Museum
The 1776 palace of the Marquis of Matallana holds 19th-century paintings, furniture and decorative art, with works by Goya, Esquivel and Madrazo, porcelain dolls, 15 pianos and the pistol the writer Larra used to take his own life. The Magnolia Garden café is free to visit. Entry is €3, free on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
Museum
Traces European painting from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century in a collection of over 1,000 works, strongest in Italian primitives, the German Renaissance, 19th-century American art, Impressionism, German Expressionism and Russian Constructivism. The permanent collection is free on Mondays 12:00–16:00; otherwise a general ticket is €14.
Museum
Madrid's national museum of modern and contemporary art, home to Picasso's Guernica alongside works by Dalí, Miró and Juan Gris. General entry is €12. Free slots, which still need a booked ticket, run 19:00–21:00 on Mondays and Wednesday to Saturday and 12:30–14:30 on Sundays. It is closed on Tuesdays, and entry is free all day on 12 October.
Museum
The home and studio where painter Joaquín Sorolla lived from 1911 until his death in 1923, holding the largest collection of his work. The historic house remains closed for restoration, but the museum's new extension opens on 15 October 2026. Entry is free, with tickets issued in person only.
Attraction
Opened in 1909 as the Spanish Post Office headquarters, designed by Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi, and Madrid's City Hall since 2007. The building is free to enter and houses the CentroCentro exhibition spaces, a tourist information point and the Landscape of Light interpretation centre. Exhibitions open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–20:00.
Attraction
A glass and cast-iron pavilion in El Retiro, built in 1887 as a greenhouse for an exhibition on the Philippines, then a Spanish colony, and modelled on London's Crystal Palace. The Reina Sofía Museum uses it for free temporary exhibitions, but it is closed for renovation until 2027.
Attraction
The fountain at the centre of this square has shown Cybele on a lion-drawn chariot since 1782; Charles III commissioned it and Ventura Rodríguez designed it. The square marks the start of the Paseo del Arte and is ringed by Buenavista Palace, Linares Palace (Casa de América), Cibeles Palace and the Bank of Spain.
Attraction
The square at the heart of Malasaña commemorates the 2 May 1808 uprising against Napoleon's occupation, led by captains Luis Daoíz and Pedro Velarde of the Monteleón artillery barracks. It keeps an arch of the old barracks and a monument to the two officers.
Attraction
Madrid's grand central square, in the heart of Habsburg Madrid, the oldest part of the city. Philip II planned it after moving the court to Madrid in 1561, and it was built under Philip III to a design by Juan Gómez de Mora. Today it has café terraces and long-established shops, and it hosts the city's Christmas market in December.
Attraction
A neoclassical granite gate by Francesco Sabatini, erected in 1778 for Charles III as the main entrance to the city. It stands in Plaza de la Independencia beside El Retiro, has five arches rather than three, and each of its faces is decorated differently.
Attraction
One of Madrid's best-known squares and the starting point of Spain's radial roads: a slab in front of the Casa de Correos marks Kilometre 0. The clock on that building strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, when people across Spain eat 12 grapes. The statue of the bear and the strawberry tree, the city's symbol, is a classic meeting point.
Park
Founded under Charles III beside what is now the Prado and run today by Spain's National Research Council (CSIC), the garden shows some 5,500 species of live plants and keeps a herbarium of over a million specimens. It was declared an Artistic Garden in 1942. Gardens-only entry is €4 and it opens daily from 10:00.
Religious site
Founded in 1611 by Queen Margarita, wife of Philip III, as a convent for cloistered nuns. It is a key example of Habsburg-era architecture and keeps 17th- and 18th-century paintings and sculpture, plus a reliquary of some 700 pieces. Visits are guided only and cost €9; EU and Latin American visitors get in free on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Closed on Mondays.
Religious site
Philip II's monastery, which Patrimonio Nacional calls the monument that best sums up the ideals of Spain's Golden Age, blending Italian and Flemish art forms. Standard tickets are €14; EU and Latin American citizens get free entry on Wednesdays and Sundays from 15:00 with ID. The Basilica needs no ticket. Closed on Mondays except a few holidays, including 12 October.
Attraction
Philip V ordered the palace after the old Alcázar burned in 1734. It was home to Spain's kings from Charles III to Alfonso XIII and remains the royal family's official residence. Visitors enter from the Almudena Cathedral esplanade (Plaza de la Armería). Tickets are €18. On 12 October, the national holiday, it opens only from 17:30.
Attraction
Real Madrid's stadium, opened in 1947, with a capacity of over 80,000. The Tour Bernabéu covers the club museum and trophy collection, panoramic views of the stadium and the changing rooms; the tour entrance is Gate 84 on Avenida de Concha Espina. On match days tours end early and the changing rooms close, so check the fixtures.
Food
Founded in 1725 and recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest restaurant. It fills all four floors of an inn-like building, and its wood-fired oven, the same one since 1725, still roasts suckling pig and lamb in the Castilian style. It appears in works by Galdós and Hemingway. Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Attraction
Madrid's opera house, inaugurated in 1850 near Puerta del Sol. Declared unsafe and closed in 1925, it reopened as a concert hall in 1966 and returned to opera in 1997 after seven years of works. The main hall seats up to 1,958. Self-guided audio tours in Spanish and English cost €10.
Attraction
A 2nd-century BC Egyptian temple that Egypt gave to Madrid after the Aswan Dam threatened it; rebuilt stone by stone near Plaza de España, it opened in 1972. Entry is free but limited to 30 people at a time and 30-minute visits, so booking ahead online is recommended. Closed on Mondays.
Religious site
Toledo's Primate Cathedral, a landmark of European Gothic, holds Narciso Tomé's Transparente, the choir by Berruguete and Vigarny, El Greco's El Expolio and Enrique de Arfe's monstrance. In 2026 it marks 800 years since construction began, with a Jubilee Year. Basic entry is €12; on Sundays visits start at 14:00.
Attraction
Ávila's walls, apparently built during the 12th century, run 2,516 metres around the old city with 87 towers and 9 gates. You can walk about 1,700 metres along the top (the adarve) for €8, free on Tuesdays 14:00–16:00, and the walk around the outer perimeter shows their full scale.