exploring hidden gems of Madrid

Will🇺🇸 United States

26 September 2021

We had just arrived in Madrid with our 2 young children and needed to get grounded. Elena immediately set us at ease. She was both knowledgeable enough to show us around at each point of interest we passed and flexible enough to deal with our wild and jet lagged young children. She was fantastic . We’re going to book another tour with her before we leave the city. Exactly what we needed.

Maria🇩🇪 Germany

11 February 2020

Wir hatten mit Elena Ecken gesehen und Informationen erhalten, die wir selbst nie entdeckt hätten. Sehr zu empfehlen!Sehr interessant und vielfältig

Olga 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

19 December 2019

Elena made us feel at home in Madrid. She showed us the places of the city we didn’t know existed and introduced us to the cultural scene of the city, the scene you wouldn’t encounter on standard tours. Totally recommend Elena to everyone and anyone who wants to feel like a local in Madrid. mazing experience with Elena

Kathy🇺🇸 United States

16 October 2019

The day spent with Elena was fabulous! She took me down streets to shops, restaurants and galleries that I never would have known existed. We sampled delicious quality chocolate, marveled at a unique “Gaudí like” 20th century building tucked in a traditional neighborhood and found a hidden garden in a little known museum. All the while we talked about Spanish culture, art and how the locals live. She gave me several suggestions on dining and more things to see and do while I was in Madrid- it was a “magical” tour 😉😄 I would highly recommend Elena.Discovering Madrid

Marvin🇺🇸 United States

10 October 2019

This was a sweet experience, with so much packed into a few hours, but I never felt rushed. Elena's approach to touring is quite unique, and has the feel of a specialty VIP excursion, filled with hidden treasures and loads of information. The art venues were enchanting and illuminating, and the community traversed interesting. Above all, Elena is a smart and charming host. Very highly recommended: the guide and the tour!A Special Treat

Xizi🇬🇧 United Kingdom

15 May 2019

Elena is wonderful! I had a really nice walk with Elena and explore the less touristy neighbourhood in Madrid, which is amazing! I got to taste a little bit of Madrid as a city like a person who live there rather than a tourist and i got to know many things such as politicals, local jokes etc. which made me feel I just started to know the city even I have already spent a few days in Madrid before the tour with Elena! The art galleries we went were also great, i won’t be able to taste a bit of the artistic circle in Madrid only by myself. It was one of the best time I had in Madrid. Thank you!

Björn

27 April 2019

In a short time we covered several small , special shops with a genuine soul, art galleries, food markets and lovely buildings. We really enjoyed the tour and Elenas energy. For a small group(3 persons) this was an ideal start of exploring Madrid. The tips we got from Elena kept us busy over the weekend.Small tour in narrow streets

Stephanie🇺🇸 United States

10 March 2019

If you want to fall in love with Madrid, if you like to walk around vibrant neighborhoods looking at architecture, street art, galleries and artisanal shops with a smart, interesting, informed and charming host, then this is your tour and Elena is your guide. You'll see things you might never have noticed, poke into places you wouldn't have gone and have all your questions answered. Elena was a delight to be with and my time with her was a highlight of my visit to Madrid. I cannot recommend her highly enough. The Artistic Side of Madrid with Elena

Barbara🇺🇸 United States

3 November 2024

we were so lucky to have chosen Elena for this 2 1/2 hour deep dive into the Prado’s masterpieces. Though we are both avid museum goers, Elena showed us things we’d never seen before. Paintings and history came alive through the details, secrets and stories she shared. She has a wonderful warm manner and is so generous in sharing her knowledge and passion. We'd love to do more tours with her. Thank youOUTSTANDING AND MEMORABLE!

