The Plaza Mayor in central Madrid: the enclosed square with its arcaded red and ochre facades on all four sides, the Casa de la Panadería and its clock tower, the equestrian statue of Philip III at the centre, and people crossing the open paving under a bright sky.

Where, and what you need to know there

A place name is useless on its own. So is an answer.

Knowing that Centro is the old city helps nobody who does not know what shuts there on a Monday. Knowing the fare system helps nobody who cannot picture the distances. So everything here carries both — the place, and the question that place actually raises.

We write what is checkable and we say who says what is claimed. We have not visited the places described here, and we do not publish invented “local favourites”.

Hero photograph by Nemo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Everything, by subject

Where things live

The Alcázar of Segovia on its rock, an easy day trip by railDay TripsToledo, Segovia, El Escorial and the rest.The central alley of the Mercado de San Miguel, stalls on both sidesFood & MarketsMarket halls, dishes, and what a tapa is.A Madrid Metro train at the platform at Callao stationGetting AroundZones, cards, Cercanías and the airport.The Real Casa de Correos and its clock tower on Puerta del SolItineraries & Day PlansSensible orders for one, two or three days.The Edificio Metrópolis lit at dusk on the corner of Gran VíaLandmarks & SightsWhat was built, when, and what for.A brick apartment building with iron balconies in Barrio de SalamancaLiving in MadridThe city from the resident’s side.The entrance and forecourt of the Museo Reina Sofía in MadridMuseums & GalleriesWhat each collection holds, and how it is arranged.Plaza de Olavide, a residential square ringed by apartment blocksNeighbourhoodsWhere each barrio sits, and how it formed.The Palacio de Cristal beside its lake in the Parque del RetiroParks & OutdoorsRetiro, Casa de Campo and the sierra.Gran Vía seen from above, curving between its tall facadesPlanning & PracticalitiesThe rhythm of the day and the year.

The weld

Six places, and the question each one raises

Every card is one object: what the place is, the thing a reader standing in it wants to know, the durable answer, and where that answer comes from.

Calle Mayor in the old centre of Madrid, looking along the street
01CentroSol, Plaza Mayor and the Austrias core — the oldest street plan.
Why is half of it shut today?

Most national museums take one weekly closing day, commonly Monday. Two of the three Golden Triangle museums are affected at once.

each museum’s opening information
Read more →
The tree-lined walk and formal planting of the Paseo del Prado
02Paseo del PradoThe boulevard holding the three great collections, minutes apart.
Can I do all three in a day?

They are close enough to walk between, but the Prado alone holds roughly 7,600 paintings. Proximity is not the constraint; attention is.

the museums’ own published figures
Read more →
The boating lake in the Parque del Retiro with its colonnade behind
03RetiroThe park and the streets east of the Paseo, a royal garden opened in 1868.
Is it worth a whole morning?

It is large enough to hold a lake, a glass pavilion and formal gardens, and free to enter. The constraint is heat, not admission.

the city council’s park information
Read more →
The dome of the Iglesia de San Andrés above La Latina
04La LatinaThe medieval quarter on the slope down to the river.
What actually happens on Sunday?

El Rastro spreads through the streets here. It is a recurring weekly market rather than an event with dates, so the pattern holds even when specifics change.

the market’s long-documented pattern
Read more →
The bamboo roof and coloured columns of Barajas Terminal 4
05BarajasThe airport district, north-east and on the network.
How do I get in from the airport?

The airport is on the Metro with a supplement, and also on Cercanías. It is a normal urban journey rather than an expedition.

Metro de Madrid and Renfe Cercanías
Read more →
The monastery of El Escorial seen from the road below it
06Beyond the cityToledo, Segovia, El Escorial and Ávila, within reach by rail.
Day trip, or overnight?

Close enough by rail to be a day trip; dense enough that plenty of people regret treating them as one. Both are defensible.

Renfe published journey times
Read more →

The ledger

What the site says, and who says it

A fact without a source is just a confident sentence, so the claim and its provenance sit side by side.

The Prado holds roughly 7,600 paintings, of which a fraction hang at any one time.Museums & Galleries
Where this comes fromthe museum’s own published figures
Guernica is at the Reina Sofía, not the Prado.Museums & Galleries
Where this comes fromthe Reina Sofía’s collection record
The three Golden Triangle museums sit within a few minutes’ walk of each other.Museums & Galleries
Where this comes fromtheir published addresses
Matadero was a municipal slaughterhouse before it was an arts centre.Landmarks & Sights
Where this comes fromthe city’s own account of the site

The standing rules

What we can tell you, and what we will not

The third column is the unusual one. Most guides quietly fill it in and hope you do not check.

Subject
What we can tell you
What we will not
Transport
Zone-based fares on a rechargeable card
The exact fare — check the operator
Museums
Most national museums close one weekday
Which day, per museum — it varies
Free entry
National museums run free-entry windows
The window — it differs and changes
Meals
Lunch is the main meal, eaten late
A restaurant recommendation from us
Airport
On both Metro and Cercanías
The current supplement or ticket price
August
The city empties and much of it shuts
Which specific places — check

Recently

Newest writing

The method, stated first

How we know what we publish

Most guides put this in an About page nobody reads, if they state it at all. It is near the top of this one, because it is the whole difference.

01Checkable, or not written

Every statement here is something that can be verified from a published source: what a collection holds, when a building went up, how a fare system is structured. If it cannot be checked, it does not go on the page.

02Attributed, not asserted

Where something is singled out as notable, the source is named — a museum’s own catalogue, a UNESCO inscription, an operator’s published information. You get the claim and its provenance together, and can weigh both.

03Perishable detail flagged, never faked

Fares, hours and closures change constantly. We write the durable shape of a system and point you at the operator for the number that is true today, rather than printing one that will quietly rot.

Where this site stops

We explain what Madrid contains and how it works. We are not a travel agency, we have not been to these places, and we will not pretend otherwise.

  • No invented places, and no invented detail about real onesWe will not name a restaurant we are not certain exists, and we will never describe what being somewhere is like. That is the line the whole genre crosses.
  • No personal recommendations — only sourced onesWhere something is singled out as notable we say who says so: a Michelin listing, a UNESCO inscription, a museum’s own catalogue, an official tourism body.
  • No dated event listingsThey are wrong within a week and we cannot maintain them. We write what recurs and roughly when, and tell you to check the current dates yourself.
  • No fares, prices or opening times as factThey change constantly. We explain the shape of a system and send you to the operator for the number that is true today.

About what you read here. Access Madrid is an independent guide written from published, checkable sources — museum and transport operators’ own information, official city and tourism data, and the public record. We have not visited the places we write about, and we do not publish personal recommendations or invented “local favourites”. Where we point to something notable we say who says so.

Opening times, fares, closures and prices change, often at short notice. Everything here is a starting point, not a booking confirmation — always check the venue’s or operator’s own site before you build a day around it. We are not a travel agency and we give no advice on visas, insurance, health or safety requirements; for those, use your own government’s official guidance.