UltimateCity Guide Madrid
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Stories from Madrid, Spain

Every story, long read and guide in the ULTIMATE Madrid City Guide, in one place.

Culture

Arts & Culture in Madrid

All of Arts & Culture

The Prado, the Reina Sofía, opera and flamenco: the Paseo del Arte by day, the Teatro Real and the tablaos by night.

The bronze statue of Murillo before the columns of the Prado’s Murillo gateThe back storyThe back storyMadrid art, architecture and cultureJoan Miró’s bronze Lunar Bird in the garden courtyard of the Reina SofíaArts & CultureArt museumsThe Prado, the Reina Sofía and the ThyssenThe horseshoe of red and gold boxes in the Teatro Real, seen from the upper galleryArts & CultureOpera & flamencoThe Teatro Real and the tablaos

Our advice

One museum a day

Take the Paseo del Arte one museum a day, mornings at the Prado, afternoons at the Reina Sofía, and save an evening for zarzuela or a Gran Vía musical, followed by a late dinner, as Madrid does. The back story

History

History & heritage

Iberians, Romans and Visigoths, the Moorish fortress of Mayrit, the court of an empire on which the sun never set, and today’s European capital of art.

The Royal Palace of MadridHistory & heritageFrom the emirs of Córdoba to the seat of an empire: Madrid’s heritagePeoples, kingdoms and the making of a capitalThe Cibeles fountain, the goddess in her lion-drawn chariot, before the Palacio de ComunicacionesThe back storyThe Paseo del PradoPick one museum a day, and walk the avenue between…The painted façade and arcades of the Casa de la Panadería on the Plaza MayorThe back storyMadridNine centuries in an afternoon: from the Moorish wall to the Paseo…

Areas

Madrid by neighbourhood

From Salamanca to La Latina, each area has its own guide: the grand streets around Serrano, the Retiro and its museums, the Plaza Mayor and the cocktail bars of Chueca.

The Puerta de Alcalá, the granite gateway at the edge of Salamanca and the RetiroNeighbourhood guideSalamancaSerrano and the grand streetsThe glass-and-iron Palacio de Cristal in the Retiro, beside its pondNeighbourhood guideLos Jerónimos & El RetiroMuseums and the royal parkFountains among the trees of the Plaza de ChamberíNeighbourhood guideChamberíAlmagro, Olavide and MICHELIN tablesThe marble lobby lounge of the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid under its glass roof, with a sweeping staircaseNeighbourhood guideCentro & La LatinaThe Plaza Mayor, the palace and the Cava BajaThe Metrópolis building at the start of the Gran VíaNeighbourhood guideMalasaña & ChuecaCafés and cocktail bars
  1. Neighbourhood guideChamartín & the CastellanaThe Bernabéu and DiverXO

Practical

Plan your trip

The practical things to know before you go: entry, money and etiquette, the metro, trains and the airport, and three days for a classic first visit.

The tiled street sign of the Puerta del Sol on a stone wallBefore you goMadrid essentialsEntry, money, etiquette and getting aroundThe iron-and-glass gable of the old Atocha station, crowned with griffinsGetting aroundGetting aroundMetro, trains and the airportThe red-and-gold Salón Isabelino dining room at Lhardy, laid for lunchItineraryThree days in MadridThe classic first visit
  1. Luxury guideLUX LivingThe finest addresses

Day trips

Beyond Madrid

Five UNESCO towns and the mountains, all within reach for the day: Toledo above the Tagus, Segovia’s aqueduct, El Escorial, the walls of Ávila and the palace at Aranjuez.

The Tagus below Toledo, with the Alcántara bridge and the Alcázar on the hillBeyond MadridToledoThe city above the TagusThe Alcázar of Segovia on its rock at dusk, with the cathedral tower beyondBeyond MadridSegoviaThe aqueduct and the AlcázarThe painted vaults and bookcases of the library at El EscorialBeyond MadridEl EscorialThe royal monasteryA tower of Ávila’s medieval walls beside a cobbled laneBeyond MadridÁvilaMedieval walls on the plateauThe brick-and-stone front of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez across its forecourtBeyond MadridAranjuezA royal palace on the Tagus
  1. Beyond MadridSierra de GuadarramaPine forests and granite peaks

Our advice

Nine centuries in an afternoon

Start at the Moorish wall on the Cuesta de la Vega, walk up past the Royal Palace to the Plaza Mayor, cross the Barrio de las Letras and finish on the Paseo del Prado, with a stop for vermouth on the way. A fortress, a royal court and a city that stays out late: how Madrid became Madrid

In depth

In depth: Madrid, from Habsburg court to late-night capital

Madrid’s back story, the Madrid table, the city’s year, the Paseo del Prado, the grand hotels, day trips by train and where to buy.

Bars of soft turrón de Jijona on a white platePlaza MayorChristmas in MadridA hundred-year-old Christmas fair, and the grapes at the Sol clockChurros and cups of thick hot chocolate on a marble table at San GinésFoodThe Madrid tableTen dishes, wines and spiritsThe renovated Santiago Bernabéu, wrapped in its steel skinThe yearMadrid’s yearFestivals, stadiums and stages

The Paseo del Prado

Arrive at the Prado when it opens, and keep the Retiro for the late afternoon.

  1. In depth: nature & wildlifeWild MadridHerons, kingfishers and a river reborn
  2. The back storyThe grand hotelsFrom the Ritz to the Castellana
  3. The back storyEating in MadridThe 2026 MICHELIN year and cocido
  4. The back storyDay trips by trainWhich station, which train
  5. The back storyBuying in MadridNeighbourhoods and rules

In depth

If you love Malasaña…

Five Madrid neighbourhoods and their twins in our other guides, from Malasaña and London’s Soho to Salamanca and Istanbul’s Nişantaşı. Find your twin

The ULTIMATE letter

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