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The domed Metrópolis building on Calle de Alcalá, at the start of the Gran Vía, on a clear day
The south façade of the Royal Palace across the empty Plaza de la Armería at dusk
The red roof and slatted façade of Jean Nouvel's extension of the Reina Sofía museum
The new metal-clad west façade of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium behind a tree-lined avenue
The empty wooden stage of Corral de la Morería under a large painting of a flamenco scene

Things to do in Madrid: 16 experiences

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Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0

Palacio Real (Ópera)

Tour the Royal Palace and time it with the Changing of the Guard

Check dates and prices

Photo: Javier Perez Montes, CC BY-SA 4.0

Atocha (Museo Reina Sofía)

See Guernica at the Reina Sofía, free in the evening if you book

Check dates and prices

Photo: Joseolgon, CC BY 4.0

Chamartín (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)

Tour the rebuilt Santiago Bernabéu on a non-match day

Check dates and prices

Photo: Luis García, CC BY-SA 4.0

La Latina and Barrio de las Letras

Book a flamenco show in a Madrid tablao

Check dates and prices

Photo: Dtom, CC BY-SA 3.0

Madrid is Spain's capital, and a city you get to know through its neighbourhoods as much as its monuments. Three great art museums, the Prado, the Thyssen and the Reina Sofía, sit within a short walk of each other on the Paseo del Prado, which together with the Retiro park has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2021. Most visitors build their days around those museums and the Royal Palace, then eat and drink their way through the evenings.

The old core, the Madrid de los Austrias, runs from the Puerta del Sol through the Plaza Mayor to the Royal Palace, with the tapas streets of La Latina and the Sunday Rastro just to the south. North of the Gran Vía, Malasaña and Chueca are where the city goes out at night. Further out, the rebuilt Bernabéu stadium stands in the north of the city, and the Madrid Río park follows the Manzanares west and south of the centre.

15 things to do in Madrid

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The south façade of the Royal Palace across the empty Plaza de la Armería at dusk

Tour the Royal Palace and time it with the Changing of the Guard

Palacio Real (Ópera)

Book ahead

A royal palace with a free Changing of the Guard, its solemn version filling the Plaza de la Armería most months.

Check dates and pricesRoyal Palace entry with fast access through security
The red roof and slatted façade of Jean Nouvel's extension of the Reina Sofía museum

See Guernica at the Reina Sofía, free in the evening if you book

Atocha (Museo Reina Sofía)

Book ahead

Picasso's Guernica, in a room where, the museum notes, survivors of the Civil War bombing raids were treated.

Check dates and pricesReina Sofía entry ticket for Guernica and the collection
The brick and stone north façade of the Villahermosa Palace, home of the Thyssen museum

Walk seven centuries of painting at the Thyssen, free on Mondays

Paseo del Prado (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza)

About 2 hours 30 minutesNo booking needed

Almost 1,000 paintings from Duccio and Van Eyck to Van Gogh and Hopper, and free on Mondays.

Tours in Madrid
Rowing boats on the Retiro's Estanque Grande against a low evening sun

Row a boat on the Retiro's Estanque Grande

Parque del Retiro

45 minutes on the water, plus a walkNo booking needed

Row a boat for 45 minutes on the great lake at the centre of the Retiro, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Tours in Madrid
The new metal-clad west façade of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium behind a tree-lined avenue

Tour the rebuilt Santiago Bernabéu on a non-match day

Chamartín (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)

Book ahead

Real Madrid's rebuilt stadium, with a retractable roof and a pitch stored below ground until match days.

Check dates and pricesSelf-guided Bernabéu stadium tour with the club museum
Shoppers sorting through white clothes at a Rastro stall in the Plaza de Cascorro

Browse El Rastro on Sunday morning, then stay for a vermouth

La Latina (Plaza de Cascorro)

Free

Madrid's Sunday flea market, recorded as early as 1740, with more than 1,000 stallholders and vermouth on tap afterwards.

The wooden doors and balconies of Casa Lucio on Calle de la Cava Baja

Bar-hop down Calle de la Cava Baja in La Latina

La Latina (Calle de la Cava Baja)

No booking needed

A street of old coaching inns, one roasting lamb in a wood-fired oven, and tapas bars all the way down.

Tours in Madrid
The green wooden front of the Chocolatería San Ginés, lit by lanterns, in the Pasadizo de San Ginés

Dip churros in hot chocolate at San Ginés, at any hour

Sol (Pasadizo de San Ginés)

No booking needed

Churros fried in an alley since 1894, in a shop open 24 hours every day of the year.

The lit gateways and sanctuary of the Templo de Debod reflected in its pool after sunset

Watch the sun go down from the Templo de Debod

Parque del Oeste (Templo de Debod)

Free

An Egyptian temple rebuilt stone by stone in Madrid, where Madrileños gather to watch the sun drop behind the Casa de Campo.

Rooftops and domes of central Madrid seen from the Círculo de Bellas Artes terrace, with the Cibeles Palace beyond

Ride up to the Círculo de Bellas Artes rooftop for the view

Calle de Alcalá (Círculo de Bellas Artes)

No booking needed

A rooftop 56 metres above Calle de Alcalá, at the feet of a bronze Minerva, looking over the domes of the Gran Vía.

The empty wooden stage of Corral de la Morería under a large painting of a flamenco scene

Book a flamenco show in a Madrid tablao

La Latina and Barrio de las Letras

Book ahead

Flamenco in two Madrid rooms, one with a Michelin-starred restaurant and one the tourism board calls the world's oldest tablao.

