Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
4
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Saturday
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Tours & experiences
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The area
Address
Neighborhood: Sol
How to get there
- Callao • 3 min walk
- Ópera • 4 min walk
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8,715 within 3 miles
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
940 reviews
Excellent
484
Very good
280
Average
82
Poor
48
Terrible
46
dolly855
London, UK20 contributions
Feb 2020
The tour was rushed through giving little time to absorb the frescoes, art and architecture satisfactorily and there was no encouragement to visit the shop. The staff were rude and unhelpful and unsmiling. Maybe we went on a bad day but it was disappointing overall as the only impression left was a glimpse into what we expected to see and hear about. More could be gained from a travel publication. Not recommended sadly as a satisfying visit.
Written February 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Malgorzata
12,113 contributions
Jun 2021
A monastery full of beauty in the heart of Madrid. Palacio de los Austrias converted into a monastery. The guided tour takes approximately one hour and ten minutes. A beautiful historical place with lots of religious art. The number of chapels and the collection of paintings of great artistic value are surprising. Really a hidden gem in the heart of Madrid. A must visit if you like religious art.
Written April 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
travelinspiration
Dallas, TX340 contributions
Oct 2022
This monastery didn't wow us as much as expected, but we love visiting monasteries with great history on vacation and we had the extra time. If limited on time, could give it a miss. It's also not easy to see. Not many private guides are equipped with it's history, fortunately we found one that was and went at reserved 10:45am time slot on a weekday recently. Only allowed to stay 45 minutes but that's plenty since it's small/only can see limited areas. Nothing too outstanding to see but nice, and we love in-depth historical places of cities, so it intrigued us. They have very limited tours done by facility in English so see if can find if not with guide.
Written October 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JRMADA
United States3,374 contributions
Nov 2022
This is a very beautiful and well kept working monastery (there are 19 nuns there currently). The frescoes, art, furnishings, and the structure itself are beautiful and in excellent condition for their age. All tours here are done by in-house guides (monastery employees) only and in Spanish. The staff is crude and extremely unpleasant at times. Photography and video recording are prohibited here, and in our tour they had an employee with the grace and good humor of a wild bore who tailed the group reprimanding people for just looking at their phones. One visitor in our group got yelled at for trying to silence here phone. If you had your phone in your hand, you were watched like a criminal, so we put ours in our pockets. A lady with limited mobility sat on a bench and was rudely told to stand up and get off the bench. There is security check at the door and we had to put not only our backpack through the X-ray machine, but our phones and the coins I had in my pocket as well. Beyond ridiculous! I get the backpack, but phones and coins??? Our tour guide, who had a nice voice and was very eloquent, was a bit scattered at times making it hard to follow the tour. Our tour lasted one hour and the tickets only cost €6.00 a piece, so very affordable. Visiting this place takes a bit of planing as tickets are usually sold out a week in advance. This place is not suitable for people with limited mobility as there are some stairs to climb. For us this visit was a bit uncomfortable and unpleasant due to the staff’s crude behavior, so we cannot recommend this place to any one.
Written November 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Margaret M aka Smiler
Poole, UK116 contributions
Oct 2023 • Friends
Beautiful building with many paintings etc. However the staff were very officious!! We entered through a small door and were ordered by the ticket lady to come forward and put our money on the desk. No smile or welcome. It was a small room but the security guard told me loudly to come back into the room and put my purse through the machine. He had not been at his post so I had just walked through! Then to cap it all a lady with dishevelled hair and a very stern attitude told us to turn phones off and no photos. It felt like we were naughty children( I’m 72). This lady proceeded to follow the group and watch every move. I didn’t understand anything as it was only in Spanish and there was no audio. Such a waste of time!
