The world's oldest restaurant (with a signed Norris McWhirter certificate to prove it) is still coming up with the goods after nearly 300 years. For all its...

The city's most famous market dates back nearly five centuries. Stalls set up from 7am, with the hardcore bargain-hunters arriving soon afterwards. In...

It's smack on the Plaza Mayor, so don't expect any bargains, especially if you sit out in the square, but this Andalucían bar is the real deal, with...

Occupying an immense, slab-sided building, the Reina Sofía boasts an impressive façade with glass and steel lift-shafts, designed by British architect Ian...

Housed in a gigantic neo-classical building begun by Juan de Villanueva for King Charles III in 1785, the Prado is Madrid's best-known attraction. Charles...

A wonderfully old-fashioned ice-cream parlour, with a terrace overlooking the Parque del Oeste. In contrast to its 1950s feel, some of its 40 own-made...

More than 22,000 spectators can catch a bullfight in this, Spain's largest arena, completed in 1929. Like most early 20th-century bullrings, it is in...

The Carboneras nuns make a selection of speciality cakes and biscuits including mantecados, yemas and almond biscuits. As this is a closed convent you buy...

While the traffic speeds by on the Gran Vía outside, the Emperador has to deal with its own constant flow of student groups and tourists. The hotel is well...

This small venue serves as bar, club and live music venue. Tuesday nights are concert nights, and there are late-night jams midweek, but the place really...

This radio and communications tower, at 92m (302ft), provides one of the best views of the whole of the city and the sierras in the distance. Diagrams along...

Madrid's luscious botanical gardens were created for Charles III by Juan de Villanueva and the botanist Gómez Ortega in 1781. They are right alongside the...

When the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum opened in 1992, Madrid added the second point to its 'Golden Triangle'. The private collection of the late Baron...

A tiny, bright and friendly mother-and-son operation, Bodegas Ricla does a great line in garlicky boquerones and an incongruous one in soft rock. Cheap but...