Madrid

The Prado Has More Than 7,600 Paintings and Only 1,500 Are on Display at Any One Time

Walking past the Velazquez and Goya rooms without stopping is an act of genuine cultural negligence. The Prado is one of the three best painting museums in the world by any serious assessment, and it sits in central Madrid alongside two other world-class museums within a 15-minute walk. The Salon de Reinos, a 9,500-square-metre extension to the Prado five minutes from the main building, is scheduled to open in 2027 and will eventually display more of the permanent collection. Going in 2026 means you get the museum in its current form before the campus expands further.

Madrid lives loudly, eats late, and goes to bed when most European capitals have been asleep for hours. The city stands at 667 metres, has 300-plus days of sunshine, and maintains a local culture that actively resists being organised around tourists. Madrileños invite you to the table; they do not perform for you.

The Essential Sights

Museo del Prado: Las Meninas by Velazquez, Goya’s Black Paintings and Third of May, Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, El Greco, Titian, and Rubens. Two free hours before closing daily. The collection deserves a half day. Closed Mondays.

Reina Sofia: Picasso’s Guernica is the primary destination, but the surrounding 20th-century Spanish modernism – Dali, Miro – is substantial. Free 19:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and 13:30 to 19:00 on Sundays.

Thyssen-Bornemisza: the third point of the “Golden Triangle of Art” on the Paseo del Prado. A Baron’s private collection turned public museum, with works from the 13th century to the 20th. Hopper’s Hotel Room is the stand-out.

Palacio Real: the largest functioning royal palace in Europe, built by Philip V on the site of the Moorish Alcazar. The Royal Armoury, the Throne Room, Goya portraits. Book a timed slot online.

Plaza Mayor: the 17th-century Habsburg square where bullfights, executions, and coronations all took place. Walk through the corner arches to the tapas lanes beyond.

Retiro Park: 118 hectares with chestnut alleys, a boating lake, the glass-and-iron Crystal Palace, and rose gardens. UNESCO World Heritage since 2021.

Templo de Debod: a 2nd-century BCE Egyptian temple gifted to Spain in 1968 in gratitude for help relocating Abu Simbel. Sunset from this terrace, with the Royal Palace and the Sierra Guadarrama behind it, is the definitive Madrid photograph and costs nothing.

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium: Real Madrid’s ground completed a total transformation. The renovation finished with an 80,242-seat capacity, a retractable roof, a new east stand, and a food hall with 20 restaurants. The stadium tour is a pilgrimage.

Neighbourhoods to Wander

La Latina for Sunday morning Rastro flea market and afternoon tapas on Calle Cava Baja. Lavapiés for the most multicultural quarter, with Indian, Moroccan, and Senegalese kitchens. Huertas (Barrio de las Letras) where Cervantes and Lope de Vega lived, with their quotations inlaid in the cobbled streets. Chueca, historically the LGBTQ+ heart of the city and now one of Madrid’s best food neighbourhoods. Chamberi for elegant residential boulevards and the ghost metro station museum (Anden 0, a preserved 1919 station).

Eating Madrid

The classic rhythm: breakfast tostada with olive oil and tomato, or churros with thick hot chocolate at the 24-hour Chocolateria San Gines. Mid-morning tapa and cana (small beer). Long lunch from 2 to 4pm. Early evening vermouth with olives and anchovies. Tapas crawl from 9pm. Dinner from 10pm. Trying to impose a 7pm dinner on this city is a losing battle.

Cocido madrileño – the three-course chickpea stew served in slow-paced old restaurants at weekday lunch – is the dish that tells you most about what Madrid actually eats. Bocadillo de calamares (fried calamari sandwich) at the Plaza Mayor, huevos rotos over fried potatoes with jamon, and jamon iberico de bellota are essential. Look for bars advertising “vermut de grifo” (vermouth on tap) for the aperitivo tradition done properly.

Practical Tips

Late April through June and late September through November are the best months. July and August are hot and many Madrileños leave for the coast; small restaurants close. The Paseo del Arte museum pass covers the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen with a 20% saving. The airport connects to the centre by Metro Line 8.

Day trips: Toledo by high-speed train in 30 minutes (El Greco’s city, UNESCO old town). Segovia by Avant train in 28 minutes (Roman aqueduct, Alcazar, suckling pig). Aranjuez for royal palace and gardens.