Andrew🇬🇧 United Kingdom

12 October 2024

Elena is a super friendly, passionate and knowledgeable guide to have at your side to navigate the overwhelming collection of The Prado. Her tour introduced us to some key works we had not experienced prior to our visit and gave us new perspectives on familiar ones. She knows her subject for sure and in a clear and engaging manner shared her favourite works in the collection alongside many other insights to life in Madrid. The most enjoyable couple of hours were spent in her company and I would thoroughly recommend Elena as a perfect companion to a Madrid visit.Insightful & Illuminating Prado Tour

Amy🇺🇸 United States

21 March 2024

Our family started our Spain vacation in Madrid. Elena gave us a tour of the Prado and brought life and context to what we were viewing. We appreciated her passion for the art and for her country's history. She spoiled us for the rest of our trip though! After our time with Elena, everywhere we went someone in our group would say "we need Elena here too!". She also made recommendations for other spots to visit, including a wonderful flamenco show. We highly recommend Elena!We loved our time with Elena!

Marta🇺🇸 United States

14 January 2024

We were so so so so fortunate to have Elena as our private guide for a tour of the impressive El Prado Museum in Spain. I cannot imagine this visit going any better than what it did. Anyone who has gone to El Prado will understand how daunting it may feel to be within the expansive El Prado and feel like they are maximizing their time within these historic walls. In comes Elena - vibrant, smiling, knowledgeable, engaging, smart, funny, and all the other positive superlatives in the world. She single handedly made this a super engaging and enriching experience for our family of four. Our two teenagers remained engaged with her at all times. Not an easy feat!!!!!!!!! Elena made the paintings come to life. Her commentary was always on point, interesting and value adding. We were surprised at how quickly we developed a wonderful rapport with Elena. We wish her all the best and remind her that she has new friends in California. Do not hesitate to book her. She is a GEM.We LOVED LOVED LOVED Elena! She's the BEST

t8gxc8byxr🇪🇸 Spain

9 December 2023

"An unforgettable experience in Madrid, all thanks to the extraordinary tour guide, Elena! With her infectious charm and expertise in guiding, she made the three hours spent together an absolute delight. Time flew by, and we were all saddened when the tour came to an end. Elena is the perfect choice if you want to delve into the secrets of Madrid and embark on a unique adventure. Highly recommended for an engaging and enjoyable tour, 100%!" "Una experiencia inolvidable en Madrid, todo gracias a la extraordinaria guía turística, Elena. Con su encanto contagioso y experiencia en la conducción del tour, hizo que las tres horas juntos fueran un verdadero placer. El tiempo voló y todos nos sentimos apenados cuando el tour llegó a su fin. Elena es la elección perfecta si quieres sumergirte en los secretos de Madrid y embarcarte en una aventura única. ¡Altamente recomendada para un tour envolvente y disfrutable, al 100%!" "Un'esperienza indimenticabile a Madrid grazie alla straordinaria guida turistica Elena! Con la sua simpatia contagiosa e la competenza nell'arte di condurre il tour, ha reso le tre ore trascorse insieme un vero piacere. Il tempo è volato, e ci siamo ritrovati tutti dispiaciuti quando il tour è giunto al termine. Elena è la scelta perfetta se volete immergervi nei segreti di Madrid e vivere un'avventura unica. Raccomandata al 100% per un tour coinvolgente e divertente!"The best, la mejor, la migliore guida ☺️

Cean🇺🇸 United States

30 November 2023

We are looking forward to a second tour with Elena. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Elena. She is very knowledgeable of both the history of Madrid and its hidden gems. We found her very warm and personable. Definitely recommend her for when you are in Madrid!Warm, Well Informed Guide

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22 November 2023

Elena was an incredible guide at the Prado. She is a natural born storyteller and had an incredible knowledge of the museum’s art and history. We went 8 years ago with an official PhD art history guide employee of the Prado and I can say with certainty that Elena was even more knowledgeable and much more entertaining. Make sure to have her show you the Jeronimus Bosch earthly delights. She knew every detail of the painting and every piece of symbolism and it was enlightening. On top of that, we had a disabled person in our party with a wheelchair and she expertly navigated us through the museum with ease. 10/10 amazing experience , you won’t regret choosing her as your guideAmazing Prado guide

Mary🇺🇸 United States

15 November 2023

We are two adults and 3 children ages 5, 7, 9 years. We had just arrived that morning, full of energy from spending the night on the plane (read: sarcasm!). I pitied Elena for having the task of touring with our family and keeping up with our sleep-deprived children. She was amazing! She is warm and easy to talk to - the kids asked if she was a friend of mine. Haha. She also gently but firmly kept them in line while showing them the fun side of Madrid. We walked for a few hours and were treated to facts and history of Madrid, sprinkled in with rests focused around delicious snacks. One of the highlights of the trip for the kids! Great intro to Madrid for families!