Check dates and pricesFlamenco show with a drink at Tablao 1911, Plaza Santa Ana
A bocadillo de calamares and a glass of draught beer on a Madrid bar counter

Eat a bocadillo de calamares around the Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

No booking needed

A fried squid sandwich by the Plaza Mayor, a habit even the city's tourism blog could not explain in landlocked Madrid.

Tours in Madrid
The Monteleón arch and the Daoíz and Velarde monument in the Plaza del Dos de Mayo at night

Start a night out in Malasaña's Plaza del Dos de Mayo

Malasaña (Plaza del Dos de Mayo)

Free

The cradle of the movida madrileña in the 1980s, where bars from that decade still pour drinks around the square.

Madrid Río's riverside paths at dusk, with the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace on the skyline

Cycle the Madrid Río park from Príncipe Pío to Matadero

Madrid Río (Príncipe Pío to Matadero)

No booking needed

A riverside park built over a buried ring road, with more than 10 km of paths shared by cyclists and walkers.

Tours in Madrid
The Goya door of the Prado Museum in Madrid

Give the Prado 90 minutes and one painting

Madrid

90 minutes for one focused routeBook ahead

The Prado is free for the last two hours of the day, just enough for one chosen painting and the rooms around it.

Tours in Madrid

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport is linked to the centre around the clock by the Exprés Aeropuerto bus (line 203): a flat €5 paid on board in cash or by card, about 40 minutes from T4, ending at Atocha by day and at Cibeles at night. Metro line 8 runs from the terminals to Nuevos Ministerios from 06:05 to 02:00; a single ticket costs €1.50 to €2 plus a €3 airport supplement. High-speed trains from Barcelona, Andalusia and Valencia arrive at Atocha or Chamartín.

  • Getting around

    Most of the experiences here are within walking distance of the Puerta del Sol, and the Metro covers the rest: Santiago Bernabéu on line 10, Príncipe Pío and Legazpi for Madrid Río. If you will ride several times a day, the Tourist Travel Pass for zone A costs €10.30 for one day, €23.10 for three and €43.20 for seven. It counts calendar days from first use, covers the Metro, the EMT buses (except the airport express) and Cercanías trains within zone A, and spares you the Metro airport supplement.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, three full days cover this list: one for the Royal Palace, the Plaza Mayor and La Latina; one for the museums of the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro; one for the Bernabéu, Madrid Río and a night in Malasaña. Put the Rastro on the Sunday, and remember that the Reina Sofía closes on Tuesdays. Add a day for each day trip: Toledo and Segovia have their own pages, and El Escorial, Alcalá de Henares, Aranjuez and Chinchón are on the Community of Madrid page.

  • When to go

    Spring and autumn are the easiest seasons for long days on foot; July and August are hot, so save the museums for the afternoons. The calendar matters more than the weather: the Solemn Changing of the Guard is on the first Wednesday of the month except in January, August and September, and in July and August the ordinary guard change moves to 10:00 to 12:00. The Retiro stays open until midnight from April to September, and the Plaza Mayor holds its Christmas market from late November to 31 December.

  • Where to base yourself

    Sol, the Austrias and the Barrio de las Letras put the Royal Palace, the Plaza Mayor and the three art museums within walking distance, with the flamenco rooms and tapas bars close by. La Latina suits a trip built around tapas and the Sunday Rastro; Malasaña suits one built around nights out, though its streets stay loud late at weekends. If you arrive by air, the airport bus stops at Cibeles and Atocha, both an easy walk from the Barrio de las Letras.

Questions travellers ask

How many days do you need in Madrid?

Three full days cover the Royal Palace and the old town, the art museums of the Paseo del Prado with the Retiro, and a third day for the Bernabéu, Madrid Río or Malasaña. Add one day for each day trip, such as Toledo or Segovia.

When is the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace?

The ordinary relief runs every Wednesday and Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 (10:00 to 12:00 in July and August) at the Puerta del Príncipe. The Solemn Changing of the Guard takes about 50 minutes and starts at 12:00 on the first Wednesday of the month in the Plaza de la Armería, except in January, August and September. Both are free, and official events or bad weather can cancel them.

Is the Royal Palace free to visit?

Only for some visitors. EU citizens and residents and Ibero-American nationals enter free Monday to Thursday, from 16:00 to 18:00 between October and March and from 17:00 to 19:00 between April and September, with proof of nationality or residence. Everyone else pays €18, or €24 with the Royal Collections Gallery, and Patrimonio Nacional advises buying online because the box office sells few tickets.

Which Madrid museums are free, and when?

The Reina Sofía is free from 19:00 to 21:00 on Monday and Wednesday to Saturday, and from 12:30 to 14:30 on Sunday, but you still need a ticket, which you can reserve online. The Thyssen is free on Mondays from 12:00 to 16:00 and on Saturdays from 21:00 to 23:00, with no ticket needed. The Prado has its own free evening hours.

How do I get from Madrid airport to the city centre?

The Exprés Aeropuerto bus runs 24 hours a day for a flat €5 and takes about 40 minutes from T4 to Atocha (Cibeles at night). Metro line 8 costs about the same once the €3 airport supplement is added to the €1.50 to €2 ticket, and suits you if you are staying near Nuevos Ministerios or in the north. The Tourist Travel Pass covers the Metro without the supplement.

What are the best day trips from Madrid?

Toledo and Segovia are the classic pair, and each has its own page on must30. El Escorial, Alcalá de Henares, Aranjuez, Chinchón and the Sierra de Guadarrama are covered on the Community of Madrid page.

Things to do in Spain

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