Written October 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Miku&Mussu
286 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
Amazingly beautiful monastery. Unfortunately photography is not allowed. On top of this, there was an extremely aggressive guard walking behind us making sure that nobody stayed even one step behind the group and nobody took photographs. This was done in a very rude and aggressive manner. Then the guard turned off the light as soon as the guide has finished talking in an certain room, so there was no chance to look around the rooms and enjoy the tour. What added to our disappointment, was that our tour was also cut short by 35 minutes compared to the previous tour, which had left 35 minutes before us and we catched them up and finished our tour at the same time as they finished their. Just an awful tour, can’t recommend if I wanted to.
Written October 1, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MDOGP
Dallas, TX1,125 contributions
Jul 2022 • Solo
This is the best monastery I have ever visited. It was founded by the daughter of Charles the 5th. It used to be a monastery for the aristocrats and royal members. The paintings, sculptures, and religious objects are just amazing. The guided tour lasts 60 minutes, and it is really informative.
Written July 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Judy F
5 contributions
Nov 2023 • Family
The cookies have to be bought in such large amounts 1-2 kg and not that great! Also, expensive. The almond ones are soft and don’t taste that almondy. The cookies de te were better. I picked up the cookies off the turntable and didn’t grab my change quick enough and the table turned. No amount of request could retrieve my 4€ change! The whole experience interesting and makes for a great tale.
Written November 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LPWilliams
London, UK981 contributions
Oct 2013 • Solo
I visited the Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns as part of my 8 full-day visit to Madrid and enjoyed it quite a lot - despite there being a couple of entrance issues to deal with, namely restricted maximum visitor-limits for the poorly-publicised times for your desired language-specific guided tour (which are mandatory).
I am surprised that it doesn't feature higher in the Trip Advisor Madrid 'hit list', as there are a lot of interesting features making this attraction (for me) quite different from anything else in the city - I suspect that those entrance 'issues' deter/flavour visitor numbers/opinions....
---
I am compiling an extensive Trip Advisor 'Trip List' for my visit to see the sights of Madrid and day trips to Toledo/Segovia, it is entitled 'Madrid Attractions (+ Toledo/Segovia Day Trips) : 7 Full-Day Visit Oct 2013'. Please feel free to access it via my TA Profile (by clicking my TA 'name' below the photo on the left of this review). I hope it is of interest and use to you and that all of my individual reviews/photos/videos get posted properly; don't forget that videos aren't posted with the review like photos are, so it's best to locate them via my TA profile....
---
From my experience the Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns posed no great problem to visit as I already knew it could only be seen via a mandatory tour, that the language-specific tours had a number-limit and their precise times could only be 'discovered' once there.
So, the moral of that tale is to go there ASAP, find out the times and if your desired 'language' tour isn't due very soon buy the ticket (as numbers are limited) and return just before it's due to depart (although there is a seating 'waiting' area if you're a bit early) - a couple of caveats though :
If it's of any help, the base of my review should feature photos I took of the tour 'timetable', which hopefully doesn't change much but (if nothing else !) at least gives you an idea of how a day there is organised and what languages the tour is available in
Although very close to the 'Sol' area, the unobtrusive nature of the entrance makes finding it a little tricky and my other recommendation is to avail yourself of the shop when you get your ticket, as it could well be closed when you exit after the tour ! That is especially important here as photography is not allowed, so you might (like I was) be tempted to buy the comprehensive (if a little pricey for what it is) guide book. The base of my review should also feature a photo of it....
The hour-long tour is informative but definitely misses certain (similarly interesting) parts of the Convent out. That is obvious if you buy the guide book as it features photos of them - so that's another good reason to buy it perhaps !!!
The beauty of much of what you see inside is not hinted at by the rather plain building exterior, with wonderfully decorated walls/ceilings and a multitude of paintings and impressive tapestries for example.
As I didn't visit everywhere in Madrid, I can't say if the Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns is a unique attraction. However, from my experience I can say that it was different from anywhere else I DID visit, so along with it being very interesting to tour it was something 'special'. Whilst I didn't find it charming in the way I found, for example, the Cerralbo Museum to be it was nonetheless very enjoyable and I think that it is another of those essential places to visit when you're in Madrid.
