48 Hours In Madrid

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

Madrid's climate is extreme, leading to the adage "tres meses de infierno, nueve meses de invierno" ("three months of hell, nine months of winter"). The best time to go is in the short autumn, when you can enjoy the many outdoor attractions this characterful, bustling, self-important city has to offer, as well as its three superb art museums.

TOUCH DOWN

British Airways (0870 850 9850; www.ba.com) flies from Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester; BMI (0870 60 70 555; www.flybmi.com) from Heathrow; easyJet (0871 750 0100; www.easyjet.com) from Luton, Gatwick and Liverpool; and Iberia (0845 601 2854, www.iberia.com) from Heathrow. Madrid's modern airport, Barajas, is on the north-eastern edge of the city's efficient metro, just over half an hour from the centre. A single ticket costs €1.15 (80p); one for ten journeys is €5.35 (£3.80).

GET YOUR BEARINGS

Puerta del Sol is the spiritual centre of Madrid and thus the heart of Spain. There, on a proud bronze horse, sits a statue of Carlos III. To his left, down Calle San Jeronimo, is the magnificent Prado Museum, and behind that the city's great Retiro park. To his right, down Calle Arenal, is the Palacio Real, the traditional home of the Spanish monarchy, and beyond that the huge Casa de Campo park over the river Manzanares. In front of him is the magnificent Plaza Mayor, containing the city's main tourist office (00 34 91 588 1636; www.munimadrid.es). Behind him, across the bustling Gran Via, is the trendy district of Chueca, currently in favour with the city's many clubbers.

CHECK IN

Top of the range is the five-star Palace Hotel at Plaza de las Cortes 7 (00 34 91 360 8000; www.palacemadrid.com), where a double with breakfast costs €251 (£179). If you can't afford it, you might be able to stretch to a cocktail (€10/£7) in the splendid main bar under a magnificent glass-domed ceiling. Spain's latest hotel chain, the three/four-star Petit Palace/High Tech franchise, seems to sprout a new hotel every month in central Madrid. Its speciality is renting buildings that formerly housed several down-at-heel hostels, and turning them into comfortable mid-range hotels. The Petit Palace Londres at Calle Galdo, 2 (00 34 91 531 4105; www.hthotels.com) has doubles with breakfast from €91/£65. Finding budget accommodation can be a hit-and-miss experience. La Selecta at Gran Via 15 (00 34 91 531 0158) has doubles for €47 (£34); it is clean and the couple who run it are very friendly.

TAKE A HIKE

It takes 30 minutes to walk across the city centre from the emblematic Plaza de Cibeles, where Madrilenos celebrate Real Madrid's footballing triumphs, to the Palacio Real, a vast monument to the Spanish royal family's wealth. Take a right off Calle Alcala onto Gran Via, lined by splendid neo-Classical palaces whose ground floors have been converted into swanky shops and cinemas. When you reach metro Callao, duck left into the pedestrianised Calle Preciados, where the rumble of traffic is replaced by the babble of shoppers. This leads you into Puerta del Sol. Calle Mayor takes you into Plaza Mayor, a symmetrical square full of pigeons, whose main building, an old bakery, is decorated with frescoes of naked nymphs and classical gods. Walk past Iglesia de San Gines to Calle Arenal. This runs past the Teatro Real to the bar-lined Plaza de Oriente, gateway to the Palacio Real, a reminder of former Spanish colonial glory.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Calle Fuencarral, a hotchpotch of boutiques and off-the-rack clothes shops between metros Gran Via and Tribunal, is where Madrid's young and trendy go to achieve their understated look: tight colourful T-shirts, low-slung jeans and interesting trainers. The three-storey Mercado Fuencarral at number 45 (open 11am-9pm daily except Sunday) is the epicentre of the city's thriving sartorial consumerism.

LUNCH ON THE RUN

All but the highest-category Madrid restaurants are legally obliged to offer a fixed menu (menu del dia) between 1pm and 4pm, usually offering a starter, main, dessert and drink. La Cueva del Gato at Calle Moratin 19 (00 34 91 360 0943; open 11.30am-4.30pm, 7.30pm-midnight Monday-Saturday) displays oil paintings for sale and offers an imaginative choice for €10 (£7). For a quick tapas fix try the classy Casa Antonio at Calle Latoneros 10 (00 34 91 366 6336, open noon-3.30pm, 8pm-midnight).

