Updated every week, not every year
Madrid
España · In Layers
Royal palaces, incredible food, and centuries of history — sharing the same postcode.
In This Edition
Right now
Madrid by Season
When to visit →
March · April · May
Madrid in Spring
"Mild days, blooming jacarandas on Paseo del Prado, and Madrid's biggest street festival closing out the season."
June · July · August
Madrid in Summer
"Punishing midday heat, a city that moves outdoors after dark, and rooftop terraces at their absolute best."
September · October · November
Madrid in Autumn
"The heat breaks, the crowds thin, and heartier menus make a comeback."
December · January · February
Madrid in Winter
"Cold, clear skies over the sierra, festive markets in Plaza Mayor, and the year's thinnest queues at every major sight."
In this edition
Expert Guides
Madrid Royal Palace: The Complete Guide
Everything you need to know about visiting the Royal Palace of Madrid — tickets, state rooms, the Changing of the Guard, and how to avoid the queues.
Museo del Prado: The Complete Guide
How to visit the Prado Museum without wasting your visit — free hours, must-see rooms, and how it fits with the rest of Madrid's Golden Triangle of Art.
Madrid Museums: A Complete Guide
Which Madrid museums are worth your time — the Golden Triangle of Art, house museums, and free-entry windows, ranked and explained.
The index
Curated Collections
Landmarks
All Landmarks →
Palacio Real de Madrid
Europe's largest royal palace by floor area — 3,418 rooms, though only around 50 are open to the public, dripping with frescoes, Stradivarius violins, and a Throne Room that still hosts state ceremonies. The Spanish royal family no longer lives here, which is exactly why you can walk through it.
Plaza Mayor
A vast 17th-century arcaded square that has hosted royal coronations, bullfights, and the occasional Inquisition trial — now filled with café terraces, street portraitists, and the equestrian statue of Felipe III at its centre. Everyone passes through eventually; that's the point.
Puerta del Sol
Kilometre Zero — the exact point from which every road distance in Spain is measured, marked by a small plaque in the pavement. Home to the bear-and-strawberry-tree statue, the Tío Pepe sign, and the clock whose twelve chimes on New Year's Eve set the whole country's midnight.
Puerta de Alcalá
A neoclassical granite gate commissioned by Carlos III in 1778 — one of Europe's first purpose-built triumphal arches predating Paris's own by decades. It once marked the eastern edge of the city; now it stands mid-roundabout at the entrance to Retiro Park.
Museums
All Museums →
Museo del Prado
One of the greatest art museums on earth — Velázquez's Las Meninas, Goya's Black Paintings, and the single largest collection of Bosch anywhere, including the full triptych of The Garden of Earthly Delights. Anchor of Madrid's Golden Triangle of Art along Paseo del Prado.
Museo Reina Sofía
Spain's national museum of 20th-century art, built around a single overwhelming reason to visit: Picasso's Guernica, displayed in its own room exactly as the artist intended. The permanent collection beyond it covers Dalí, Miró, and the full arc of Spanish modernism.
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The third point of the Golden Triangle — a private collection so comprehensive it fills the historical gaps in the Prado and Reina Sofía, running chronologically from 13th-century Spanish panels through Impressionism to Pop Art in one continuous walk.
CaixaForum Madrid
A former power station reworked into a cast-iron-and-rusted-steel cultural centre, fronted by Patrick Blanc's 24-metre living vertical garden — one of the most photographed walls in the city. Rotating contemporary art and photography exhibitions inside, no permanent collection.
Food & Drink
All Food & Drink →
Sobrino de Botín
The world's oldest continuously operating restaurant according to Guinness World Records — open since 1725, with a wood-fired oven that's never gone cold, still turning out cochinillo (roast suckling pig) the same way it has for three centuries.
Mercado de San Miguel
A wrought-iron 1916 market hall two minutes from Plaza Mayor, now a gourmet food court of standing-room tapas counters — jamón ibérico, oysters, vermouth on tap, and Basque pintxos, all under one glass roof. Touristy, but the quality holds up.
Casa Revuelta
A no-frills tapas bar near Plaza Mayor beloved for one thing above all: bacalao (salt cod) fried to order, bones removed by hand at the counter. Standing room only, sawdust-and-tradition energy, prices that still feel like the 1990s.
La Casa del Abuelo
A century-old institution built on a single dish done better than almost anywhere else — gambas al ajillo, sizzling shrimp in garlic and chilli oil, served with bread for mopping up what's left. A sweet house wine (vino de la casa) is the traditional pairing.
Nightlife
All Nightlife →
Museo Chicote
Madrid's most storied cocktail bar — opened in 1931, patronised by Hemingway, Buñuel, and Ava Gardner, and still shaking drinks on the same Art Deco bar top on Gran Vía. A genuine museum piece that still functions as a working cocktail bar.
Teatro Kapital
A seven-floor former theatre turned into one of Europe's biggest nightclubs — each level with its own DJ, music genre, and vibe, from a chill rooftop terrace with skyline views to a heaving main dance floor below. Madrid clubbing at its most maximalist.
Café Central
A jewel-box Art Deco café that's been Madrid's premier jazz venue since 1982 — DownBeat magazine has ranked it among the best jazz clubs on earth. Intimate enough that even the back tables feel close to the stage.
La Vía Láctea
A dive bar that's been running since the 1980s heyday of La Movida Madrileña, walls plastered with band flyers and vintage graffiti, pool table in the back, indie and rock on the speakers. As close as it gets to Malasaña's countercultural roots still functioning unchanged.
Activities
All Activities →
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Tour
Self-guided tour through Real Madrid's home stadium — trophy room, press box, players' tunnel, and a pitch-side view from the dugouts. The trophy cabinet alone, including multiple Champions League/European Cup trophies, is one of the densest displays of silverware in world football.
Royal Palace Skip-the-Line Guided Tour
Small-group guided access through the state rooms of the Royal Palace with a local guide unpacking the history the audio guide skips — including why the current palace was built after a Christmas Eve fire destroyed the previous Habsburg alcázar in 1734.
Flamenco Show with Dinner
A tablao evening pairing a full flamenco performance — guitar, cante, and dancers in close quarters — with a multi-course Spanish dinner. Corral de la Morería, the most storied of Madrid's tablaos, has hosted the art form nightly since 1956.
Retiro Park Rowboat Rental
Rent a rowboat on the Estanque Grande, Retiro's ornamental lake, and paddle out beneath the half-moon colonnade of the Monument to Alfonso XII. A quintessential, unhurried Madrid afternoon that costs less than a museum ticket.
What's on — sport, live daily
Events in Madrid
Football and basketball fixtures, updated daily from live sources. Theatre and concerts are next — we'd rather show nothing than the wrong city's line-up.
Discover
Madrid by Neighbourhood
Sol & Centro
Grand, historic, touristy but essential
Malasaña
Alternative, creative, unpretentious
La Latina
Historic, convivial, food-obsessed
Chueca
Vibrant, inclusive, stylish
Salamanca
Elegant, upscale, orderly
Lavapiés
Cosmopolitan, diverse, bohemian
Barrio de las Letras
Literary, lively, bohemian
Retiro
Quiet, elegant, green
Arganzuela
Industrial, creative, riverside
Puente de Vallecas
Authentic, gritty, community-driven