Madrid City Card: Is It Worth It? Prices and What It Covers

What the card includes

The Madrid City Card page on the city's tourism site describes four parts:

• a Tourist Travel Pass for Zone A, for the number of days you choose;
• discounts at museums and other attractions;
• a fast pass to skip the queue at some main sights;
• other benefits at affiliated businesses.

The official City Card site says the travel pass covers unlimited travel on the Metro in Zone A, including the airport supplement, on the blue EMT city buses (not the Airport Express bus), on Cercanías trains in zones 0 and A, and on Metro Ligero line ML1. It is issued by Madrid City Council and collected at the council's tourist information offices; the tourism page lists the Plaza Mayor centre and the points at Callao, the Royal Palace, Paseo del Prado, CentroCentro, the Bernabéu and the Reina Sofía.

The price is the travel pass price

Put the two price lists side by side and the card's cost is fully explained by its transport part. The City Card prices come from the tourism board, and the Zone A prices from its Tourist Travel Pass page (both checked 30 October 2026):

Both give children under 11 a 50% discount. So the real question is whether a Zone A travel pass beats paying per ride. Our Madrid metro tickets guide works through that comparison; if the pass wins for you, take it as the City Card instead and the discounts are free.

How the days are counted

The City Card site says the pass starts the first time you use it on public transport and counts calendar days, not 24-hour periods: start it at 23:59 and you have used a whole day. The discounts start as soon as you buy the card, last one month and can be used once per venue unless an offer says otherwise. Show the QR code on the card to claim them.

What it is worth at the big sights

The offers list (read 30 October 2026) gives these benefits at the sights most visitors book. The right-hand column compares them with what you would pay without the card.

The Bernabéu offer page does not say that the €3 saving is reserved for cardholders, so treat it as the normal online price rather than a card benefit.

The larger percentage discounts are at smaller attractions: 50% off the Faro de Moncloa and CentroCentro observation decks, 30% off a general ticket at the Zoo Aquarium and Faunia (ages 8 and over), 15% off the Las Ventas bullring tour with audio guide, and 20% at Teatro Flamenco Madrid. Several municipal museums, such as the Madrid History Museum and the Museo de San Isidro, are listed with free entry.

Worked example: two adults, three days

A couple spending three full days in Madrid and riding the Metro several times a day:

• 2 × three-day City Card = €46.20
• 2 × three-day Zone A Tourist Travel Pass = €46.20
• Thyssen visit with the card: 2 × €1.40 = €2.80 saved
• one observation deck at 50% off and a Zoo or flamenco discount, if those are on your list

The card costs nothing extra over the pass, but its value on a typical museum-and-palace trip is a few euros. Its benefit grows only if your plans include the smaller attractions with 15–50% discounts.

What the card does not cover

The Tourist Travel Pass page lists what Zone A excludes: the Airport Express bus, high-speed trains including the Avant to Toledo, Renfe regional trains and tourist trains. Green intercity buses, including those to Toledo, need the Zone T pass, which is not part of the City Card. Plan day trips with separate tickets.

The card also gives no discount at the Royal Palace for now, so check our Royal Palace tickets guide for the free hours that EU and Ibero-American citizens can use instead. For the museums, see the Prado tickets guide and the Thyssen tickets guide; the Bernabéu tour guide explains which tour ticket to pick.