The Prado When Velazquez Holds Court

The Museo del Prado is Spain's national art museum. Velazquez's Las Meninas in Room 12 watches you watching it, and the recursion never resolves. Goya's Black Paintings on the ground floor are the museum's most disturbing room -- Saturn Devouring His Son was painted by a man who hung it in his dining room.

What visitors miss: The Prado is free daily 6-8 PM (Mon-Sat) and 5-7 PM (Sunday). The evening crowd is smaller and the paintings at dusk have a warmth morning fluorescents don't provide.