Biblioteca Nacional de España
Biblioteca Nacional de España
4.5
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
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The area
Address
Neighborhood: Salamanca (District)
How to get there
- Colón • 3 min walk
- Serrano • 5 min walk
Reach out directly
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9,926 within 3 miles
Attractions
1,510 within 6 miles
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
524 reviews
Excellent
248
Very good
202
Average
52
Poor
12
Terrible
10
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
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Vicente C
16 contributions
Jan 2024 • Couples
Bad experience. During the holidays there are no guided tours and access is only allowed to a couple of exhibitions when the website says that you can visit freely at any time.
The workers have no idea about anything and the security guards are very rude and treat people terribly. To the point that I stopped visiting Miguel Hernández's exhibition because of the treatment received.
It is a real shame that those of us who love literature cannot visit this building properly. Horrible, save yourself the trouble.
The workers have no idea about anything and the security guards are very rude and treat people terribly. To the point that I stopped visiting Miguel Hernández's exhibition because of the treatment received.
It is a real shame that those of us who love literature cannot visit this building properly. Horrible, save yourself the trouble.
Written January 6, 2024
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.
melody2222
La Coruna, Spain2,948 contributions
May 2023 • Family
In charge of the bibliographic and documentary heritage of Spain. It will preserve bibliographic funds, with more than thirty million publications produced in national territory since the beginning of the 18th century.
Very interesting temporary exhibitions and the building is very beautiful.
It has guided tours.
Very interesting temporary exhibitions and the building is very beautiful.
It has guided tours.
Written October 12, 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.
skipitgood
Roswell, GA508 contributions
Apr 2013 • Couples
Even though I thought this museum was one of the most interesting I went to in Madrid, I had to give it a 4-star rating because for some unknown reason it is not possible to visit the actual library! The museum is free and open every day except Monday, but we weren't allowed to enter the actual library. Seems to defeat the purpose of having a *national* library.
We visited just a few days ago, and the exhibits currently showing were fascinating. One shows the confluences of all three cultures (Spanish, Jewish, and Moorish) on book binding styles and designs. Another shows dozens of woodblock prints by Albrecht Duerer and his contemporaries. I was previously not very interested in Duerer's work, but after seeing the detail and skill required for the prints, I enjoyed the exhibit immensely.
After viewing the two temporary exhibits, we were tired and just quickly breezed through the permanent collection. If we'd had more time, I would have liked to look longer, as it looked impressive. One downside was that all of the info was in Spanish, so I wouldn't have known what any of it was anyway.
*if you enjoyed this review, I appreciate you clicking the 'helpful' button--those of us who write reviews live for helpful votes, and it motivates us to write more :) *
We visited just a few days ago, and the exhibits currently showing were fascinating. One shows the confluences of all three cultures (Spanish, Jewish, and Moorish) on book binding styles and designs. Another shows dozens of woodblock prints by Albrecht Duerer and his contemporaries. I was previously not very interested in Duerer's work, but after seeing the detail and skill required for the prints, I enjoyed the exhibit immensely.
After viewing the two temporary exhibits, we were tired and just quickly breezed through the permanent collection. If we'd had more time, I would have liked to look longer, as it looked impressive. One downside was that all of the info was in Spanish, so I wouldn't have known what any of it was anyway.
*if you enjoyed this review, I appreciate you clicking the 'helpful' button--those of us who write reviews live for helpful votes, and it motivates us to write more :) *
Written April 7, 2013
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.
Allison S
Houston, TX132 contributions
Jun 2014 • Solo
Inside the national library, there are 2 main exhibit halls where the public can go for free and see what the library is hosting. They have one permanent one on the ground floor that goes through the history of the library and how they have gone about collecting and preserving the documents and historical artifacts in their collection. It was amazing to see some of the material available for viewing in this collection and I was even more impressed that this was all for free. The second area is for a temporary exhibit that rotates every fee months. I recommend going and making sure you have about 3-3 1/2 hours to see everything because you are going to want to take your time. The only downside was most of it was in Spainish only, but in the main area, there were little placards in different languages that explained the purpose of each room and how they each fit together with the overall theme of the exhibit.
Written June 19, 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.
hrvatski u
Belgrade, Serbia239 contributions
Jan 2016 • Friends
Readers, researches and visitors all come to this magnificent Neoclassical building enclosing, on the west, the National Library and, on the east the National Archaeological Museum. Two fasades which contain over four million books, manuscripts, incunabula, etchings and important archaeological items such as the famous Dama de Elche.
Written June 14, 2016
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.
Ken S
Montreal, Canada54 contributions
Oct 2015 • Couples
They would not let us in to see the Library as we are not members and this library is for local people only. It is not a tourist site and do not go unless you are going to the museum attached to the same building. Disappointing!!
Written October 12, 2015
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.
Patti V
Mundolsheim, France63 contributions
The building is great. The museum has very interesting events. The problem I had is that the library is not public, they don't let you in unless you have a membership... I was really disappointed because I wanted to work here but they send me to another library, a public one. Is there any national library in the world that is not public? Yes, in Madrid!!!
Written April 5, 2013
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.
Martha D
Madrid, Spain17 contributions
The library it's good. It's very big and the building it's beautiful but I had the idea when I went with school that most of the places needed an identification to enter because there are important and valuable books, so I couldn't enjoyed it very much.
I got the ideas that local libraries lend you more books than this national one.
Although most of the heritage we have in Spain are not well exploited as the same in Italy, that's what I believe and you will notice the moment you enter somewhere here.
I got the ideas that local libraries lend you more books than this national one.
Although most of the heritage we have in Spain are not well exploited as the same in Italy, that's what I believe and you will notice the moment you enter somewhere here.
Written June 26, 2012
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.
jsf646
Paris, France843 contributions
Oct 2019
What a disappointment: a beautiful and monumental facade, gigantic stairways... all this for an ordinary reading room with very few books ... and especially no historical book exposed for the public.
Written October 29, 2019
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.
Gillfluff
Leeds, UK300 contributions
May 2019
An interesting place, not strictly a tourist attraction but known to hold the occasional special exhibition. Currently they are hosting works about and by Leonardo da Vinci, principally from their own collection and supplemented with some glorious illuminated manuscripts. Entry is free, but timed, your ticket allows you 15 minutes in the actual exhibition (which is in Spanish) but you are free to wander the small number of exhibits outside of the main exhibition room. Warning - there are no toilets here and nowhere to sit down, so go prepared for a short wait!
Written May 12, 2019
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.
Hay que hacer cola para ver la exposición de da vinci
Written January 6, 2019
Ni idea no he ido ni pienso ir, lo siento.
Written January 8, 2019
BennyMalaga
Malaga, Spain
89,730 contributions
Chavez:
Es dificil entrar en esta biblioteca por la securidad extrema que tienen. Yo lo hize hace algunos años para buscar dos libros sobre mis antepasados y no encontre nada.
Mejor buscarlo en el internet.
Written March 10, 2015
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