5 things to do in Madrid in 2025 and beyond

In 1775, Charles III selected a meadow (prado) outside densely-packed Madrid for a vast project that became the Paseo del Prado. This tree-lined boulevard, with its monumental fountains, was an elegant addition to Spain’s capital. It included the Natural History Cabinet (which became instead the Prado, today one of the world’s greatest art museums) the Academy of Science, and in the former royal park of El Retiro, a Royal Observatory and Royal Botanical Gardens.

Today, the Paseo del Prado is a focal point of Madrid. It’s the perfect place to amble around and plan to start any visit to the city. It’s home to a host of Madrid’s most iconic museums, including the Reina Sofia, housing Spain’s top modern art collection, including Picasso’s unmissable Guernica and the museum of Thyssen-Bornemisza, packed with masterpieces spanning the centuries. And now this unique ensemble is Madrid’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ‘Landscape of Light’.

Surprisingly, even in the heart of Madrid young people still make things the old-fashioned way. Take Ramírez guitars, played by everyone from André Segovia to Eric Clapton, and still handmade on Calle del General Margallo, while Bob Dylan and Paco de Lucía favoured Felipe Conde guitars, now crafted by a new generation (Calle de Arrieta).

Madrid has long been famous for soft, supple vegetable tanned leather. Today young artisans create unique pieces at the Taller Puntera (Plaza del Conde de Barajas), Ollomao Taller (Calle dela Fé) and Oficio Studio (Calle de la Verónica). Gloves in leather and every conceivable material have been sewn for over a century at Guantes Luque (Calle Espoz y Mina) and Santacana Madrid (Calle Heurtas). The city’s Guild of Jewellers goes back to 1572, and while the exquisite craftsmanship is the same, today’s styles are decidedly contemporary at Andrés Gallardo (Calle San Pedro) and Studio Squina (Calle Amparo).

Although you can find every cuisine imaginable in Madrid, do seek out the city’s traditional dishes like cocido, a meat, vegetable and chickpea stew served in two courses, or tortilla de patatas (potato and onion omelette), or salmorejo (creamy tomato, garlic and bread soup) or huevos rotos (eggs and potatoes fried in olive oil). Carnivores should make a beeline for Sobrino de Botín, the world’s oldest restaurant where they have been roasting suckling pig and lamb in a wood-burning oven since 1725. Or try the city’s soul food, gallinejas and entresijos (lamb intestines and offal, cooked in their own fat).

Even though Madrid is 300km inland, it hosts the world’s second biggest seafood market after Tokyo. Here traditional delights include bocata de calamares, a baguette stuffed with battered calamari, soldaditos de Pavía (cod fritters with red peppers), besugo (red bream, Madrid style), and potaje de vigilia (codfish stew).

Madrileños are jovial and fun-loving, and nicknamed los gatos ‘the cats’, harking back to the 11th century during the Reconquista when a soldier scaled the city’s walls as nimbly as a cat. Madrileños, like cats, also love the night. Join them in a traditional tapeo, or tapas crawl; some of the best tapas bars are in Plaza de Santa Ana, Calle Príncipe and Calle Huertas in the Barrio de la Letras, and in Cava Baja in La Latina. Or graze your way through the city’s lively gastronomical temple, the Mercado de San Miguel located near central Plaza Mayor where you can sample Madrid’s finest food and drink until midnight.

Flamenco may be Andalusian, but many of the best dancers, musicians and singers perform in the capital. Try Flamenco de Leones, an atmospheric flamenco venue and restaurant giving a flavour of flamenco song, music and dance from Tuesdays to Saturdays. The city’s rooftop bars are a great way to conclude a night out, or join the locals at San Ginés by the Puerta del Sol, open 24/7 year-round for chocolate con churros.

It’s the best way to get a feel for the real Madrid. From the Paseo del Prado, walk up Paseo de Recoletos into Salesas, home to indie fashions, theatres, art galleries and the historic Café Gijón, a favourite of Lorca and Orson Welles and birthplace of the Café Gijón Prize, Spain’s Booker Prize. Even older literary ghosts haunt the Barrio de Las Letras, which in Spain’s Golden Age counted Cervantes and Lope de Vega among its residents: its narrow lanes are crammed with theatres, bars and restaurants.

Wandering in the Centro, make time for the new Royal Collections Gallery, filled with eye-popping treasures accumulated by the Kings of Spain. The Conde Duque neighbourhood just north has a relaxed vibe, quirky shops and age-old tavernas, built around the 18th-century barracks of the royal guard, now the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Condeduque, home to the latest in dance, art, cinema and music.

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