JoAnn🇺🇸 United States

27 October 2023

Elena is pure magic with children! Don’t get me wrong, she’s an incredible guide with adults as well, but she managed to hold the rapt attention of our twin nine year olds for six hours, which is no small feat. She knew just the right activities to encourage their participation and engaged with them in an intelligent, thoughtful, and energetic manner. As a former educator, I definitely have high standards when it comes to how adult educators interact with children, and Elena exceeded all those expectations. My daughters even took to running up to Elena to hold her hand as we were walking along the tour. She skillfully made the information engaging for both the adults and the children in the group and curated excellent tours for us that combined education and humor! I walked away grateful for her expert guidance and curated choices, feeling like I learned infinitely more about the city from our few hours together. We would recommend her HIGHLY to any of our friends contemplating travel to Madrid! She is a gem!Pure magic!

Michelle🇨🇭 Switzerland

21 October 2023

Elena is amazing with our 5 and 9 year olds. She kept them engaged for the whole time. My 5 year old keeps telling me all the things she learned at the museum after the visit. Elena is amazing

Gina🇺🇸 United States

15 October 2023

Two fantastic days in Madrid. I was in charge of hiring the guide for our group. I was nervous about everyone having a good time. She made us feel like we have been friends forever!! She was fun and happy and spent the whole day with us!! Eating local dishes and learning the history with her was a pleasure!! The best guide we have ever had!!

Sarah

11 October 2023

Fun, intelligent, and so kind! This guide knows the art history and weaves a narrative through the museum that is incredible. Cannot express in words how fantastic Elena is!Amazing

מוניקה🇮🇱 Israel

2 October 2023

Elena es una fantástica guia, nos ha contagiado con su pasión por el arte. Gracias a su forma analítica e interesante de enseñanza pudimos aprender el contexto histórico y artístico de cada obra lo que nos abrió una manera nueva de ver y entender el arte. Se expresa fácilmente en ingles y en español y nos dio una experiencia inolvidable. Súper simpática, agradable y dispuesta a ayudar aun antes de encontrarnos. La recomendamos de todo corazón. Guis super interesante y amena

Dominic🇦🇺 Australia

6 July 2023

Finds a way to clearly explain complex artistic nuances, highly knowledgeable, and warm friendly manner which is very engaging with children.Informative & perfect for children

Stephanie🇺🇸 United States

30 June 2023

My family and I really enjoyed our tour of the Prado with Elena! I had never been a big fan of art museums, but Elena made me love the Prado. For the first time, I felt like I really understood classical art. Booking a tour with Elena is a must if you are going to the Prado. I can’t wait to book more tours with her next time I’m in Madrid!Incredible tour of the Prado!

Les🇺🇸 United States

31 May 2023

My friend and I did the skip the line Prado museum tour with Elena. It was one of the highlights of our trip to Madrid. She was fantastic. Enough detail to make it interesting without assuming that we were art history majors. Gave a fantastic explanation of many of the paintings and works of Art that we saw. No way we could have seen or appreciate the Prado without her. She was also extremely conscientious about where and how to meet as well as giving us other advice about what to do in Madrid, and expressing a willingness to help us find other activities. 10 thumbs up. We were delighted with the entire afternoon we spent with her.Definitely a 10 star experience.

Ivy🇺🇸 United States

12 May 2023

Our tour with Elena was wonderful! She was waiting for us when we arrived at the museum and escorted us past the extremely long line of people waiting to get in. She made efficient use of our time and we left feeling like we had a whole new understanding of art. She was prepared with an iPad to give more context to the art pieces and explained them to us in a way that really made them special. We got so much out of this tour and really enjoyed it. My only regret is not spending more time with Elena while we were in Madrid!Perfect tour with an amazing guide!

