Madrid, explained
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Renting a flat in Madrid means signing a contract governed by Spain’s national tenancy law, paying a deposit that is usually lodged with the regional government rather than kept by the landlord, and registering your address with the local council. The process is largely standardised, but the paperwork and the pace of the market differ … Read more
Madrid’s districts differ mainly by three things: distance from the centre, the year most of the housing was built, and how directly they connect to the metro and Cercanías rail network. Central districts are dense, older and expensive; outer districts are larger, newer and cheaper, with living standards that depend heavily on which transport line … Read more
Most of Madrid’s day-trip towns are reached by one of three systems: the Cercanías regional rail network, longer-distance Renfe trains (including the AVE), or intercity coach services from Madrid’s bus stations. Which system applies depends on the town — some have no rail link at all and are bus-only. What is the difference between Cercanías … Read more
Manzanares el Real is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, about 50 kilometres north of the capital, built around a well-preserved 15th-century castle and a reservoir at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama. It functions both as a lived-in town and as the main access point to La Pedriza, a granite mountain area … Read more
Cuenca works well as a day trip if the plan is limited to the old town and its museums — the high-speed train makes it roughly an hour each way from Madrid. It becomes an overnight if the plan includes the Ciudad Encantada, the wider Serranía de Cuenca, or simply seeing the hanging houses lit … Read more
Chinchón is a small town in the Community of Madrid, about 45 kilometres southeast of the capital, built around an irregular, arcaded Plaza Mayor lined with tiered wooden balconies. It is known for that square, for a locally produced anís liquor, for a Goya painting in its parish church, and for a castle that later … Read more
Aranjuez is a town about 47 kilometres south of Madrid, built around a former royal residence and its gardens on the banks of the Tagus river. It functioned as a spring and autumn retreat for the Spanish court from the 16th century onward, and UNESCO has inscribed its palace, town plan and gardens as a … Read more
Alcalá de Henares is a city of around 200,000 people in the eastern part of the Community of Madrid, roughly 35 kilometres from the capital. It is built around one of Europe’s oldest universities and is the recorded birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes. UNESCO lists its university and historic centre as a World Heritage Site. … Read more
Ávila is a small walled city in Castile and León, about 110 km northwest of Madrid, built on a granite outcrop above the Adaja river. Its walls are a largely intact Romanesque fortification from the late 11th and 12th centuries — roughly 2.5 km of stone circuit with dozens of towers, still enclosing the old … Read more
El Escorial is a vast granite monastery-palace built for King Philip II in the second half of the 16th century, about 45 kilometres northwest of Madrid. It combines a working Augustinian monastery, a royal palace, a basilica, a library and a mausoleum where most Spanish monarchs since Charles I are buried. UNESCO lists it as … Read more
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.