Madrid centre
Walk through the most central and well-known streets of Madrid and fall in love with the capital.
Visit the famous Puerta de Sol, where the New Year’s Eve bells ring. From there you can go to the elegant Plaza Mayor where you can have a drink or enjoy a tasty squid sandwich.
Other areas in the centre of Madrid that attract the attention of the tourists is the Barrio de las Letras, where you can find, in your path, literary phrases of Spanish writers engraved on the floor, and the Cava Baja and Cava Alta, in the neighbourhood of La Latina. In the same areas, every Sunday El Rastro is celebrated, an authentic market to which locals and tourists flock.
In addition, the centre offers a wide range of musicals and theatres.
Museums route
If Madrid also stands out for something, is because of the number of museums it houses and the internationally importance that many have acquired over the years.
The Prado Museum is the best known, besides being a reference worldwide. It has works from de 16th to the 19th century by great painters such as Diego de Velázquez, el Greco, Francisco de Goya, Rubens or el Bosco.
The Reina Sofía Museum, the second most important in the capital, stands out for being a contemporary museum with works of art from the 20th century and today. Actually, it has one of Pablo Picasso’s most importance works, El Guernica, which gathers around it thousands of visitors every day.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum brings together the works of art that the Thyssen-Bornemisza family has collected over seven decades.
Also noteworthy among the museum is the CaixaForum, a cultural centre managed by La Fundación La Caixa and which hosts a large number of exhibitions and activities of all kinds and for all publics throughout the year.
Parque de El Retiro
If you visit Madrid, you cannot leave without knowing and walking through the Parque de El Retiro, located in front of the Puerta de Alcalá.
It is the largest lung in Madrid centre, where you can find different type of trees, all with information for people who want to learn about them. In addition, several lakes make up the area where you can see animals or perform activities such as boat rides.
In the Retiro also highlights the Palacio de Cristal, a building formed by windows through which the sun enters and give it a special shine. The palace sometime hosts temporary exhibitions.
Inside the park there are also different activities, such as the Book Fair, or sport activities such as roller skating, yoga or zumba.
Gastronomy
Traditional food also is one of the strengths of many restaurants and bars in the capital. It goes from salty to sweet. Highlights included Madrilenian stew, calluses, crashed eggs, chitterlings or the fried potatoes with brava sauce.
If we think of typical sweets of Madrid we can not forget the chocolate with fritters, the most famous are in the San Ginés cafeteria, the doughnuts ‘sillies’ and ‘smarts’ of San Isidro, characteristics in the month of May by the San Isidro party, patron saint of the city, or the bartolillos, a kind of sweet pastry shell filling with cream and dusted with sugar and cinnamon that is usually eaten at Easter.
But, without a doubt, you cannot leave Madrid without having tried its star dish, the squid sandwich.
Theatres and musicals
The capital of Spain is full of cultural and leisure activities. Dozens of shows and musicals fill Madrid’s theatres every month. The musical of The Lion King is still the most famous and that more people gather.
Discover and enjoy the best spectacles and exhibitions:
Musicals Plays Exhibitions
Shopping
The city of Madrid is also full of shops: clothes, cosmetics, shoe shops, lingerie, toys, books, etc. Gran Vía Street houses many of these shops, next to Calle Preciados, which links Callao with Gran Vía, or Calle Fuencarral. Calle Princesa and Goya also make up a good outdoor mall with different varieties to choose from.
We also can find luxury shops, all located in what is known as the golden mile, Calle Serrano.
In addition to shops on the street, we can also find shopping centres, such as Príncipe Pío or the ones of El Corte Inglés, some located in Calle Preciados, Princesa and Goya.