Yanushka🇬🇧 United Kingdom

10 April 2023

She was an absolutely brilliant guide! Cannot recommend her enough, she kept my boys interested, ages, 12 and 13. I would definitely recommend her to any family, even those not so interested in art. I would want to book her again, next time I am in MadridReina Sofia museum

Lorraine🇺🇸 United States

21 January 2023

We learned so much and would have been lost without Elena. Truly a wonderful time. She is so awesome. It was like hanging out with an old friend. Highly recommend!History made fun!

Ilyes🇳🇱 Netherlands

29 December 2022

From the second you talk to Elena you feel she is in control of what she is doing. Her explanations are smooth understandable and you leave the museum with plenty of anecdotes. Her tour of the Reina Sofia was a like telling a story. She is a real story teller, my wife and I had our best experience ever in a museum. I could not recommend her more, Elena is the person to go to ! Every time we will be back in Madrid we will spend more time with Elena! Fantastic Elena

Susan🇺🇸 United States

15 October 2022

The Prada is huge museum. It was helpful to have a knowledgeable guide lead us through the museum to give us a taste of the highlights. I appreciated her explanation of the art and the art history. She was interesting and fun. Great quick overview of the Prada

Mark🇺🇸 United States

11 October 2022

This was our 5th visit to the Prado and second personalized tour so we hoped for and more than received a unique perspective. She created an engaging storyline to provide context and delightfully demonstrated technical details with “surprise” views of paintings, augmented by images curated on her tablet. Her tour was a great historical romp with past and current connections to the works in the Prado.A storied and engaging Prado tour

Deryn🇺🇸 United States

19 September 2022

My family of four absolutely loved the behind the scenes Flamenco experience with Elena. We opted for a castanet lesson which really made us appreciate the difficulty of the performances. Since the lesson was at an actual dance school we were also able to see real performers practicing for their upcoming shows. Fantastic Flamenco Experience

Sharon🇦🇺 Australia

4 September 2022

We Loved our tour of Reina Sofia with Elena. Her passion for & knowledge of art along with her humour and great anecdotes about the artists and their paintings and sculptures kept us engaged for our entire visit, pointing out intricate details we would never have have realised. We definitely got a lot more out of our visit with Elena than if we had tried to navigate the Reina Sofia alone. One of the best museum tours I have done Fabulous visit to Reina Sofa

Amanda🇬🇧 United Kingdom

30 August 2022

Loved this tour, Elena was knowledgeable and interesting and we fitted a lot in to the 2 hours. Definitely got a lot more out of our visit to the Prado than we would have been able to do alone. Elena was great

Karolina🇮🇹 Italy

25 August 2022

Having Elena as a guide in Madrid was a great added value to our summer holiday. Visiting museums can often be boring and confusing. So what could be better than having someone to pick up for you the must see and explain you the meaning and the story behind famous masterpieces avoiding a headache overwhelmed by quantity of paintings exposed and wasting youryy precious time getting lost in the labyrinth of long corridors? Elena is absolutely the right person in the right place. She knows her job. She is kind, friendly and has extensive knowledge about art and incredible capacity to talk about it in a funny, light and understandable way. Both adults and kids will enjoy art tour with her and have a good laugh while listening to all curious anecdotes she knows. Truly enriching experience.

claudia🇺🇸 United States

8 August 2022

Elena was amazing!!! Our family toured el prado museum in Madrid and we wanted a local to show us around. We were matched with Elena and she was the best tour guide we had so far! We asked for the Spanish tour but her English was as good. She was very thorough and knowledgeable about el prado. She used an iPad to compare artworks outside of el prado to further compare paintings. I would recommend her completely.. she was super sweet and very funny. She took us to the best paintings and was able to deviate us from other crowds. Loved her and would 10/10 recommend her to anyone who is looking for tours in Madrid. Only way to see el prado!

