Top 5 Sights in Madrid

Getting there

Madrid sits right in the middle of Spain and, with over 3 million inhabitants, is the largest city in the country. The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport is only about 10 km from the centre. This is how you get into the city best:

• Metro line 8: The quickest way. It is only 20 minutes to Nuevos Ministerios, and about 40 minutes to Sol including the change. The ticket costs around 5 euros including the airport surcharge.
• Cercanías C-1: If you land at Terminal 4, this train gets you to Atocha in 45 minutes. The ticket costs around 3 euros.

And here come my top 5…

Parque del Retiro

The Parque del Retiro sits right in the centre of Madrid and has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site together with the Paseo del Prado since July 2021. Until the 19th century it was the private garden of the Spanish kings.

Today it belongs to everybody, and you notice that straight away. Half of Madrid jogs, picnics and drums here, and still you find a bench to yourself after five minutes.

A boat ride on the Estanque Grande

You can take a boat out on the big lake in the middle of the park, the Estanque Grande. Or you lie down on the grass with a coffee and watch the boats. In the background the impressive colonnade for Alfonso XII rises up. You can book a rowing boat right at the hut by the jetty or in advance through the Madrid Móvil app. On warm weekends the lake is as busy as in the photo, during the week you have a lot more space.

What else to see in the Retiro

• Rosaleda: The rose garden. In May and June it is full of roses, the rest of the year you can skip it.
• Ángel Caído: The fallen angel from 1877. One of very few statues in the world that shows the devil. It stands a little hidden in the south of the park.
• Bosque del Recuerdo: 192 trees for the victims of the attacks of 11 March 2004. A quiet spot that disappears completely in the bustle of the park.
• Palacio de Cristal: The most photographed sight in the park has been closed since May 2023, after parts of the structure came loose. The restoration is expected to run until 2027. You can still see it from the outside, although right now it is completely wrapped up.

Opening hours and location

The Retiro is open from April to September from 6 am to midnight, from October to March until 10 pm. In strong wind the city closes it at short notice, and that does happen now and then. Metro Retiro (line 2) right at the Puerta de Alcalá, or Atocha (line 1) at the southern end.

Santiago Bernabéu

I am not a Real fan, and still the stadium was one of the things that stuck with me the most. From the outside a closed shell of steel louvres, inside a retractable pitch and a roof that closes completely. You stand in there and simply cannot grasp how big it is.

I was in the stadium for work, but there is also a regular stadium tour where you walk the whole thing at your own pace. You get up to the panoramic seats at the very top, into the room with the Champions League trophies, into the presidential box, into the first team dressing room, onto the bench at the edge of the pitch, through the players’ tunnel and into the press room.

The tour takes a good 2 hours. If you are a fan, give it half a day, because you will not get out of the trophy room and the museum in a hurry.

Important: check the fixture list beforehand. On a match day the pitch, the dressing room and the players’ tunnel are closed off. You pay the same price and only see the museum and the panorama.

Opening hours and location

The basic ticket costs around 35 euros. Buying online saves you a little. The stadium is open Mon to Sat from 9:30 am to 7 pm, Sundays and public holidays from 10 am to 6:30 pm.

Metro Santiago Bernabéu (line 10). The entrance at tower B is practically at the metro exit, you cannot get lost.

Plaza Mayor and Palacio Real

Old Madrid sits compactly together. From the square where the city has staged everything for 400 years you walk to the royal palace in about ten minutes. Do it in one go, then you have the historic core done in a morning.

Plaza Mayor

The rectangular square was built around 1619 under Philip III. The eye catcher is the Casa de la Panadería on the north side. Do not sit down in one of the places right under the arcades. They are seriously expensive! For food you go two alleys further, more on that below. In December the Christmas market takes over the square.

Palacio Real

Ten minutes further west stands the largest royal palace in Western Europe. With more than 3,000 rooms it is far bigger than Buckingham Palace or Versailles. The palace is only used for state receptions and is otherwise open to visitors. This is all about splendour, and there is plenty of it. Tip: on the Plaza de la Armería the changing of the guard takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 11 am and 2 pm, in high summer from 10 am to midday.

Opening hours and location

Admission is around 18 euros depending on the ticket type. The palace is open Mon to Sat from 10 am to 6 pm and Sundays until 4 pm.

Metro Ópera (lines 2 and 5)

Atocha Station

A railway station as a sight sounds odd at first, but this one really is worth seeing. And not only because of its sad history. The garden and the memorial are both freely accessible.

No trains have run in the old hall since the 1980s. Instead a tropical garden grows in there, covering around 4,000 square metres with more than 7,000 plants from 260 species.

You come in from the street and suddenly you are standing in a greenhouse, while next to you people race to the AVE with their suitcases.

In the pools between the palms live several hundred freshwater turtles. You can see them well from the raised walkways, which is exactly where everybody stands and looks down.

The memorial

Right next to it lies the memorial for the attacks of 11 March 2004, in which 191 people died. The underground room you see today opened in 2024, with the names of the victims engraved and 193 points of light in the ceiling. Take the few minutes, the contrast to the bustle upstairs is intense. In the passage towards the metro just follow the signs marked 11-M.

Location

The station sits at the southern end of the Paseo del Prado. Metro Atocha (line 1), one stop from Sol.

Museo del Prado and Paseo del Prado

If you have time for one museum in Madrid, make it this one. The Prado is one of the most important art museums in the world. It sits on the boulevard Paseo del Prado, which together with the Retiro has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2021.

Within a few hundred metres you also find the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofía with Picasso’s Guernica. In between lie the Cibeles fountain and the Neptune fountain. Walking the stretch alone is worth it, even without a single ticket.

Opening hours and location

Admission costs around 15 euros. The museum is open Mon to Sat from 10 am to 8 pm, Sundays and public holidays from 10 am to 7 pm.

Metro Banco de España (line 2) or Estación del Arte (line 1), about five minutes on foot from either.