Two enclosed convents sit a few minutes from Puerta del Sol, and neither lets a visitor wander. Entry to both is by booked guided tour only, and the online tours are sold in Spanish only.
The Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales and the Real Monasterio de la Encarnación are two Patrimonio Nacional convents in central Madrid that are visited on a guided tour at a flat rate of €9. Booked online the same ticket becomes €9.77, a tourist group pays €8.00 a head, and the tour runs 60 minutes at the Descalzas Reales against 50 at La Encarnación. Both close on Mondays.
How do you visit the Descalzas Reales and La Encarnación in Madrid? Both convents cost a flat €9 per person and admit visitors only on a guided tour, lasting about 60 minutes at the Descalzas Reales and 50 minutes at La Encarnación. Both close on Mondays. Every tour sold online is in Spanish; one English tour runs at 12:00 at the Descalzas Reales.
One English tour a day, and only at one of the two
The language rule is the detail most worth checking before booking, because it decides which of the two is usable at all.
Every guided tour bought over the internet is in Spanish, at both convents. The Descalzas Reales additionally run an English tour at 12:00, Tuesday to Sunday. The Real Monasterio de la Encarnación publishes no session in any language other than Spanish.
That single 12:00 slot is the only English-language entry to either building, which makes it the fixed point of any plan that includes them. It also sits outside the free window entirely.
What €9 turns into at the checkout
The flat fare is, according to Patrimonio Nacional, €9.00 per person at both convents, and there is no reduced rate in between: a visitor either pays it in full or falls inside one of the free categories.
Buying online adds €0.77 per ticket in handling fees. That makes a single ticket €9.77, a pair €19.54 and a family of four €39.08. The charge attaches to each ticket rather than to the booking, so it scales with the group.
| Type of visitor | Price per person |
|---|---|
| Individual, at the box office | €9.00 |
| Individual, booked online | €9.77 |
| Tourist groups and travel agencies | €8.00 |
| Cultural groups | €9.00 |
Educational groups pay a reduced €9.00 per person plus a flat €10 booking fee. And both convents accept the Bono Cultural Joven, the culture voucher the Ministry of Culture issues to young people.
The free hours land on the two days with no afternoon tour
Patrimonio Nacional grants free entry to both convents on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 16:00 to 18:30, all year, to EU citizens, residents or work-permit holders in that area and Ibero-American nationals, on proof of nationality. Those tickets are sold at the box office only.
The tour timetable the same body publishes reads differently for those two days. At the Descalzas Reales the Wednesday and Thursday sessions are 10:30 and 12:50; at La Encarnación, 11:00. None of the three falls inside the 16:00 to 18:30 window.
Both convents open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 18:30, and Sundays and public holidays 10:00 to 15:00, with the box office shutting an hour before. The afternoon therefore exists as building hours but not as a published tour slot on those two days, and since the visit is guided-only, it has to be confirmed at the window on the day.
That is a different mechanism from the one at the Royal Palace of Madrid, where the free stretch is the last two hours from Monday to Thursday and is cut to 60 usable minutes by the same box-office-only rule, set out in who gets into the Royal Palace free.
Free by document rather than by clock
Alongside the window, both convents apply a list of exemptions that depends on who the visitor is rather than on when they turn up.
Free entry covers children under 5, members of large families, members of ICOM and ICOMOS, official tourist guides with their card while working, teaching staff in active service, people in certified legal unemployment, and people with a disability of 33 % or above plus a companion where the visit cannot be made without one.
Two dates open both buildings to everyone: 18 May, International Museum Day, and 12 October, Spain’s national day, the latter with no nationality condition at all. That last clause is what separates it from the Wednesday and Thursday window, which does ask for a passport.
Ten closed dates, two addresses and one metro station
Both convents close on Mondays and share, according to Patrimonio Nacional, ten fixed closures: 1 and 6 January, 1, 2, 3 and 4 April, 1 May and 24, 25 and 31 December. Patrimonio Nacional also warns of further closures for official events, which no city-run museum does.
The Descalzas Reales are entered from Calle de la Misericordia 2, a few metres from the usual door, and La Encarnación stands on Plaza de la Encarnación 1, beside the Senate. Ópera station, on metro lines 2 and 5, serves both, and neither building has step-free access.
The Monday closure lines them up with the big museums and with the rest of the Patrimonio network, but not with the city as a whole, where each body decides on its own, as mapped in who sets Madrid’s opening hours and in Madrid’s free museums.
Both are the urban version of what Patrimonio Nacional applies at the Royal Sites outside the city, with the same nationality check and higher prices, covered in day trips from Madrid.
Frequently asked questions about the Descalzas Reales and La Encarnación
Are the guided tours at the Descalzas Reales in English?
Only one a day. Every tour sold online is in Spanish, and the Descalzas Reales run a single English tour at 12:00, Tuesday to Sunday. La Encarnación publishes no tour in any other language.
How much are tickets to the Descalzas Reales and La Encarnación?
A flat €9 per person at both, with no reduced rate in between. Booking online adds €0.77 per ticket in handling fees, so one ticket comes to €9.77 and two to €19.54.
Can you walk around La Encarnación on your own?
No. Both convents are guided-tour only, at fixed session times, and the tour lasts about 50 minutes at La Encarnación and about an hour at the Descalzas Reales. Tickets are still sold at the window once the online allocation runs out, up to the session quota.
When are the Descalzas Reales free to visit?
Wednesdays and Thursdays from 16:00 to 18:30 all year, for EU citizens, residents and Ibero-American nationals with proof of nationality. Those tickets are sold at the box office only.
Nine euros, one hour with a guide, one English slot a day, and a free afternoon to confirm at the window.