Kristie🇺🇸 United States

29 July 2022

Elena is wonderful. She’s smart, kind, thoughtful and full of history. Do not hesitate to book with her. Book with Elena!

Romeo🇺🇸 United States

25 July 2022

Elena was wonderful! She was able to show us key historical sites while providing us and our kids the context necessary to understand their importance. Elena was friendly, fun, and flexible. We had already purchased timed tickets for the Palace and she was able to accommodate our schedule. We would highly recommend a tour with Elena!Lively walking tour for family of four

Tammi🇺🇸 United States

19 June 2022

We loved our two hour tour of The Prado with Elena! She was full of energy and had so much knowledge about the works she showed us. I came out of the tour wanting to learn more art history - I knew nothing going in, and found the tour both inspirational and educational. The two hours went by too fast which surprised me (I initially looked for just a 90 minute tour, worrying it would become boring for my kids). Thank you Elena for inspiring a love of art in me and my teenage boys! Awesome tour of Prado

PAULINA

5 June 2022

Nos encanto el tour! Mil mil gracias Elena mil gracias por el tour, nos encanto saber historia, curiosidades y lugares típicos y deliciosos de Madrid! Sin duda volveríamos a contratar un tour contigo en nuestra próxima visita.Nos encanto el tour! Mil mil gracias

Unknown

31 May 2022

So great to have a wonderful walking tour on our first day in the city. Elena was a great guide and made the tour fun and interesting. We will have so many wonderful memories from our tour. It was such a great overview, and Elena even booked dinner reservations for us for our first night at a great restaurantthat she recommended. Very happy we took the tour and would highly recommend a tour with Elena to anyone coming to visit Madrid! Wonderful Intro to Madrid

Cathy🇮🇹 Italy

31 May 2022

My daughter and I had a Elena 4 years ago, and when I saw she was still doing Withlocals tours, I knew we needed to take her tour again when I came back with my brother. She’s so energetic, knowledgeable and fun. One of the things I appreciate the most is afterwards she makes sure everything is going OK and see if we have any questions about restaurants etc. Thank you!!Awesome tour!

Anastasia🇩🇪 Germany

27 May 2022

The tour was an awesome experience and worth every penny! My host was incredibly nice, told very interesting bits and pieces about Madrid, showed unique places and gave valuable tips and suggestions for my last evening. Would definitely recommend! :)The tour was an awesome experience and worth every penny!

Don🇪🇨 Ecuador

19 May 2022

We had a great tour with Elena. She met us at the scheduled time at the Goya statue and off we went. Elena designed a tour with art from the 12th century right to the 19th century. By using her IPad, she was able to show us how the art evolved through the centuries by zooming in on aspects a person would easily miss without her expertise. Without a doubt, this was the best museum tour I have ever experienced. If you get the chance, go to the Prado, but you must hire Elena to get the most out of your visit!Prado Skip the Line Tour with Elena

Deena🇪🇨 Ecuador

18 May 2022

Our tour of the Prado with Elena was wonderful! Her tour was very well organized, including both historical and artistic insights, and was presented in a fun and lively manner. Buenissima!

Jmtroller🇨🇦 Canada

13 May 2022

We are a retired Canadian couple who have travelled extensively and taken many tours. Our private tour with Elena of the Prada Museum in Madrid was just exceptional! One of the best tours we have taken. Elena was so engaging and informative. She made the tour interactive by placing us at different places by paintings to demonstrate perspective and engaged us with interesting questions. Her knowledge base was excellent. I am more interested in art and my husband in history and both of us felt the 2 1/2 hours flew by and captivated our attention. We would have happily added more time to the tour to hear more from Elena. We would highly recommend her as a tour guide. Amazing Art/History Tour with Elena

Kelly🇺🇸 United States

5 May 2022

We really enjoyed both of our museum tours. We learned a lot and enjoyed having the expertise and explanation of our guide. She was fun, kind, and involved the whole family. Even our non- art lovers in the group were interested!Great Day!