Madrid is a city in which you can find something to suit every taste, be it art, history, culture or simply the pursuit of a good time. It often loses out to Barcelona in the ‘hip’ stakes but it is a beautiful city; full of interesting places to discover and lose yourself as well as being blessed with an easily navigable metro system – and a maximum 5 minute wait between trains!

 

Catch the metro from Barajas, the station created to serve the airport and from here, it will take you 15-20 minutes to get into the centre of the city. Watch out though – stairs and suitcases do not a happy traveller make…and there are plenty of both!

 

Gran Vía is the main street in the city and will probably be your first stop as it is home to many of Madrid’s biggest shops, bars, restaurants and hotels. It also affords easy access, by metro or by foot, to most of the city’s main attractions. Enclosed at both ends by major sights, namely Banco de España, with the famous Cibeles statueat the eastern extremity and Plaza de España, home to the monument to Cervantes, overlooking his legendary literary creations Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at the western end, it is well worth taking the time to wander down the street, from one end to the other, taking in the hustle and atmosphere of Madrid as you go and perhaps stopping in any one of the cafes en route for a ‘café con leche’ – incidentally, served in a glass cup! Plaza de España is also the best stop for Templo de Debod; an Egyptian temple gifted to the Spanish government for their help with the Aswan Dam. From here, beautiful views of the city are offered and it makes for striking viewing at night.

 

From Gran Vía, go south to Sol, the centre of Spain itself and home to the ‘kilometro cero’, the spot from which all road distances in Spain are measured. There are many shops and bars around the Puerta del Sol, as well as the statue of the ‘Bear and the Strawberry Tree’, the emblem of Madrid. It’s a great place to people watch and there are many interesting shops in the surrounding streets but watch out, especially at night, as it tends to be one of the main starting points for trouble makers. Sol is also the best place to reach the Plaza Mayor, one of Madrid’s finest squares. Enclosed on all sides by shops, restaurants and cafes and dominated in the centre by a statue of Philip III, it is an important place for festivities in the city, especially during the festival of Madrid’s patron saint, San Isidrio or at Christmas, when the Plaza is full of stalls selling Christmas decorations and nativity scenes.

 

Further east of Sol, lies the Retiro, a beautiful park favoured by many madrileños for their Sunday morning stroll. In summer, it is a great place to hang out with friends and you can even hire rowing boats on the lake in front of the Estanque, under the watchful eye of the grand statue of Alfonso XII. Just north of the Retiro Park is the Puerta de Alcalá, situated in the Plaza de la Independencia and built for Charles III to provide an impressive entrance to the city. Remarkable during the day, it is at its most spectacular at night.

 

Further on from the Retiro lies Goya and the Calle Serrano, in the upper class district of Salamanca. Here you will find all the designer shops and restaurants as well as Madrid’s bullring, Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas at the far end of the Calle Goya. A little bit west of Goya, heading back in towards the centre of the city, is the Plaza de Colón, a monument built to celebrate Christopher Colombus’ (or Cristobal Colón in Spanish) discovery of the ‘New World’.

 

From Colón, head east one stop to Alonso Martínez and from here, you are within easy walking distance of two of the main streets of the city; Calle Hortaleza, full of bars and restaurants and Calle Fuencarral, full of cafes and weird and wonderful shops. These streets also comprise part of the district of Chueca, the city’s gay area and one of the best places to go in search of nightlife. A little bit to the north-east of Chueca is Tribunal, the best metro stop for the world famous Pachá nightclub.

 

Heading east from Sol, you reach Opera, with the beautiful Plaza de Oriente stretching out in front of the Opera House and bordered by the Palacio Real. The Café de Oriente, in the left hand corner of the Plaza, is a great place to sit and take in the scenery. The Palace is neighboured by the Catedral de la Almudena and the Jardines de Sabatini, both well worth a visit, as well as the Campo de Moro, for which you should head north to Príncipe Pío.

 

Heading south from Sol, you reach the district of La Latina, home to the ‘El Rastro’ flea market every Sunday morning. From here, head down to Puerta de Toledo, at the heart of ‘working Madrid’. East of La Latina lie Tirso de Molina and Anton Martín, situated at the heart of Madrid’s ‘letters district’. It is here that some of Spain’s greatest writers lived and some of their most famous quotes are now immortalised as engravings on slabs in the pavements. This area is also home to Madrid’s Parliament building as well as leading onto the Plaza Santa Ana, one of the most popular places to go for a night out and bordered by the famous ‘Teatro Español’.

 

Heading south brings you to Atocha, possibly Madrid’s most famous railway station and home to the ‘Golden Triangle’ of art galleries on the Paseo del Prado, stretching up to Banco de España in the north. For art lovers, the ‘Big Three’ of the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemisza make for essential viewing and between them, they house some of the greatest works of art by Spanish painters, including Goya, Velázquez and of course, Picasso’s renowned ‘Guernica’. They are often free to the general public on Sunday afternoons but check before you go.

 

It is also from Atocha-RENFE, in the south and Charmartín, in the north that you can catch trains to other nearby sights such as Alcalá de Henares, Aranjuez, Toledo, El Escorial and the Valle de los Caídos. As it is such a small city by European standards, it is easy to get around Madrid and the surrounding area and to see much of what it has to offer…all for the price of a train ticket.