//
Capital and largest city of Spain
Photo: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Madrid is Spain's capital and largest city. A city that has been marked by Spain's varied and tumultuous history, Madrid has some of Europe's most impressive cultural and architectural heritage, which includes grand avenues, plazas, buildings and monuments, world-class art galleries and museums, highly popular football teams, and cultural events of international fame for everyone. Madrid is also renowned for gastronomic delights and a nightlife lasting up until dawn.
Containing the symbolic centre of the city, an important shopping and social meeting area; the writers' quarter with a high concentration of bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels; and the multicultural quarter with a large population with African, Asian or Latin American roots, world music bars, alternative theatres and art galleries.
Madrid's "old town": a typically Mediterranean quarter, characterised by narrow lanes and colourful buildings from the 18th century, its history going back to the Moorish era. This is the place to go for tapas, stylish bars full of bohemian young people and Madrid's biggest flea market. The palace quarter is dominated by the royal residence and representative buildings from the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire.
East of the city centre. Parque del Buen Retiro is a huge urban park, one of the green lungs of Madrid, dating back to the imperial age. The Paseo del Arte—or "museum triangle"– is where Madrid's most famous museums and art collections are found, a must-go for all those who want to see the works of El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Picasso and Dalí.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Spanish National Orchestra
Tickets are sold at ticket offices in the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Teatro María Guerrero, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Teatro de la Comedia, and Teatro Valle-Inclán.
Madrid Symphony Orchestra
Community of Madrid Orchestra
Performs in El Retiro Park in the summer. Tickets can be purchased at the Teatro Monumental (listed above), at the tourist information centre in Plaza Mayor, and online.
Annual event during which the centre of Madrid is free of cars and is instead filled with shepherds exercising their ancient right to drive sheep and livestock through the city.
Annual event held between the last week of June and the first of July, with more than 1.5 million people in the street from all around the world. It began as a weekend party, but lately turned into a full-week extravaganza.
This narrow street in La Latina is by far the most famous and popular place for tapas.
The most convenient area for tourists is around Calle de Preciados and Calle del Carmen, between metro stations Sol and Gran Vía, home to the El Corte Inglés department store, high-street names like Zara, Gran Vía 32, H&M, Sephora, Pimkie.
The most upscale shopping district is northeast of the centre, around Calle Serrano and its side-streets. Top designer names like Chanel, Versace, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana, including the fluid fabrics and elegant cuts of Spanish designer Adolfo Domínguez, are on Calle Ortega y Gasset. Head for Calle Serrano for Purificación García, Roberto Verino, Ermenegildo Zegna, Loewe, Carolina Herrera, Manolo Blahnik, Cartier, and Yves Saint Laurent. Prada is on Goya street, and on Jorge Juan St you can find even more luxury shops.
This part of the city used to be an abandoned and marginal area. However, it has quickly turned into the most avant-garde and modern part of Madrid. Thanks to the gay community, old shops were taken over and turned into the coolest places of Madrid. Today it is an example of modernity, a paradise for entertainment where everything is possible. The streets are filled with restaurants, alternative cafés and shops, a good example is the Mercado de Fuencarral a novel shopping centre concept. Apart from the purely commercial, this area proposes a wide range of gastronomy and party clubs by night in the weekends.
Occupying the full first few blocks of the pedestrian boulevard Calle Preciados, El Corte Inglés serves as a gateway to the shopping paradise from Puerta de Sol.
A much smaller store is to be found at the other end of Calle Preciados. Not quite a looker from the outside, it holds a top-floor restaurant with brilliant views over the Gran Vía.
By train
The state-owned rail company renfe (+34 902-240-202) and low cost operators ouigo, iryo & avlo (now bookable from the main renfe website) operate trains to Madrid.
By bus
Madrid has several bus stations, but long-distance routes all use either Estación Sur southside, or Avenida de América northside. These buses may also call at the airport.
By taxi
Alongside its metro system, Madrid boasts one of Europe's largest taxi fleets.
By car
Cars have been one of the most hot button issues in Madrid municipal politics in the twenty first century.
By bicycle
Madrid does not appear as a bike-friendly city at a first sight.
Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Madrid · International · MAD
Loading places around the airport…
Articles and travel topics about Madrid and Spain.
ItinerariesHow to book Renfe AVE, Iryo and Ouigo high-speed trains across Spain, avoid luggage traps and plan seamless multi-city rail itineraries.
6 min read
Food & drinkHow to master the tapeo bar crawl in Spain, decode free tapas in Granada, order Basque pintxos and eat like a local from Madrid to Seville.
7 min read
Culture & historyHow to secure elusive Alhambra tickets, explore Córdoba's Mezquita and experience Seville's Real Alcázar without crowds or booking errors.
6 min read
InspirationTen places with real character and room to breathe, from Ohrid's lakeside churches to Argentina's high-altitude vineyards.
7 min read
Every section of the guide. Open one to read it in full.