1. What to do in the city
**The Paseo del Arte.** Three national museums line the Paseo del Prado, a short walk from each other. The Museo Nacional del Prado, opened in 1819, holds the great collection of Spanish painting, with Velázquez, Goya and El Greco among its central names. The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, in the Villahermosa palace, covers the Renaissance to Pop Art. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the museum of modern and contemporary art, shows Picasso's Guernica. Together they form the so-called Golden Triangle of Art, and a combined pass, the Paseo del Arte card, gives access to all three. Beside them stand CaixaForum Madrid and the Royal Botanical Garden. The whole Paseo del Prado and Retiro area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2021 under the name Landscape of Light.
**Historic Madrid: Sol, Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace.** Puerta del Sol, with the Bear and the Strawberry Tree and the kilometre-zero plaque, is the natural starting point of the centre. From there, Calle Mayor leads to Plaza Mayor, the arcaded square, with its equestrian statue at its centre. Continuing west brings you to Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace, the monarchy's official residence, with the Sabatini Gardens and Campo del Moro at its feet. Nearby stand Plaza de la Villa, with some of the city's oldest houses, and the Royal Collections Gallery, inside the Palace complex.
**Retiro and the great parks.** Parque del Buen Retiro, in the east of the centre, is Madrid's historic park: tree-lined walks, the Estanque Grande boating lake, the Crystal Palace and the Velázquez Palace, both hosting exhibitions, and the Alfonso XII monument. Beside the park stand the Puerta de Alcalá and the Cibeles Fountain. To the west, Casa de Campo, the city's largest park and a former royal hunting estate made public in 1931, offers pine woods, trails and a lake. Parque del Oeste, beside Plaza de España, holds the Temple of Debod, a genuine Egyptian temple given to Spain in 1968 for its help in saving the Abu Simbel monuments. Madrid Río park follows the Manzanares river with paths for walking and cycling.
**Gran Vía, districts and markets.** Gran Vía, joining Plaza de España with Cibeles, gathers cinemas, theatres and shops. To the north lie Malasaña, a district of bars and second-hand shops, and Chueca, with its open atmosphere and its shops. To the south, La Latina gathers tapas bars on Cava Baja and Cava Alta, and Lavapiés, multicultural and young, adds bars and street art. On Sunday mornings, El Rastro, La Latina's open-air flea market around Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores, fills the streets with stalls of antiques, clothes, books and second-hand objects. For eating, Mercado de San Miguel, beside Plaza Mayor, and Mercado de San Antón, in Chueca, gather food stalls under one roof. Madrid's own dishes are cocido madrileño, the bocadillo de calamares and churros con chocolate.
**Football and day trips.** The Santiago Bernabéu stadium, home of Real Madrid, stands in the north of the city, beside Paseo de la Castellana, and Atlético Madrid's Metropolitano stadium stands in the east, beside the M-40. Both can be visited as places, not only on match days. From Atocha and Chamartín, trains leave for Toledo, Segovia, Aranjuez and El Escorial, the four classic day trips from Madrid: each has its own station and its own character, so give each a whole day rather than trying to chain them together.