Must-see attractions Madrid, Madrid Region - Lonely Planet (2024)

Museo del Prado

Madrid

Welcome to one of the world's premier art galleries. More than 7000 paintings are held in the Museo del Prado’s collection (of which only around 1500 are…

Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Madrid

Home to Picasso’s Guernica, arguably Spain’s most famous artwork, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is Madrid’s premier collection of contemporary art.

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

Madrid

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is one of the three points composing Madrid’s Golden Triangle of Art along the Paseo del Prado (Art Walk), together with the…

Parque del Buen Retiro

Madrid

Spend a day exploring the vast grounds of Madrid’s emblematic park.

Basílica de San Francisco El Grande

La Latina & Lavapiés

Crowning Madrid’s oldest neighborhood of La Latina is an architectural and visual masterpiece that is the Basílica de San Francisco el Grande (Basilica of…

Plaza de Toros Las Ventas

Salamanca

One of Spain’s most atmospheric arenas, the Plaza de Toros Las Ventas has hosted everything from Beatles concerts to motocross competitions during its…

Templo de Debod

Madrid

Few people would ever guess that a 2200-year-old Egyptian temple exists in the center ofMadrid. Yet the Templo de Debod is in no way a Vegas-style…

Museo Lázaro Galdiano

Salamanca

This imposing early-20th-century Italianate stone mansion, set discreetly back from the street, belonged to Don José Lázaro Galdiano (1862–1947), a…

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Madrid

The Real Academia de Bellas Artes, Madrid’s ‘other’ art gallery, has for centuries played a pivotal role in the artistic life of the city. As the royal…

Plaza Mayor

Madrid

Madrid's grand central square, a rare but expansive opening in the tightly packed streets of central Madrid, is one of the prettiest open spaces in Spain,…

Palacio Real

Madrid

Spain's jewel-box Palacio Real is used only occasionally for royal ceremonies; the royal family moved to the modest Palacio de la Zarzuela years ago.

El Rastro

La Latina & Lavapiés

A Sunday morning at El Rastro flea market, Europe's largest, is a Madrid institution. You could easily spend the entire morning inching your way down the…

Plaza de Santa Ana

Madrid

Plaza de Santa Ana is a delightful confluence of elegant architecture and irresistible energy. It presides over the upper reaches of the Barrio de las…

Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

Madrid

The frescoed ceilings of the restored Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida are one of Madrid's most surprising secrets. The southern of the two small…

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

Madrid

Football fans and budding Madridistas (Real Madrid supporters) will want to make a pilgrimage to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, a temple to all that’s…

Círculo de Bellas Artes

Madrid

For some of Madrid’s best views, take the lift to the 7th floor of the ‘Fine Arts Circle’. You can almost reach out and touch the glorious dome of the…

Edificio Metrópolis

Madrid

Among the more interesting buildings along Gran Vía is the stunning, French-designed Edificio Metrópolis, built in 1905, which marks the southern end of…

Gran Vía

Malasaña & Conde Duque

It’s difficult to imagine Madrid without Gran Vía, the grand boulevard lined with towering belle-époque facades that climbs up through the centre of…

Plaza de Oriente

Madrid

This graceful square is one central Madrid's most beautiful, home as it is to a royal palace that once had aspirations to be the Spanish Versailles,…

Matadero Madrid

La Latina & Lavapiés

This contemporary-arts centre is a stunning multipurpose space south of the centre. Occupying the converted buildings of the old Arganzuela livestock…

Plaza de la Paja

La Latina & Lavapiés

Around the back of the Iglesia de San Andrés, the delightful Plaza de la Paja slopes down into the tangle of lanes that once made up Madrid's Muslim…

Plaza de la Villa

Madrid

The intimate Plaza de la Villa is one of Madrid’s prettiest. Enclosed on three sides by wonderfully preserved examples of 17th-century barroco madrileño …

Palacio de Cristal

Madrid

Hidden among the trees south of Parque del Buen Retiro's lake is the Palacio de Cristal. Built in 1887, it's a magnificent metal-and-glass structure and…

Barrio de las Letras

Madrid

The area that unfurls down the hill east of Plaza de Santa Ana is referred to as the Barrio de las Letras because of the writers who lived here during…

Plaza de la Cibeles

Madrid

Of all the grand roundabouts that punctuate the Paseo del Prado, Plaza de la Cibeles most evokes the splendour of imperial Madrid. The jewel in the crown…

Mirador de Madrid

Madrid

The views from the summit of the Palacio de Comunicaciones are among Madrid's best, sweeping out over Plaza de la Cibeles, up the hill towards the sublime…

Plaza de la Puerta del Sol

Madrid

The official centre point of Spain is a gracious, crowded hemisphere of elegant facades. It is, above all, a crossroads: people here are forever heading…

Estación de Chamberí

Madrid

Estación de Chamberí, the long-lost ghost station of Madrid's metro, is now a museum piece that recreates the era of the station’s inauguration in 1919…

Teatro Real

Madrid

Backing onto Plaza de Oriente, Madrid’s signature opera house took on its present neoclassical form in 1997 although, viewed from Plaza de Isabel II,

Iglesia de San Ginés

Madrid

Due north of Plaza Mayor, San Ginés is one of Madrid’s oldest churches: it has been here in one form or another since at least the 14th century. What you…

Museo del Romanticismo

Chueca

This intriguing museum is devoted to the Romantic period of the 19th century. It houses a minor treasure trove of mostly 19th-century paintings, furniture…

Convento de las Descalzas Reales

Madrid

The grim plateresque walls of the Convento de las Descalzas Reales offer no hint that behind the facade lies a sumptuous stronghold of the faith. The…

Sociedad General de Autores y Editores

Chueca

This swirling, melting wedding cake of a building is as close as Madrid comes to the work of Antoni Gaudí, which so illuminates Barcelona. It’s a joyously…

Teleférico

Madrid

One of the world’s most horizontal cable cars (it never hangs more than 40m above the ground), the Teleférico putters out from the slopes of Parque del…

Museo de Historia

Malasaña & Conde Duque

The fine Museo de Historia (formerly the Museo Municipal) has an elaborate and restored baroque entrance, raised in 1721 by Pedro de Ribera. Behind this…

Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales

Madrid

The Museum of Natural Sciences is a favourite for families, with permanent exhibitions including dinosaur skeletons, rocks and minerals, and fossils of…

El Ángel Caído

Madrid

At the southern end of the park, near La Rosaleda with its more than 4000 roses, is a statue of El Ángel Caído (The Fallen Angel). Strangely, it sits 666m…

Campo del Moro

Madrid

These gardens beneath the Palacio Real were designed to mimic the gardens surrounding the palace at Versailles; nowhere is this more in evidence than…

Museo Cerralbo

Madrid

The former home of the 17th Marqués de Cerralbo (1845–1922) – politician, poet and archaeologist – is a study in 19th-century opulence. The upper floor…

Museo de San Isidro

La Latina & Lavapiés

This engaging museum occupies the spot where San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, ended his days around 1172. A particular highlight is the large…