Things to do in Madrid

• Reina Sofia Museum holds Picasso's Guernica and one of the world's leading collections of 20th century Spanish art, closing the Golden Triangle of Art alongside the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza.
• Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum spans seven centuries of European painting in a single private collection, from Italian primitives to Picasso and Pollock, across the street from the Prado.
• Gran Via cuts through the centre with early 20th century towers like the Metropolis and Telefonica buildings, department stores and the theatres that give the avenue its nickname, the Spanish Broadway.
• Plaza de Espana gathers the Cervantes monument with statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza beneath the twin towers of the Edificio Espana, reopened in recent years as a public garden square.
• Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is Real Madrid's home ground, where the stadium tour crosses the pitch, the changing rooms and the trophy room that displays the club's European Cups.
• El Rastro fills the streets of La Latina every Sunday morning with Madrid's oldest and largest flea market, trading antiques, clothes and bric-a-brac since the 17th century.
• A flamenco show at one of the city's tablaos pairs live guitar and cante with the stamping footwork of the dance, the after dark counterpart to a day of sightseeing.
• Circulo de Bellas Artes rooftop looks out over Gran Via and the rooftops of central Madrid from a 1920s cultural centre, one of the best value viewpoints in the city.
• Plaza de Cibeles centres on the Cibeles fountain and goddess statue in front of the Palacio de Cibeles, Madrid's city hall and a favourite gathering point for football celebrations.
• Las Ventas bullring is Spain's largest and most important, a Neo-Mudejar arena from 1929 that also runs a museum on the history of bullfighting.

Madrid grew from a Muslim fortress town into the capital of a global empire, and its centre still reads as layers of that history: the tangled lanes of the Austrias quarter, the grand avenues laid out once Madrid became a capital, and the modern skyline further north. Nowhere else compresses the Golden Triangle of Art, three of Europe's leading museums within a ten minute walk, alongside royal palaces and a nightlife that starts after most other capitals have gone to bed.

Neighbourhoods to know

La Latina and Austrias hold the oldest streets, Plaza Mayor and the Sunday sprawl of El Rastro. Sol and Gran Via form the commercial core, loud with theatres and department stores. Salamanca to the north keeps designer shops and quiet avenues, while Malasana and Chueca fill with vintage stores, bars and the city's most concentrated nightlife. Retiro and the Paseo del Arte line up the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the park itself along a UNESCO listed axis.

When to go and for how long

April, May, September and October bring mild weather without the summer heat, when temperatures regularly pass 35 degrees and much of the city empties out for the coast. Winter stays cold but dry and rarely crowded. Three to four full days cover the historic centre, the main museums and one outlying neighbourhood at an easy pace.

Getting around

The centre from the Royal Palace to Retiro Park is entirely walkable, and the Metro's twelve lines reach the rest of the city quickly, running past midnight on weekends. Line 8 and the airport express bus both connect Barajas with the centre in around 20 to 40 minutes, and the Cercanias trains link the wider region.