In short
Madrid sits at six hundred and fifty metres, which explains its cold winters and burning summers — it is the highest capital in continental Europe.
Sol and Austrias form the historic centre. Malasaña and Chueca are the young, late-night quarters. La Latina lives around its tapas bars, especially on Sundays. Salamanca is well-heeled and commercial. Lavapiés is the most multicultural. Retiro, around the park, is residential and quiet.
The museum triangle — Prado, Reina Sofía, Thyssen — fits within a ten-minute walk.
Arriving and getting around
The métro links Barajas to the centre, but an airport supplement is added to the ordinary ticket. The Exprés 203 shuttle runs twenty-four hours a day to Atocha.
Two main stations: Atocha for the south and the AVE to Seville, Chamartín for the north. Many trains call at one without serving the other.
The métro is dense, cheap and open until half past one in the morning.
What it really costs
Madrid is cheaper than Barcelona for housing and for eating out.
The weekday menú del día remains one of the best deals in Europe. And in some bars, notably in La Latina, a tapa still comes with the drink at no extra cost.
When to come
April–June and September–October. Summer regularly passes forty degrees and the city empties in August, with many businesses closing for weeks.
Winter is cold and dry, with sub-zero nights, which surprises anyone imagining Spain uniformly mild.
What nobody tells you
The Prado is free at the end of the day — the last hours on weekdays and on Sundays — and the Reina Sofía runs something comparable. The queue forms an hour before the free window opens.
Madrid hours are late even by Spanish standards: dinner at ten, and the bars fill at midnight.
The Retiro and the Palacio de Cristal are free, and the park has been World Heritage listed along with the Paseo del Prado since 2021.
