Madrid

Three museums on the Paseo del Prado

The Museo del Prado, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Museo Reina Sofía sit on a stretch of the Paseo del Prado almost two kilometers long. In 2021 the boulevard and Retiro Park were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list together as the Landscape of Light. The Prado's paintings alone number 8,600. Of those, linger in front of Velázquez's Las Meninas, then move on to the Black Paintings Goya painted on the walls of his own house. Within one museum, you go from the light of the court straight into one painter's darkness. The Reina Sofía is home to Picasso's Guernica. Painted for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition, it didn't come back to Spain until 1981.

Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace

In 1561 Philip II moved his court here from Toledo. The Plaza Mayor was built under his son, Philip III; after a fire nearly destroyed it in 1790, Juan de Villanueva rebuilt it and gave it nine arched entrances. Walk west from the square and you'll reach the Royal Palace (Palacio Real). After a fire burned the old Habsburg palace to the ground in 1734, Philip V had a new one built on the site, and its first stone was laid in 1738. With more than 3,000 rooms, it's the largest royal palace in Western Europe. The royal family no longer lives here, but it's still their official residence, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays there's a Changing of the Guard, weather permitting. To the east, the Puerta del Sol has the Kilometer 0 plaque marking where Spain's radial roads begin. At midnight on December 31, people eat twelve grapes in time with the twelve chimes of the clock on the square.

An afternoon in Retiro Park

Retiro Park covers more than 125 hectares and has over 15,000 trees. On the Estanque Grande, the big lake, you can rent a rowing boat, which is a good way to rest legs tired from the museums. The park opens at 6am and closes at midnight from April to September, and at 10pm from October to March. The Palacio de Cristal, a glass pavilion built in 1887 to display exotic plants, is an exhibition space for the Museo Reina Sofía, but it's currently closed for building work.

Sunday morning at the Rastro

The Rastro is a flea market that's been held on Sundays and public holidays, 9am to 3pm, for more than 250 years. The stalls run from Plaza de Cascorro to Calle de Embajadores, and the main street is Ribera de Curtidores. Curtidores means tanners, a name left from the days when tanneries clustered in the area. Once you've been around the market, have a vermouth or a beer in a bar nearby. In neighboring La Latina, Cava Baja and Cava Alta are lined with old taverns, so it's easy to carry straight on into lunch.

Tapas and the Madrid table

Between noon and 2pm, a drink and some tapas with friends before lunch is an everyday scene here. Start at the counter with a beer and patatas bravas, the spicy potatoes. • Cocido madrileño — Madrid's chickpea-based stew, cooked in a pot. • Bocadillo de calamares — fried squid in a bread roll, a local classic around the Plaza Mayor. • Chocolatería San Ginés — a century-old café that's open all year round. You dip churros into thick hot chocolate, and Madrileños come for it at breakfast and after a night out. • Sobrino de Botín — in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest restaurant in the world, best known for its roast suckling pig. • Mercado de San Miguel — right next to the Plaza Mayor, an iron market hall completed in 1916, good for trying small bites from different stalls.

An Egyptian temple in Madrid

A short walk north of the Royal Palace, in the Parque del Cuartel de la Montaña, stands an Egyptian temple from the 2nd century BC. When the building of the Aswan Dam put ancient monuments at risk, Spain donated to the effort to save them, and the Egyptian government thanked it with a gift to Madrid: the Templo de Debod. It was moved stone by stone, rebuilt, and has been open to the public since 1972. Entry is free, and it's closed on Mondays.

Day trips and a four-day plan

Toledo and Segovia are each about 30 minutes away by high-speed train. Toledo, home to the court before Madrid, is a city where Jews, Muslims and Christians lived side by side; in Segovia, the Roman aqueduct and the old town are a World Heritage Site together. Day 1 — Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol → Royal Palace → Templo de Debod → tapas in La Latina Day 2 — Museo del Prado → Retiro Park → Reina Sofía in the evening Day 3 — If it's a Sunday, the Rastro and a vermouth → Mercado de San Miguel → Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza Day 4 — Day trip to Toledo or Segovia

What to eat

• Cocido madrileño (chickpea stew)
• Bocadillo de calamares (fried squid sandwich)
• Churros and chocolate (San Ginés)
• Cochinillo asado (Botín's roast suckling pig)

Handy tips

• The Prado is free Mon–Sat 6–8pm and on Sundays and holidays 5–7pm (otherwise €15). The Reina Sofía is closed on Tuesdays and free Mon and Wed–Sat 7–9pm.
• The Airport Express bus runs 24 hours a day, takes about 40 minutes to the city center and costs €5. You can pay by card.
• If you live outside the EU, you can claim back VAT with no minimum spend. Get your forms validated at a DIVA kiosk at the airport within three months of purchase.