Madrid

Madrid doesn't have a single postcard view, and it doesn't try to. Its pleasures are spread out and easy to miss on a quick visit: the Velázquez rooms at the Prado, a plate of fried squid in a bar near the Plaza Mayor, a Sunday afternoon of rowing boats in Retiro, and streets that are still full at midnight on a weeknight. It is a city to live in for a few days rather than to tick off.

The layout helps. The Royal Palace and the old Habsburg town sit on the west side, the great museums line the Paseo del Prado on the east, and Sol lies between them, about twenty minutes' walk from each. Three or four days is a comfortable first visit, with one more for Toledo or Segovia. Start with our Madrid travel guide.

Madrid-Barajas airport is about twelve kilometres northeast of the centre and linked by Metro, a commuter train and a round-the-clock express bus. High-speed trains arrive at Atocha and Chamartín from across Spain. Our getting there guide explains which option suits which part of the city.

Most first-timers should stay inside the old centre, between the Royal Palace and the Paseo del Prado, so the main sights are on foot. Barrio de las Letras suits museum trips, Malasaña and Chueca suit night owls, and Salamanca is calmer. Our where to stay guide compares them.

The Prado comes first for most visitors, and our museums guide covers it with the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen. The Royal Palace and the old streets around the Plaza Mayor have their own walking guide, and the rest is in our things to do list.

Madrid eats late and in stages: a vermouth before lunch, a long weekday menú del día, then tapas bar to tapas bar at night. Try cocido madrileño, a chickpea and meat stew served in courses, and a bocadillo de calamares, a fried squid sandwich. La Latina's Cava Baja is the classic tapas street. Tipping is small and optional.

Madrid began as Mayrit, a Moorish fortress above the Manzanares river, and a stretch of its ninth-century wall survives below the cathedral. Philip II made it the capital in 1561 for its central position, not its beauty. The Bourbons built the Royal Palace after the old fortress burned in 1734, and the Movida, the cultural burst that followed Franco's death, gave the city its all-night reputation in the 1980s.