Madrid is home to three of Europe’s most important art museums – the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemisza – all happily located within strolling distance of each other (although only the most fanatical art buff would consider visiting all three in a single day). .... Click Here for More The Puerta del Sol is the crossroads of Madrid, the meeting point of ten major roads and shopping streets. It’s no beauty, but the endless flow of shoppers and commuters give it a certain brash energy. Just a few steps away is the enticing web of streets around the Plaza Santa Ana, which sl .... Click Here for More The Plaza Mayor is the grandest square in all Madrid, completely enclosed, and surrounded by elegant arcades. The Madrileños have all but abandoned it to tourists, but it’s still a handsome spot for a coffee out on the terrace. The area around it is known as Habsburg Madrid, or Madrid .... Click Here for More The traditionally working-class neighbourhoods of La Latina and Lavapiés spread steeply downhill towards the Manzanares River. Known as los barrios bajos they have traditionally been home to Madrid’s poorest workers, smelliest industries and most desperate immigrants. This was where th .... Click Here for More The broad sweep of the Gran Vía was created at the dawn of a new age, wide enough for motor cars and lined with the city’s first skyscrapers and cinemas (many of which preserve the old tradition of using handpainted billboards). Now a busy, traffic-clogged shopping street, it’s lo .... Click Here for More It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in this part of the city; the 19th-century entrepreneurs built their broad avenues and flashy palaces here, and the 20th-century wheeler-dealers added a string of high-tech skyscrapers along the brutal Paseo de Castellano with its constantly whizzing traffic. S .... Click Here for More On a clear day, you can see a huge, pale cross emerging from the backdrop of the mountains north of Madrid. This is the Valle de los Caídos, Franco’s enormous monument to the fallen of the Civil War, which became his tomb and is still a surprisingly popular day trip for los nostál .... Click Here for More Segovia is one of the most captivating cities in central Spain, built of golden stone, capped with a fairy tale castle and set against the dramatic peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama. It’s almost as famous for its sturdy Castillian cuisine – with its legendary speciality of cochinillo ( .... Click Here for More Toledo is an enchanting city of narrow, winding streets, sitting on a hilltop beside the River Tajo. It’s been an important settlement since long before the Romans conquered it in the second century BC, and succeeding waves of conquerors and settlers have all left their mark here. During th .... Click Here for More The austere mountain town of Avila is set on a windswept plateau, surrounded by the chilly granite peaks of the Sierra de Gredos. The reddish-brown tangle of medieval mansions and Romanesque churches is completely enclosed by magnificent medieval walls, studded with towers and crenellations. Thi .... Click Here for More Lush Aranjuez is a rare oasis of green in the sun-baked Castillian plain. There’s another extravagant Bourbon palace, a favourite Royal retreat in summer, but Aranjuez is most famous for the exquisite gardens which stretch for miles and miles, as well as a fascinating Royal barge museum. Th .... Click Here for More Alcalá de Henares claim to fame was its University, which was established by Cardinal Cisneros (confessor to Isabel II) in 1498, and which came to rival even that of Salamanca as the intellectual centre of Spain. Cervantes was born here and Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega and Ignaci .... Click Here for More
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Madrid - £5.99
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