Madrid

Understand

thumb|right|Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid's city hall, Cibeles Square Madrid has over 3.4 million residents within the city limits and 7 million people live in the autonomous Community of Madrid region (as of 2025).

See

Madrid is one of the top addresses in the world for art, both contemporary and not-so-contemporary, with Goya's most famous works in the Prado, Picasso's Guernica in the Reina Sofía and countless other works in those two museums and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The Prado goes back to the royal art collection which - for a nation that was the world's leading superpower for two centuries - is of course quite impressive. The Reina Sofía was opened to house what the Prado "had no room for" with a dividing line based on era ultimately being drawn. Besides art, Madrid also boasts some impressive architecture courtesy of kings who had access to the wealth of two continents and no qualms in spending it for extravagant royal residences.

The following is a non-exclusive taste of what Madrid has to offer. Dive into the districts to find more!

thumb|The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch at Prado Museum . This is Madrid's museum district, named for the three major art museums clustered along Paseo del Prado east of the old city: the Museo del Prado, one of the finest art museums in the world, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, a baron's collection of classical art, and the Reina Sofia, Madrid's modern art museum. However, a couple of smaller museums also occupy the neighbourhood which are well worth seeing as well.

thumb|right|Royal Palace . An enormous palace, one of the biggest in Europe, with scorching plains of concrete around it. Though it is the official residence of the King…

Do

thumb|Rooftop view from the Círculo de Bellas Artes

Buy

thumb|right|Mercado de San Miguel is close to Plaza Mayor Major credit cards and foreign bank cards are accepted in most stores, but it is common practice to be asked for photo-ID (DNI). If asked for your DNI present your passport, residency permit or foreign ID card — anything with your photo and name on it will be accepted by most shopkeepers. The signatures on credit cards are usually not checked.

thumbnail|right|Calle de Preciados remains busy also after dusk

Sleep

While of course it is most convenient to have an accommodation close to the sights in the city centre, you should also consider hotels or apartments in the other districts. For example, Malasaña and Chueca are just 1 km north of the city centre, Chamberí 2 km, but the rates may already be noticeably lower. When travelling as a family or small group, you may also think about renting an apartment via AirBnB or similar sharing platforms. They are usually located in residential neighbourhoods and include a kitchen, so you can do your shopping on markets, supermarkets or alimentación stores and prepare some meals yourself. That way you may experience more of the Madrilenians' everyday life and reduce the total cost of your stay significantly. You will also find restaurants in these districts catering to locals rather than tourists.

Connect

As of Sept 2021, Madrid has 5G from all Spanish carriers.

Locutorios (call shops) are widely spread in Madrid near touristy locations and are very cheap to use. Some shops and kiosks have tourist SIM cards from carriers like Orange and Vodafone with plans that run €10–20 for a month of 50–100 gigabytes of data or more. Employees are willing to install the card and configure the plan.

Stay safe

Madrid is a very safe city, with some of the lowest crime rates among Europe's largest cities. The police is highly visible, and the city is equipped with cameras. There are always people in the streets, even at night time, so you can walk across the city generally without fear. Travellers who remain aware of their surroundings, and keep an eye on their belongings, should have little to worry about. For police, medical, or fire emergencies, simply call 112. Operators usually speak English.

Go next

While Regional and Cercanías tickets don't have to be pre-bought and don't sell out, tickets for AVE, Avant and other long distance trains sell out once all seats are gone. if you want to take a day trip to Sevilla or want to take one of the faster trains to Segovia, buy your tickets in advance.

Easy day-trips from Madrid include : Alcalá de Henares is a charming old university town, birthplace of Miguel Cervantes the author of Don Quixote. Reach it by local train within 50 min. Aranjuez has the Palacio Real, the Bourbon monarchs' summer home, and the lavish Casa del Labrador near the river. Local trains take 45 min from Atocha, 55 min from Chamartin. Ávila has the most intact walled old town in Spain, spectacular when floodlit at night. Fast trains from Chamartin take 90 min. Chinchon is a hilltop small town that retains its character from the 1700s. No train, drive or take the bus. El Escorial is a huge monastery and palace, the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Reach it within an hour by local train from Atocha or Chamartin. Near El Escorial is Spain's most controversial monument - Valle de los Caìdos. Built by Spanish republicans taken prisoner during and after the civil war, it is a gigantomanic underground church with a huge cross on top of the mountain an edifice very much in the fascist style. It is the burial place of many fallen of the civil war, and it housed the tomb of dictator Francisco Franco until October 2019. There's an infrequent public bus to…