There are practically endless cities. The tourists who come to them do not know where to start visiting them or where to end due to the wide tourist offer that these cities offer. Madrid is, without a doubt, one of those cities. Steeped in history and full of places to visit, Madrid is revealed to those who visit it as a place where it is impossible to get bored. In it the leisure offers are endless. Cinemas, theaters, nightclubs, bars, taverns, restaurants ... In Madrid you will find thousands of places to eat, have a drink, savor a cocktail, relax with a coffee or dancing. You will also find endless places to visit. We are going to dedicate this article to them, making for you an exhaustive list of tourist places in Madrid.
The Madrid of the Asturias
The Madrid that existed at the time when the Habsburg dynasty (or Habsburg) reigned in Spain is known by the name of Madrid de los Austrias. This dynasty began with Carlos I. This monarch, the initiator of the dynasty, enriched the town of Madrid with palaces and monuments. When his son, Felipe II, made it the capital of Spain, Madrid received the accolade it needed to set itself with buildings, first Renaissance and later Baroque. Many of these buildings still survive and give this tourist area of Madrid a picturesque and markedly Madrid air.
Wandering aimlessly through Madrid de los Austrias is one of the best things anyone visiting Madrid can do. In it, apart from popular and flavorful corners such as the Plaza de la Villa (former seat of the City Council) or the San Miguel market (an ideal place to have an aperitif or a snack) you can visit four of the tourist spots most important places in Madrid: the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, the Almudena Cathedral and the Puerta del Sol. We will talk about these four places below.
Main Square
The Plaza Mayor in Madrid is, without a doubt, one of those places that you can never miss in a Madrid tourist guide. The nerve center of Madrid, the Plaza Mayor is a typically Castilian square. Rectangular and with porticoes, it is 129 meters long and 94 wide. It is therefore bigger than a football field. Completely enclosed by buildings of three floors and with nine pu
There are 237 balconies (nothing more and nothing less) that overlook this square, in the center of which you can see an equestrian statue of King Felipe III. Under the arches of the square, the visitor will be able to find numerous hospitality shops (bars, bars and restaurants), as well as collectibles stores, especially numismatics and philately.Royal Palace
Also called the Palacio de Oriente, the Royal Palace of Madrid was, for a long time, the official residence of the King of Spain. After the end of the dictatorship of General Franco and the restoration of the monarchy in Spain, the Spanish monarchs effectively reside in the Palacio de la Zarzuela, on the outskirts of Madrid, with the Royal Palace reserved for state ceremonies.
The last monarch who effectively resided in this place to visit in Madrid was Alfonso XIII. After him, for a time and as Head of State, Manuel Azaña, president of the Second Spanish Republic, resided there. During the time of the republican regime, this place was called the National Palace.
Built in the 18th century by order of King Felipe V, this palace is one of the largest in the world, housing an important historical and artistic heritage. In this Madrid palace we can find paintings by artists of the stature of Goya, Velázquez or Caravaggio, as well as the remarkable collections of watches, porcelain, silverware and furniture. The Royal Armory is also very remarkable.
Almudena Cathedral
Located in front of the Royal Palace, we find another of the inescapable tourist spots in Madrid: the Almudena Cathedral. This great Madrid temple was built between the end of the 19th century and the end of the 20th century. The architect who made the first plans (and who is buried in the cathedral) was Francisco de Cubas. He was responsible for introducing a neo-Romanesque crippe into the design of this cathedral in Madrid, as well as elements taken from several French cathedrals. It is these elements that, together with the neo-Romanesque and neoclassical elements, give the Madrid cathedral, in some respects, a neo-Gothic air.
The temple was conceived as a votive temple (that is, it was going to be built thanks to popular contributions). This, and the outbreak of the civil war, caused its construction to be delayed in time. The works were restarted in 1950 and, finally, the temple was completed in 1993. That same year, Pope John Paul II, on his fourth visit to Spain, consecrated it.
The Almudena Cathedral is, without any doubt, another of the places to visit in Madrid de los Austrias.
Sun Gate
If there is a nerve center in the capital of Spain, that is undoubtedly Puerta del Sol. No one who visits the capital can miss this tourist spot in Madrid. Kilometer zero of all the Spanish radial roads that converge in Madrid, some of the most important shopping streets of the city start from Puerta del Sol.
