DEPT · DO 🎟️

Things to do

Museums, palaces, parks and the Bernabéu — Madrid's essential list, expanding weekly.

DO · 01

Palacio Real

Europe's largest functioning royal palace by floor area — used for state ceremonies, not as a royal residence.

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DO · 02

Prado Museum

One of the world's great art museums — Velázquez, Goya and Bosch, and genuinely worth a half-day.

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DO · 03

Retiro Park

The city's grandest green space — a rowing lake, the Crystal Palace, and where madrileños actually go to unwind.

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DO · 04

Plaza Mayor

Madrid's grand 17th-century square — worth seeing, but not where you should eat.

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DO · 05

Gran Vía

Madrid's grand early-1900s boulevard, sometimes called the 'Spanish Broadway'.

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DO · 06

Santiago Bernabéu

Real Madrid's home stadium — the tour versus match day, and how to plan around the fixture list.

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DO · 07

Mercado de San Miguel

Madrid's most famous market hall — beautiful, touristed, and worth a visit if you know what to expect.

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DO · 08

Templo de Debod

A genuine 2,200-year-old Egyptian temple, gifted to Spain — and the city's best free sunset spot.

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DO · 09

Reina Sofía Museum

Spain's museum of modern and contemporary art — home to Picasso's Guernica.

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DO · 10

Andén 0 (ghost metro station)

A perfectly preserved 1919 metro station, frozen in time beneath Chamberí — one of Madrid's best small museums.

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DO · 11

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

The third of Madrid's 'Golden Triangle' museums — a private collection spanning seven centuries in one building.

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More Things to do guides go up here every week.

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