Culture and leisure at any time

Walking around Madrid means coming across iconic spots such as the stunning Royal Palace, the Plaza Mayor with 400 years of history, the buzzing Puerta del Sol, the famous Gran Vía full of shops, or the four tallest towers in Spain. Each neighbourhood offers a different experience: La Latina is ideal for tapas, Las Letras has the perfect combination of literature and fine dining… But Madrid also means relaxing in enormous green spaces such as the Retiro Park (which together with the Paseo del Prado boulevard have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List), and other lesser-known but equally charming parks like El Capricho.

Capital of food, fashion and nightlife

Madrid has many different options, each more appealing than the last. On the one hand, traditional bars where you can discover exactly what castizo means and why tapas are so much fun. On the other hand, there are its cutting-edge restaurants like DiverXO and traditional markets that have been turned into new gourmet spaces, such as San Miguel, which has become a true gastronomic shrine. In Madrid, the time is always ripe to enjoy an animated, urban atmosphere. For example, the increasingly famous weekend brunches in enclosed glass terraces, courtyards, rooftops, etc.

best time to visit Madrid

Fiery summers are surely still a factor, but these days you can often walk around the city's neighborhoods in short sleeves during the spring and autumn. And in August, although the city dwellers flee to the mountains or beaches, all the major attractions remain open, so if you can take the heat and don’t mind that half of the shops, restaurants and bars are closed, it can be blissfully quiet.In fact, apart from a slight lull in late autumn, there’s no real downturn in the steady stream of tourists coming to Madrid – the city’s world-class art galleries and museums never fail to deliver no matter what the weather is.