Museo de Historia de Madrid

The city's own biography in one building — a Baroque Pedro de Ribera doorway out front, and inside, a full-scale model of Madrid as it looked before the 19th-century expansion made it unrecognisable. Free, uncrowded, and genuinely useful for making sense of the rest of the city.

The building's carved stone entrance is considered one of the finest examples of Madrid Baroque and is worth stopping for even without going in. The scale model of pre-expansion Madrid on the upper floor is the single most useful exhibit for understanding why the old town's streets curve the way they do. It sits on Calle Fuencarral in the middle of Malasaña, making it an easy stop between shops.