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

The Prado Museum on Paseo del Prado (00 34 91 330 2800; museoprado. mcu.es, open Tuesday-Sunday, 9am-7pm, €3/£2.10), with its large collections of Velazquez and Goya's works, enjoys an excellent reputation, but Madrid boasts two more fabulous galleries. The Reina Sofia on Calle Santa Isabel (00 34 91 467 5062; museoreinasofia. mcu.es; open Monday and Wednesday-Saturday 10am-9pm, Sunday 10am-2.30pm; €3/£2.10) specialises in 20th-century Spanish works, including masterpieces by Picasso (whose haunting Guernica is the museum's main attraction) Dali and Miro. The Thyssen-Bornemisza museum at Paseo del Prado 8 (00 34 91 420 3944; www.museothyssen.org; open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-7pm; €6/£4.30) displays an eclectic collection, from 14th-century religious art to 20th-century abstractions.

AN APERITIF

Plaza Santa Ana, a large square full of bars and home to the neo-Classical Teatro Espanol, is where Madrilenos go to sip a fino seco de Jerez (dry sherry) or cana (small beer).

DINING WITH THE LOCALS

Do not dine before 10pm, unless you want to eat alone. The Plaza Mayor area is the best place to try traditional Madrileno food: in the Restaurante Botin at Calle Cuchilleros 17 (00 34 91 366 4217; www.botin.es) the same wood-fired oven in has been cooking cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig; €17.95/£13) for nearly 300 years. A notice on the wall from the Guinness Book of Records declares it to be the world's oldest restaurant. Ask for a table abajo (below) in the atmospheric red-brick cellars. For something a little different try a slice of pizza (€2.50/£1.80) in the Argentinian-run Pizzeria Mastropiero, San Vicente Ferrer, 34, (open 9.30pm-1.30am, 2.30am Friday, Saturday) a tiny place covered in anti-establishment posters.

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

The well-attended Nuestra Senora del Carmen, Calle Carmen, offers frequent services in its beautiful single-nave interior (hourly from 9am to midday), lined with sturdy Corinthian columns.

TAKE A RIDE

The tiny six-capacity cable cars of the Teleferico, Paseo del Pintor Rosales (00 34 91 541 7450; open noon-8.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays; €4.20/£3 return) offer great views of Madrid, from the Parque de Oueste across the Manzanares valley.

OUT TO BRUNCH

Try a plate of paella (€8/£5.70) in the Bar Angel Sierra, Plaza de Chueca (00 34 91 531 0126, open 11am-2pm) a dark but atmospheric local favourite. The back bar is set off by giant wine barrels, a wall-sized azulejo picture of a jester playing cards with a monk and dusty bottles in shelves above your head. For those who can stomach stomach, callos con garbanzo (tripe and chickpeas, €8/£5.70) is a real treat.

A WALK IN THE PARK

The great Retiro park, "the lungs of the city", is coveted by hemmed-in residents, and on early Sunday afternoons fills with a gaggle of locals, from families to skateboarders, joggers to young lovers. The latter often head for the rowing boats in the enormous estanque (pond) dominated by a vast monument to Alfonso XII.

WRITE A POSTCARD

Nestling into the side of the imposing Palacio Real are the Jardines de Sabatini, a calm oasis of pine trees, ponds, and fountains, a perfect spot to collect your Madrid-jumbled thoughts.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

The Rastro market which takes over Calle Ribera de Curtidores and adjacent streets every Sunday morning, from 10am-2pm, is a must. There is everything here from hip T-shirts to second-hand false teeth. It gets crowded after midday and is a duck-shoot for pickpockets, so go early and keep your cash in a deep pocket. They say if you fail to greet the statue of Eloy Gonzalo in Plaza Cascorro when you arrive, you will leave the market empty-handed, though unless you have a will of iron this is highly unlikely.