Things to do in Madrid

Citorah PickSight

Plaza Mayor

Citorah says Plaza Mayor, in the heart of Habsburg Madrid, the oldest part of the city, as esmadrid puts it.

Citorah PickSight

Royal Palace

Citorah says The Royal Palace and the Almudena Cathedral, which stand side by side: you enter the palace through the gate on the Almudena esplanade, at the corner of Calle Bailén. The nearest metro station is Ópera, on Lines 2 and 5. The palace interior is worth the ticket.

Citorah PickSight

Almudena Cathedral

Citorah says The cathedral is free, though it asks for a €1 donation, and opens every day from 10:00 to 20:30, except during services. Its museum opens Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:30, and costs €7.

Citorah PickSight · Malasaña

Plaza del Dos de Mayo

Citorah says Malasaña is the bar-hopping barrio, just west of Chueca across Calle Fuencarral. esmadrid says most of its bars and cafés worth visiting border three squares: Plaza del Dos de Mayo, Plaza de San Ildefonso and Plaza de la Luna (on maps, Plaza de Santa María Soledad Torres Acosta).

Citorah PickSight · Malasaña

Plaza de San Ildefonso

Citorah says Malasaña is the bar-hopping barrio, just west of Chueca across Calle Fuencarral. esmadrid says most of its bars and cafés worth visiting border three squares: Plaza del Dos de Mayo, Plaza de San Ildefonso and Plaza de la Luna (on maps, Plaza de Santa María Soledad Torres Acosta).

Citorah PickSight · Malasaña

Plaza de la Luna

Citorah says Malasaña is the bar-hopping barrio, just west of Chueca across Calle Fuencarral. esmadrid says most of its bars and cafés worth visiting border three squares: Plaza del Dos de Mayo, Plaza de San Ildefonso and Plaza de la Luna (on maps, Plaza de Santa María Soledad Torres Acosta).

Citorah PickSight · La Latina

Cava Baja

Citorah says La Latina is the place to start. When it comes to food, esmadrid says, the neighbourhood “means one thing above all: tapas”. The bars line Cava Baja and Cava Alta, streets of old inns that esmadrid now calls “a tourist-packed area”.

Citorah PickSight · La Latina

Cava Alta

Citorah says La Latina is the place to start. When it comes to food, esmadrid says, the neighbourhood “means one thing above all: tapas”. The bars line Cava Baja and Cava Alta, streets of old inns that esmadrid now calls “a tourist-packed area”.

Citorah PickSight · Chamberí

Calle Ponzano

Citorah says Beyond these two, esmadrid’s list of Madrid’s hottest tapas districts takes in Sol and Plaza Mayor, Madrid de los Austrias, Chueca and Malasaña, Conde Duque, the Retiro area and Calle Ponzano, in Chamberí, “the fashionable gastronomic street in Madrid”.

Citorah PickSight · Sol / Centro

Puerta del Sol

Citorah says Puerta del Sol is kilometre zero, the starting point for Spain’s major radial roads, marked by a stone slab in front of the Casa de Correos. The statue of a bear and a strawberry tree, the city’s symbol, stands here.

Citorah PickSight · Las Letras

Calle Huertas

Citorah says Cervantes, Lope de Vega and Quevedo all had homes here, hence the name, and Calle Huertas is engraved with quotes from Spanish literature.

Citorah PickSight · Las Letras

Plaza de Santa Ana

Citorah says Plaza de Santa Ana, next to the Teatro Español, is its centre. Hemingway wrote about the beer hall on the square, the Cervecería Alemana.

Citorah PickSight · La Latina

Plaza de la Paja

Citorah says Plaza de la Paja is its prettiest square.

Citorah PickMuseum

Prado

Citorah says Its collection runs to 8,600 paintings and over 700 sculptures, so esmadrid recommends deciding what you want to see before you go in. Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Goya’s Third of May, 1808 are among the highlights, and esmadrid says the Prado’s own website suggests routes of one, two and three hours. Two to three hours is enough for a first visit.

Citorah PickMuseum

Reina Sofía

Citorah says The Reina Sofía, for Picasso’s Guernica, in Room 205.10.

Citorah PickMuseum

Thyssen-Bornemisza

Citorah says The Thyssen-Bornemisza, whose collection traces Western painting from the late 13th century to the 1980s, in the museum’s own words. It suggests allowing about two and a half hours.

Citorah PickPark

Retiro

Citorah says With the Paseo del Prado, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape in 2021, esmadrid says. Entry is free, and it’s open from 6:00 to 22:00 from October to March, and until midnight from April to September.

The catch The Palacio de Cristal is closed for restoration.

Citorah PickPark

Rose Garden

Citorah says The Rose Garden: free, with more than 4,000 roses, which bloom in May and June.

Citorah PickDay trip

Toledo

Citorah says Toledo was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, and it’s a very different city from Madrid: an easy half day or full day out.

Citorah PickDay trip

Segovia

Citorah says Segovia became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Its Roman aqueduct has 166 arches, and the Alcázar, its fortress, became a royal residence in the 13th century, esmadrid says.

Citorah PickDay trip

Ávila

Citorah says Ávila, El Escorial and Aranjuez: check Renfe’s Cercanías and regional timetables.

Citorah PickDay trip

El Escorial

Citorah says Ávila, El Escorial and Aranjuez: check Renfe’s Cercanías and regional timetables.

Citorah PickDay trip

Aranjuez

Citorah says Ávila, El Escorial and Aranjuez: check Renfe’s Cercanías and regional timetables.