I am surprised that it doesn't feature higher in the Trip Advisor Madrid 'hit list', as there are a lot of interesting features making this attraction (for me) quite different from anything else in the city - I suspect that those entrance 'issues' deter/flavour visitor numbers/opinions....
---
I am compiling an extensive Trip Advisor 'Trip List' for my visit to see the sights of Madrid and day trips to Toledo/Segovia, it is entitled 'Madrid Attractions (+ Toledo/Segovia Day Trips) : 7 Full-Day Visit Oct 2013'. Please feel free to access it via my TA Profile (by clicking my TA 'name' below the photo on the left of this review). I hope it is of interest and use to you and that all of my individual reviews/photos/videos get posted properly; don't forget that videos aren't posted with the review like photos are, so it's best to locate them via my TA profile....
---
From my experience the Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns posed no great problem to visit as I already knew it could only be seen via a mandatory tour, that the language-specific tours had a number-limit and their precise times could only be 'discovered' once there.
So, the moral of that tale is to go there ASAP, find out the times and if your desired 'language' tour isn't due very soon buy the ticket (as numbers are limited) and return just before it's due to depart (although there is a seating 'waiting' area if you're a bit early) - a couple of caveats though :
If it's of any help, the base of my review should feature photos I took of the tour 'timetable', which hopefully doesn't change much but (if nothing else !) at least gives you an idea of how a day there is organised and what languages the tour is available in
Although very close to the 'Sol' area, the unobtrusive nature of the entrance makes finding it a little tricky and my other recommendation is to avail yourself of the shop when you get your ticket, as it could well be closed when you exit after the tour ! That is especially important here as photography is not allowed, so you might (like I was) be tempted to buy the comprehensive (if a little pricey for what it is) guide book. The base of my review should also feature a photo of it....
The hour-long tour is informative but definitely misses certain (similarly interesting) parts of the Convent out. That is obvious if you buy the guide book as it features photos of them - so that's another good reason to buy it perhaps !!!
The beauty of much of what you see inside is not hinted at by the rather plain building exterior, with wonderfully decorated walls/ceilings and a multitude of paintings and impressive tapestries for example.
As I didn't visit everywhere in Madrid, I can't say if the Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns is a unique attraction. However, from my experience I can say that it was different from anywhere else I DID visit, so along with it being very interesting to tour it was something 'special'. Whilst I didn't find it charming in the way I found, for example, the Cerralbo Museum to be it was nonetheless very enjoyable and I think that it is another of those essential places to visit when you're in Madrid.
Written January 2, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
michaelcs
London2 contributions
1. You can't visit the museum except by guided tour on the hour, ever. You're in for an hour of herding around in semi darkness through some arid museum rooms with no sense of a convent that ever lived, let alone is now living.
2. Beware the opening hours and indeed complete days of closure!
3. To get in you have to queue before 10.30 to get an 11.30 tour! During the whole of last Saturday there was no tour offered in any other language but Spanish.
4. The tour guide, totally unsympathetic, speaks Spanish without the tiniest compromise to foreigners - speaking so fast that even the Spanish said they couldn't understand
5. Then there is a sweeper, unsmiling, monoglot and monosyllabic, who positions himself slap in front of any picture you might want to look at, if you are one millisecond behind the group. He looks like Mr Oddjob and you feel he is about to karate-chop you down!
6. The tour takes you to very few parts of real interest notably NOT to the Treasury, NOT to the chapel and NOT to the garden where the nuns allegedly work. In fact they keep all the shutters rigidly shut so that you remain in darkness, and have no idea what is outside the extremely restricted route of the tour
7. Not a single painting is marked, identified or named in any way. Not a single piece of information is available at any point. No map, no explanation, no context. This is a museum which has done absolutely nothing for its visitors since the day the Pope allowed it to open in 1961! Yet it is ripping off the tourists at high entrance prices!
8. There is absolutely no attempt to show anything of the life of the convent either in the time of the Barefoot Royals or now.
