Madrid (Spain)
A city that starts at ten at night
The destination on this list I expect to be most wrong about beforehand. Madrid has a reputation for being the less immediately charming Spanish city, and everyone I trust who has spent real time there says the opposite. I have given it two weeks to make the argument.
- Trip length
- 2 weeks
- Language
- Spanish
- Getting around
- Metro and walking
- Day trips
- By high-speed rail
Six that earn the time
Things to see and do
Work through the art triangle properly
Three major collections sit within a short walk of each other along the same boulevard, covering European painting from the medieval period through to the twentieth century. Trying to do all three in a day is a mistake. One per morning, arriving at opening, with a specific set of rooms in mind, is how you actually see anything.
Eat standing up in a market hall
The covered markets have shifted from produce halls to eating halls, and while the most central are frankly tourist-facing, the neighbourhood ones are not. Small plates, a glass of something, no table, no reservation. It is the cheapest and fastest way into how the city eats.
Spend a full afternoon in the Retiro
The old royal park is the city’s living room: rowing boats on the lake, a glass pavilion that hosts exhibitions, formal gardens, and on weekends drummers, skaters and family picnics in roughly equal measure. Bring a book and stay longer than you planned.
Follow the neighbourhoods rather than the sights
La Latina for Sunday vermouth and the market crowd, Malasaña for record shops and small bars, Lavapiés for the most genuinely mixed streets in the city, Chueca for its own scene. Madrid rewards choosing a district and walking it end to end far more than it rewards a monument list.
Take the high-speed train to another city for the day
From Madrid you can be in Seville, Córdoba, Valencia, Zaragoza or Toledo in well under three hours, often much less. The network is genuinely fast and the stations are central at both ends, which makes a proper day trip realistic rather than exhausting.
Adjust to the timetable instead of fighting it
Lunch runs long and late, the afternoon slows down, dinner starts around ten and the night goes on from there. Every visitor who has a bad time in Madrid is trying to eat at seven. Shift your whole day back by two or three hours and the city opens up.
Air and rail
How to get there
General guidance rather than specific fares, because fares change and this page does not. Check the current position before you book anything.
By air
Madrid’s airport is one of the main European gateways to Latin America and is well served from across Europe, North America and increasingly Asia. It sits on the metro network with a direct line into the city, and there is also a dedicated express bus to the centre running through the night, plus regional rail from one of the terminals. Transfers between terminals take real time, so leave more of it than the schedule suggests on a connecting itinerary.
By rail
Spain has one of the largest high-speed networks in the world and Madrid is its hub, with fast services radiating to Andalusia, the Mediterranean coast, the north and the French border, where they connect onward into the wider European network. Two main stations serve different directions, so check which one your service uses. Fares are cheapest well in advance and there are usually competing operators on the busiest routes, which is worth checking before you book.
Getting around
The metro is extensive, cheap, clean and runs late, and a rechargeable card covers the metro, buses and local trains. The centre is flatter and more walkable than most people expect. There is no reason to rent a car unless you are leaving the region entirely, and parking in the centre is its own punishment.
Planned for October 2027
When to go
September to November
Warm days, cool evenings
My window. The summer heat finally breaks, terraces are still usable well into the evening, and the cultural calendar restarts after the August pause. Late October brings the first real chill after dark, which is what a jacket is for.
April to June
Mild and bright
The other good stretch. Long daylight, parks at their best, and comfortable walking temperatures before the heat sets in properly around the end of June. Slightly wetter than autumn but rarely a problem.
July to August
Extreme dry heat
Madrid sits on a high plateau and summer temperatures are punishing, with many residents leaving the city entirely and a noticeable number of businesses closing for the month. Everything of interest happens after dark, which is a legitimate way to visit but not a relaxing one.
Learned the hard way
Erica's tips for Madrid
Move your body clock before you arrive
Shifting your eating times by two or three hours takes a couple of days, and doing it on the flight and the first evening rather than resisting for a week is the difference between visiting Madrid and visiting an empty version of it.
Buy the museum tickets online, skip the combined pass
The queues at the big three are real and timed online entry removes them entirely. The combined passes only pay for themselves if you are visiting everything in a short window, which is exactly the schedule I am arguing against.
Say yes to the free tapa, then order properly
In many bars a drink arrives with something small alongside it at no extra cost. Treat it as an introduction rather than as dinner, decide whether you like the kitchen, and then order deliberately. It is the most efficient way to find the places worth returning to.
Six frames
The Madrid shot list
The six photographs I am going there to take, written down before departure so I have something to hold myself to. Each one gets replaced by the real frame once I am back.
The gallery boulevard before opening, plane trees still holding the night’s cool
Paseo del Prado, early morning
A market counter mid-service with everyone standing and nobody seated
Neighbourhood market hall, midday
Rowing boats on the lake with the colonnade behind them
Retiro Park, late afternoon
A narrow street of small bars filling up two hours before dinner
La Latina, early evening
A high-speed platform with the departure board showing Andalusian cities
Atocha, before eight
Rooftops and the flat light of the plateau at the end of the day
Central Madrid, sunset
