Bourbon Madrid: private walking tour · 2 hours

The city the Bourbons built when they decided a capital ought to look like one: the great avenues, the Paseo del Prado with its fountains and its line of museums, and the eighteenth-century architecture that gave Madrid its proportions. This is the walk that explains why the centre changes character the moment you cross from the Habsburg streets into the open ones. Private, for your party alone, on your own date. Closed price per group.

  • The Paseo del Prado, Cibeles and the eighteenth-century avenues
  • Why the centre changes as you leave Habsburg Madrid
  • Flat and step-free: works with children and with older walkers
  • Closed price per group, not per person
Included

What's included

  • A private guide for the whole route, for your group alone.
  • The Bourbon axis on foot: the Paseo del Prado, Cibeles, Neptuno, the line of museums and the eighteenth-century architecture.
  • Recommendations from someone who lives here for the rest of your stay.
Not included

What's not included

  • Admissions: we look at the buildings from outside. Entry to the Prado, the Royal Palace or any museum is not included; if you want them we book them, charged at the museum's own price with no mark-up.
  • Transport: this is a walking tour. Taxi or metro to the meeting point is on you.
  • Food and drink.
  • Tips: not expected.
Duration2 Hours
Bring along
  • Comfortable shoes: two hours of walking, flat and step-free.
  • Layers: Madrid sun is strong and the air moves.
  • Water: the climate is dry; we pass drinking fountains.
  • A cap and sun protection from May to September: the Paseo has shade, but not all the way.
Important information

Before you come

  • Private: the tour runs for your group alone, on your date and at your pace. The times shown are starting points, not fixed departures.
  • Closed price per group: the rate covers the whole group, not each person. Pick the category that matches how many of you there are.
  • Access: the flattest walk we run, step-free throughout. Suitable for pushchairs and for limited mobility; tell us when you book and we'll plan for it.
  • Pairs well with the Prado or the Royal Palace the same day: the walk ends at the door of both.
  • Meeting point: agreed with you, confirmed in writing when you book.
  • Groups over 12: write to us and we'll confirm subject to availability.

Further information

Bourbon Madrid: the city that became a capital

The moment Madrid decided to look like a capital.

The Bourbons arrived with a firm idea of how a European court ought to look, and applied it to a city that was not one. That is where the great avenues come from, and the Paseo del Prado with its fountains and its line of museums, and the eighteenth-century architecture that gave Madrid the proportions it still has. Private, for your party alone, on your own date and at your own pace.

What you see

  • The Paseo del Prado: designed as an open-air drawing room, with the Cibeles, Apolo and Neptuno fountains placed there on purpose.
  • The line of museums: why they all sit together, and what was on that axis before them.
  • Eighteenth-century architecture: the buildings that set the scale of the centre.
  • The contrast: exactly what changes as you move from the narrow Habsburg streets to the open Bourbon ones, and why.

Who it works for

It fits especially well with anyone visiting the Prado or the Royal Palace the same day: the walk ends at the door of both, so they join up neatly. It also suits groups who came for art and architecture rather than anecdote.

Accessible: this is the flattest of our walks. The whole Paseo del Prado stretch is step-free, so it works with small children, with pushchairs and with older walkers.

from
€220.00
Choose your preferred appointment and book.