Luxury hotels in Madrid

Madrid guide

Madrid: the Prado and the Golden Triangle of Art

Velázquez and Goya, Guernica at the Reina Sofía, the Royal Palace and tapas late into the night.

The Prado Museum, home to Velázquez's Las Meninas and Goya's black paintings, is Madrid's most cited sight, and with the Reina Sofía, which holds Picasso's Guernica, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza it forms the Golden Triangle of Art along the Paseo del Prado, part of a UNESCO site with the Retiro Park.

The Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and the Mercado de San Miguel are in the historic centre, and a tapas crawl in La Latina is the essential evening. Toledo and Segovia are under an hour by high-speed train, and spring and autumn are the best seasons.

The Royal Palace and Plaza Mayor

The Royal Palace of Madrid, the official residence of the Spanish royal family with more than 3,000 rooms, is one of the largest palaces in Europe and one of the city's most cited sights; its throne room and the Royal Armoury are highlights, and the Changing of the Guard takes place on certain days.

Next door, the Royal Collections Gallery displays the Crown's treasures, and the Plaza Mayor, built under the Habsburgs, is a short walk away. Chocolate con churros at the Chocolatería San Ginés, open since 1894, is a Madrid ritual.

Toledo and Segovia

Toledo, half an hour from Madrid by high-speed train, is the most cited day trip from the capital: a UNESCO city on a hill above the Tagus, where Christian, Muslim and Jewish heritage meet, with its Gothic cathedral and El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz.

Segovia, also about half an hour by train, has a Roman aqueduct of the first century still standing in the centre of town, a cathedral and the Alcázar that inspired fairy-tale castles. Roast suckling pig is the local speciality.