In the Puerta del Sol is the headquarters of the Autonomous Community and one of the icons of the capital: the statue dedicated to the Bear and the Strawberry Tree, two of the elements that appear on the city's coat of arms.
Museum mile in Madrid
Madrid is one of the great cultural capitals of Europe. Its museums prove it. It would be enough to have only the Prado Museum to appear in that exclusive list of the most important cultural capitals of the Old Continent and, therefore, of the world. But Madrid, on a museum level, has something more than the always insurmountable Prado Museum. Along with it, the Thyssen Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum make up what is called the Madrid Museum Mile, undoubtedly one of the most important tourist areas in the capital of Spain. Along with them, the Casa de Sorolla or the National Library, both outside said mile, are also some of the cultural sites to visit in Madrid. Let's take a look at each of them.
Prado Museum
To speak of this museum is to speak, plain and simple, of one of the most important art galleries in the world. His collection of European painting is certainly unmatched. It is enough to mention the names of the painters whose main works are collected in this museum in Madrid. To speak of Velázquez, El Greco, Titian, Goya, El Bosco, Rubens, is to speak of some of the best painters in history. And all of them have a large representation of works in this gallery.
Whoever visits Madrid and does not enter the Prado Museum is committing a capital sin.
Reina Sofía Art Center
Near the Prado Museum is the one that figures in statistics as the most visited museum in all of Spain: the Reina Sofía Art Center. This, without a doubt, is one of the essential places to visit in Madrid. His collection of 20th century and contemporary art is certainly impressive. The most important Spanish painters of the 20th century, from Picasso to Dalí passing through Joan Miró, have works on display here. One of them, world famous, deserves a visit to this museum in Madrid by itself. We are talking about Pablo Ruiz's famous Guernica 'Picasso'.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Also on the so-called museum mile, a stone's throw from the CaixaForum and the Reina Sofía Art Center, is the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum. The Thyssen, like the Prado or the Reina Sofía, deserves a visit to Madrid in itself.
The impressive artistic collection of this museum in Madrid houses more than 1,000 works of art and in it we find represented European works dating from the Middle Ages to the end of the 20th century. In the permanent collection of the Thyssen Museum we can find works from the German Renaissance, early Italian painters, German Impressionism and Expressionism, Russian Constructivism, and 19th-century American painting. The avant-gardes of the twentieth century are perfectly represented in this museum that serves to learn about the history of painting and that is, without a doubt, one of the places to visit in Madrid.
Other museums in Madrid
Beyond the three totem poles of the museum mile in Madrid, those who visit the capital of Spain can also enjoy two highly recommended visits. The first one is at the Sorolla Museum. The second, to the National Library.
The Sorolla Museum is not among the most renowned tourist spots in Madrid, but those who visit the city and love art should visit it. Joaquín Sorolla is one of the most identifiable and personal Spanish painters and this museum houses a beautiful collection of paintings signed by the famous Valencian painter. This museum is located at number 37, Calle General Martínez Campos, in the Chamberí neighborhood, in a mansion that served as a workshop and home for the painter himself.
For its part, the National Library organizes for its visitors some very interesting guided tours that allow you to visit both the library museum and some other areas of a building in which, above all, culture is breathed.
Located in the Paseo de Recoletos, next to the Plaza de Colón, the National Library of Spain was founded by King Felipe V in 1711. In this building, opened in 1896, a valuable collection of incunabula, manuscripts, drawings, photographs is preserved , prints, sound recordings, maps, scores, etc. There is also a copy of all the books published in Spain.
All this heritage is disseminated through the catalog of the National Library. Its services to the public include access to consultation rooms (provided that you have a reader or researcher card) and remote services.
The National Library of Spain also houses the National Newspaper Library and has its second headquarters in Alcalá de Henares. For book lovers, this place is undoubtedly one of the cultural sites to visit in Madrid.
Places to walk in Madrid
A city with a tourist attraction is not only a city that has a long list of museums, temples or palaces to visit. A city with a tourist attraction must also have places to walk and relax. Madrid, a city full of tourist potential, has a good handful of places like this. Next we are going to show you some of those tourist places to walk in Madrid.
Retirement
To speak of a park in Madrid is to speak of the Parque del Buen Retiro or, as the people of Madrid say, the Retiro simply. This is one of the main tourist attractions in Madrid. Built in the first half of the seventeenth century, it has been used as an urban park since 1767. It was in that year that King Carlos III allowed the people of the "town" to enter it. Until that moment, what would be the current Retiro was a territory of real property. In 1868, the lands of this famous Madrid park became municipal property.
