Madrid Travel Guide

Travel guide to Madrid, Spain with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Madrid sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.

Madrid Overview

Spain's capital city, Madrid is located almost dead centre in the country and has excellent links to the rest of the world through Carajas Airport. Madrid is a large and cosmopolitan city with many different attractions to keep visitors occupied. It is an ideal place to visit as a short break destination, or even a point at which to start a self-drive Spanish holiday.

For cheap flights to Madrid, it is best to travel in the middle of the week when there are fewer tourists - that way you will be able to get around more easily.

Madrid hotels in the city are of a good standard, and every traveller will find something to suit both them and their budget there.

There are hundreds of attractions to explore in Madrid, and plenty of good shops and markets around the city, and everything of cultural interest that Madrid has to offer such as bull fighting.

Spain's capital has had its fair share of tragedy over the years, and the long and brutal dictatorship of Franco was a painful time for the city, however Madrid's spirit of optimism means that the Madrilenos will not be beaten by misfortune, and bounce back from trauma with vigour.

Top Madrid Attractions

Contentious though it may be, the main attraction of Madrid as far as the locals are concerned is the chance to watch a bullfight at the famous Plaza del Toros Monumental de Las Ventas - Spain's biggest bullring. The Feria takes place during May, and sees the top matadors from all over the world descend on Madrid for the chance to become the champion.

The Museo del Prado houses Madrid's most prestigious art gallery, and has an excellent collection of work by some of the most popular Spanish and international artists including Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Goya. The best-known painting in the museum is Picasso's Guernika, which many people consider to be his finest work.

Shopping in Madrid

Although Madrid does not have the same kind of reputation enjoyed by London, Milan, or Paris as a major shopping city, it is still a superb place to browse through stores and stock up your wardrobe - particularly during the twice-annual sale seasons in January and July.

The main shopping areas are Calle de Preciados, and Salamanca, where you can find both small boutiques and also larger department stores such as El Corte Engles. On the whole, shops are open from about nine in the morning until ten at night - although they close over lunch for siesta.

Madrid Sporting Events

Madrid has two main football teams: Real Madrid, home of the famous "Galactico" superstars, and their less successful local rivals Athletico Madrid. The rivalry between the two sides is astonishing, and local derbies are fiercely contested both on and off the pitch. Despite having more than 100,000 seats, it is not always possible to get tickets to see Real Madrid play at home, however, the reserve team - which still features many top class international players - have their own 30,000 seat stadium, and tickets are much easier to come by.