9. The place is essentially stuffed with kitsch. Old kitsch, but kitsch nonetheless. Christs at every chapel, covered in vast bleeding wounds all bleeeding profusely. And the nuns were apparently so lacking in imagination that each Christ is shown with blood spurting from every pore of his body even where there are no wounds! The whole thing shows an absolute lack of refinement, taste or balance.
10. Yes there are a couple of pictures by famous artists, but unlabeled, displayed in shockingly poor light, and with no chance to look at them. Also most (perhaps all?) these pictures need to be properly cleaned. The tapestries are an enormous disappointment and I have seen better in provincial museums all over Europe.
11. This was BY A MILE the most disappointing feature of our visit to Madrid. Given that this city has three outstanding, brilliant, world-class art galleries just one kilometre away (and all three available to be visited in excellent conditions, and completely free at certain times), I would counsel any tourist to leave this arrogant, customer-hostile rip-off to its Church managers. Big disappointment two visitors highly interested in art, history or convents!
2. Beware the opening hours and indeed complete days of closure!
3. To get in you have to queue before 10.30 to get an 11.30 tour! During the whole of last Saturday there was no tour offered in any other language but Spanish.
4. The tour guide, totally unsympathetic, speaks Spanish without the tiniest compromise to foreigners - speaking so fast that even the Spanish said they couldn't understand
5. Then there is a sweeper, unsmiling, monoglot and monosyllabic, who positions himself slap in front of any picture you might want to look at, if you are one millisecond behind the group. He looks like Mr Oddjob and you feel he is about to karate-chop you down!
6. The tour takes you to very few parts of real interest notably NOT to the Treasury, NOT to the chapel and NOT to the garden where the nuns allegedly work. In fact they keep all the shutters rigidly shut so that you remain in darkness, and have no idea what is outside the extremely restricted route of the tour
7. Not a single painting is marked, identified or named in any way. Not a single piece of information is available at any point. No map, no explanation, no context. This is a museum which has done absolutely nothing for its visitors since the day the Pope allowed it to open in 1961! Yet it is ripping off the tourists at high entrance prices!
8. There is absolutely no attempt to show anything of the life of the convent either in the time of the Barefoot Royals or now.
9. The place is essentially stuffed with kitsch. Old kitsch, but kitsch nonetheless. Christs at every chapel, covered in vast bleeding wounds all bleeeding profusely. And the nuns were apparently so lacking in imagination that each Christ is shown with blood spurting from every pore of his body even where there are no wounds! The whole thing shows an absolute lack of refinement, taste or balance.
10. Yes there are a couple of pictures by famous artists, but unlabeled, displayed in shockingly poor light, and with no chance to look at them. Also most (perhaps all?) these pictures need to be properly cleaned. The tapestries are an enormous disappointment and I have seen better in provincial museums all over Europe.
11. This was BY A MILE the most disappointing feature of our visit to Madrid. Given that this city has three outstanding, brilliant, world-class art galleries just one kilometre away (and all three available to be visited in excellent conditions, and completely free at certain times), I would counsel any tourist to leave this arrogant, customer-hostile rip-off to its Church managers. Big disappointment two visitors highly interested in art, history or convents!
Written February 7, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Capachita
Barbate, Spain148 contributions
Hola alguien sabría decirme si la visita guiada se puede realizar el miércoles o jueves por la tarde o tendría que ser por la mañana?si es así donde tendría que reservar la visita guiada?gracias .
Vicente R
Madrid, Spain10,340 contributions
Visita esta pagina:
entradas.patrimonionacional.
Alvaro E
Getafe, Spain269 contributions
Cuánto dura la visita guiada? Y una vez que termina puedes ver el monasterio por tu cuenta?
Gracias mil
Charo C
Province of Albacete, Spain16 contributions
Hola. La visita guiada dura una hora, y no puedes quedarte por tu cuenta. Pero la visita guiada, en mi opinión, es suficiente. En ella no se accede a la Iglesia, que sin embargo si puede visitarse por las tardes,libremente, entre la 18:30 y las 20:00. En este horario se celebra una misa.
