Things to do in Europe · Madrid
Madrid in October: the Prado, the palace, the Bernabéu and flamenco, in the version to book
The Prado and the Royal Palace with or without a guide, the Bernabéu tour, flamenco three ways, the Segovia-and-Toledo day and a tapas walk, by rating.
- For visitors from the US
- For Europeans
- For visitors from East Asia
Madrid is a city where the free version of most things exists, which makes the paid list a question of what a ticket actually buys you. The bookings below are from our partner's Madrid catalogue, 350 experiences as read on October 1, ranked by how many people booked and how they rated them, with the free alternative named where there is one. Prices are "from" prices in euros. October 12 is Spain's national day, a Monday this year, with the military parade on the Castellana; book the Monday's tickets early.
While you're in Madrid
A few things to do in Madrid from our partner GetYourGuide. Booking happens on their site.
Glentio earns a small commission when you book through these links, at no extra cost to you. Prices as shown on GetYourGuide on 1 Oct 2026; today's price and availability are on their site. More things to do in Madrid
The three museums and the palace
- Prado Museum entry, from €18. Rated 4.7 by 23,200, the second-most-booked ticket in the city. The Prado is free for the last two hours of every day; the ticket buys you the morning, which is when you can see the Velázquez room. The guided tour, from €49, 4.9 from 870, is the best-rated tour in the catalogue and the way to do it once.
- Reina Sofía guided tour with entry, from €46, 4.9 from 510. The Guernica with someone explaining it.
- Royal Palace fast-access ticket, from €22, 4.6 from 16,400, or the expert guided tour with skip-the-line, from €37, 4.7 from 9,400. The palace's own queue is the longest in the city on a holiday weekend; either ticket skips it.
The stadium
- Tour Bernabéu, from €37. Rated 4.5 by 26,500, the most-booked experience in Madrid, and the one booking on this page that depends on the fixture list: check there is no match that day. The stadium and museum tour with optional tapas, from €57, 4.6 from 1,200, adds the lunch.
Flamenco, three ways
- Live the Flamenco Experience, from €32, 4.8 from 15,400. The best-rated show in the city and the most-booked.
- Live flamenco show with food and drink options, from €28, an hour, 4.5 from 11,000.
- Tablao Ópera flamenco show, from €15, 4.7 from 670, the cheapest seat in the catalogue for a real tablao.
Out of town, and on foot
- Segovia and Toledo in a day, with the Alcázar and the cathedral, from €41, 4.7 from 10,400. The most-booked day trip, two cities, and October is the month to do it without the heat. The Toledo-only bus day, from €34, 4.2 from 6,100, is the lower-rated single-city version.
- Guided food tour with tapas and Spanish wine, from €69, 4.9 from 880, the best-rated food experience; or the vintage bike highlights tour with optional tapas, from €29, 4.9 from 1,240, which is the same rating for less than half the price and more of the city.
Booking happens on the partner's site; Glentio earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Free around it
Madrid's free October on Glentio is one building: Casa de América in the Palacio de Linares on Cibeles, which runs a programme of Latin American film, letters and ideas with no admission charge. This week it screens Felipe Cazals' Canoa, the 1976 Mexican film, on Wednesday October 7 at 18:00, the same evening as Letras de Costa Rica, an evening of Costa Rican writing; on Thursday October 8 at 18:00 Vida de familia screens with a discussion; and on Friday October 9 at 19:00 the COMA contemporary music festival brings the Arcadia guitar duo into the palace. Later: a conference on AI and totalitarian power in Latin America on October 13 at 18:30, Luce López-Baralt's book on the Spanish exile in Puerto Rico on October 14 at 19:00, and the Mirador Basin Maya archaeology project on October 21 at 18:00. All in Spanish, all in one of the best rooms in the city, a few minutes from the Prado. The rest of Madrid's October is on Glentio's Madrid page.
For visitors from the US
Dates are written day first: 12/10 is October 12, the holiday. Prices above are in euros; the Prado tour costs about a museum membership at home, the Segovia-and-Toledo day about a nice dinner. Book the Bernabéu around the fixtures and the Prado for a weekday morning; the flamenco shows take bookings the day before.
For Europeans
Madrid is a short flight and the October 12 weekend is the Spanish one, so hotels are full of Spaniards; book the Monday's palace ticket and the Sunday flamenco now. Barcelona and Valencia have the same long weekend in the same format.
For visitors from East Asia
Mid-October is after Golden Week and after the Spanish summer, so fares and hotels are at their calmest, apart from the holiday weekend. Spain sets no minimum purchase for a VAT refund; ask for the tax-free form at the till. The Prado's audio guide runs in Japanese, Korean and Chinese; the partner tours run in English; the Casa de América programme is in Spanish.
Sources
- The partner catalogue for Madrid, as read on October 1, 2026, for every price, rating and review count.
- Casa de América, checked October 5, 2026, for the free programme.