El Retiro has an area of 118 hectares and a total perimeter of 4.5 km. Inside there are about 20,000 different trees and more than 150 species are represented.
If someone visiting Madrid wants to relax while walking, the Retiro is undoubtedly an ideal place for it. Inside it you can find a good handful of beautiful corners. One of them, a must-see, is the Crystal Palace. Another, the sculpture dedicated to the Fallen Angel. Beyond its expressive beauty, this sculpture has a special relevance for being one of the few sculptures dedicated to Lucifer in the entire world.
The Capricho Park
Much less known than the Retiro, the Parque del Capricho is one of the best tourist places to walk in Madrid. Located in Alameda de Osuna, it was created by the Dukes of the same name. The visitor who comes to it will be able to find not only a large number of plant species that attest to the botanical wealth of this park. You will also find shrines, hermitages, fountains, ponds, the palace of the dukes and even a bunker from the Spanish Civil War.
Created by the most important gardeners and landscapers of the time, this Madrid tourist corner offers visitors three clearly differentiated styles of garden: the French garden (or parterre), the English garden and the Italian giardino. The result of this mixture is that of a beautiful natural space that, in its entrails, keeps a vegetal labyrinth made with laurel.
The Campo del Moro
The Campo del Moro, located at the back of the Royal Palace, is one of the privileged places to walk through Madrid. From here you can see wonderful views of both the Royal Palace and other areas near it. The garden is so called because at the beginning of the 12th century the troops of a Muslim leader camped here to try to reconquer Madrid after the death of King Alfonso VI.
To enter it you have to do it on the Manzanares side, along the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto. Among its vegetation it is easy to see paisanes and peacocks, which give color to this beautiful place to walk in Madrid.
The creation of this English-style garden was the idea of Queen Maria Cristina in the 19th century. With its creation, both the people of Madrid and those who visit the capital can enjoy a wonderful view of the Royal Palace, which stands, in the heights, cut out on a green tapestry dotted with monumental fountains. Among all of them we can highlight two, of neoclassical inspiration, the Fountain of the Shells and the Fountain of the Tritons.
The Temple of Debod
Another ideal tourist place to walk through Madrid is the space that surrounds the Temple of Debod. With an antiquity of 2,200 years, this temple was donated by the Egyptian government to the city of Madrid in 1968. Installed near the Plaza de España, in the Parque del Cuartel de la Montaña (named in memory of a barracks that was installed in this same place and which was attacked during the Spanish Civil War), this temple was saved from being flooded by the waters of the Nile after the construction of the Aswan dam.
Rebuilt stone by stone in Spain, it was opened to the public in 1972. When it was located in Madrid, it was ensured that this Madrid Egyptian temple was located maintaining its original orientation, typical of the temples of its country of origin. Thus, the Temple of Debod is oriented from East to West.
This tourist place in Madrid, in addition to its historical significance, is famous because from the place where it is located you can see what, they say, are the best sunsets in Madrid-
Other places to visit in Madrid
As we have pointed out at the beginning of this article, there are many places with tourist attraction in Madrid. Here we have told you about some of the most important, but there is more. We could tell you, for example, about the famous Gran Vía, full of shops, theaters, cinemas, hotels and restaurants. Or the well-known Puerta de Alcalà, which came to give title, at the time, to a famous song and which is located in the same place where one of the old five royal doors that gave access to the city was. Or some of the most famous churches in Madrid, such as the Basilica of San Antonio el Grande, the Church of San Jerónimo el Real, the Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida (in which Goya is buried) or San Antonio de the Germans, with their impressive frescoes, which make it popularly known as "the Sistine Chapel of Madrid".
We can tell you about all those places but also about Casa de Campo and its cable car. Or the many restaurants in which to enjoy the gastronomy of the city and the country. Or the pleasure of browsing the Rastro, of dropping by the Matadero markets, of strolling through Madrid Río, of entering the Palacio de Cibeles or of contemplating the rooftops of Madrid from the rooftop of the Círculo de Bellas Artes. Maybe we will do it at another time. Maybe we will tell you about one of those places on another occasion. Now what we want to highlight is that it is always a good time to visit Madrid and enjoy its many tourist charms. And that you do it as soon as you can. You will not regret.