Las Descalzas Reales es un monasterio muy visitado, por lo que conviene sacar las entradas con antelación en este enlace: web de Patrimonio Nacional.
Para mi esta visita es una maravilla, pues el conjunto Histórico-artístico es de sumo interés. Espero que lo disfruten. Un saludo cordial
silsieb
Buenos Aires, Argentina4 contributions
Si voy un jueves a la tarde, que es gratuito desde las 16,30 a las 18,30 ¿Habrá visita guiada? Si es así,¿a qué hora debo estar para integrar algún grupo?
deprimidaBuenosAires
Benavidez, Argentina76 contributions
yo fui en visita gratuita guiada. Pero tienes que sacar con antelacion la entrada en la pagina de patrimonio nacional.
las visitas siempre son guiadas.
tammytwo45
West Sussex21 contributions
We are going to visit this Monasterio in September this year (2018) as we couldn't get in on the day we went and queued- can we be sure of a tour if we turn up as soon as they open to buy a ticket, - or should we definitely book on-line? What's best advice please?
Stephanie S
Wellington, New Zealand205 contributions
I have visited twice 2015,and 2017 both in November without booking ticket-once i hit the English speaking tour (halting english) and recently the spanish-you can get the gist of the lovely things. The key is to be at the first oak?door on the left nearest the San Martin hotel-ie the furtherest door from El Corte Ingles at least half an hour from show time. Do not feel tempted to sit on the wall opposite and as it fills up join the line-you wont get in-happened to me once I was no 21 and the door slammed in my face. The lasT 2 occasions was there early and literally hugged the door They seem to take the 1st 20. I went to the 4pm one (or thereabouts) last time and was the 1st in to get tickets Never needed to book on line.
Se puede ir a alojar ahí, si una viene de paso y es de Chile. Ademas estuvimos en Colegio de Monja y Cura. Y cuales son las condiciones...Gracias
CristiPala
1 contribution
sigue siendo un convento de Clausura aunque solo quedan media docena de monjas ya muy mayores.
mientras queden monjas no ofrece alojamiento.
dentro de unos años, tal vez.
Lucrecia V
Guatemala City, Guatemala8 contributions
Donde puedo comprar las entradas
Concha L
Madrid, Spain23 contributions
Se han adelantado las personas que ya han respondido. Se pueden adquirir tanto por Internet como en el propio monasterio. Deben informarse, previamente, del horario de los servicios religiosos, para evitar no coincidir con las monjas y poder visitar la capilla.
Lucrecia V
Guatemala City, Guatemala8 contributions
Si voy a estar el 19 en madrid y quiero ir a este monasterio .....cual es el precio de las entradas
kubano
Miami Beach, FL814 contributions
El precio son 6 euros, muy importante es, o bien estar bien temprano por la mañana para entrar en el primer grupo con una guía en español maravillosa o reservar por la página web de ellos pues solo entra una cantidad limitada de personas en cada grupo, el lugar es maravilloso, las monjas son de clausura por lo que antes de que entre el grupo suenan unas campañas para que se encierren y cuando entra el grupo solo ves un edificio sin presencia humana, maravilloso. No dejen de ir!
jessikari1
Malgrat de Mar, Spain4 contributions
hola! alguien puede decirme cuánto dura la visita?
Juan F
Sabadell, Spain1,165 contributions
1 hora, pero son horas reservadas antes sino te la pierdes creo que son dos por la mañana 11-12 es la que yo hice, por la tarde tambien.-MEJOR ENCARGAR CON LA WEB DIA QUE IRAS PARA NO PERDETRE LA VISITA GUIADA.-VALE LA PENA
Shannaj13
Oak Park, CA9 contributions
Hi,
I was curious where you found the online website to book the tour.
Joop V
Ede, The Netherlands2,124 contributions
We've been for a long weekend to Madrid and went to the Monastry to buy the tickets. If you google: madridticketsinternational, you can book tours to the Monestry a.o. on this site.
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