Cerralbo Museum — Attraction in Madrid

Museo Cerralbo is the well preserved 19th century mansion of Enrigue de Aguilera y Gamboa. Bequeathed to the city of Madrid and made into a museum, a visit here is like stepping into a time capsule and viewing the life of a late 19th century antiquity hunter and art lover. It is a very impressive place to visit.

Note: Be aware of the limited opening times - 9.30am to 3pm (M,T,W,TH,F,ST) with additional evening hours 5-8pm on Thursdays only. Sunday opening times are 10am to 3pm.

Visits are on a self tour basis. Brochures are given when you purchase ticket, detailing th 28 different rooms you can see in the mansion. You can also download a room guide from the museum website as well. English version is available.

You can also avail of an audio guide (€2 each) if you want a more detailed and comprehensive visit to the museum. There is a path you follow and staff will help direct you in the intended direction so you manage to see all the rooms in the correct order.

Each room is richly filled with beautiful, interesting and often eclectic arrays of photographs, paintings, drawings, engravings, books, medals, sculptures, medals, candlesticks, decorative furniture, clocks, armoury, coins, ceramics and tapestries amongst other interesting items.

Most memorable is the main staircase. You will want to make for a few photos here. The main floor armoury collection is mighty impressive and we enjoyed viewing the paintings by the likes of El Greco, Goya and Ribera in the three main floor gallery rooms. The main floor ballroom is quite enchanting to see as well.

Overall, you can easily spend 60-90 minutes browsing around and looking into the various rooms at the Museo Cerralbo. Or stay longer if you are enjoying the many nice things to see here. If short on time, a 30-45 minute visit will still be a rewarding experience.

Note: Photography is allowed (no flash and no selfie-sticks)...

Beautiful Place, Poor Management and Unpleasant Experience

The Cerralbo Museum is undoubtedly a beautiful building with an impressive collection, but sadly, I would be hesitant to recommend a visit.

First, the place appears to be poorly managed — if managed at all. The queue outside can be long, with no estimated waiting time. While online reservations is not available, many visitors still end up waiting on the street, hoping to get in before closing.

Second, I was shocked by the rudeness of one female staff member on the ground floor. Most of the staff seem to be there solely to keep a close eye on visitors, rather than to offer assistance or guidance. At one point, this staff member loudly shouted at a visitor who had accidentally sat on a chair that was not meant for sitting. The whole atmosphere felt more like being back in primary school, with visitors treated like children.

It’s disappointing to see a historic building staffed with so many people whose primary role seems to be catching you if you get too close to an exhibit or sit in the wrong place, rather than enhancing the visitor experience.

Beautiful location, but the unfriendly service and lack of proper organisation made it an...

Visited this stunning house/palace museum today. The visit was enjoyable once we got entrance into the museum house. The staff were helpful once inside but there was not information given on how long the wait was while standing in line. We stood in line for 1.5 hours in drizzling rain- with no idea how long it would take to get inside. Personally felt it was not run very well. Staff should have come down the line and indexed approx. wait times. Once inside we got our tickets- somehow the ladies infront of us took 10 mins to get their tickets while we waited yet again, watching another fellow sit and play on his iphone as he just looked after the audio guides. After waiting so long we sure took our time and explored all the treasures the house had to offer. They only allow 40 persons at a time into the museum- personally felt it could have been much more and still not be crowded. We were most often the only 2 people in a room as we looked around. Many many extravagent treasures to look at so it was worth seeing how the very rich Aristocrat society lived. No advantage to buy tickets online as everyone had to que. 3 stars only because of the crazy wait time/ staff...