Madrid
Velázquez and Goya along the Paseo del Prado, a royal palace of three thousand rooms, seven tables with two or three MICHELIN stars, and a general aviation terminal a quarter of an hour from the centre.
- Arrival
- Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas · MAD
- To the city
- About 15 to 20 minutes to the centre by car
- Private jets
- General aviation terminal at Barajas
- Best time
- April to June · September to October
The city
Paintings, palaces and late tables.
Madrid's great sights sit close together. The Prado, open since 1819, holds Las Meninas, and Goya is its most represented painter; the Retiro spreads out behind it, and the Royal Palace stands to the west of the old centre. North of the park lies the Salamanca district, with the Castellana running through the city beyond it.
One kitchen holds three MICHELIN stars and six hold two, from the Ritz on the Plaza de la Lealtad to the Real Casino on the Calle de Alcalá. Come in spring or autumn; July and August bring highs of 32 °C.
Arriving
One airport for every arrival.
Barajas lies about thirteen kilometres north-east of the Puerta del Sol and is the only Madrid airport that takes business aviation.
- Nice 1 h 35
- Marrakech 1 h 45
- Stockholm 3 h 45
- Doha 7 h 15 long-range jet
- Johannesburg 10 h 45 long-range jet
When to go
April to June, and September to October.
A dry plateau climate, hot in high summer and cool in winter. April to June and September to October are mild, between 18 and 28 °C, with little rain. July and August reach 32 °C.
- 10° J 45
- 12° F 44
- 15° M 36
- 18° A 45
- 22° M 42
- 28° J 28
- 32° J 11
- 32° A 12
- 27° S 27
- 20° O 48
- 14° N 55
- 10° D 47
What to see and do
Days in and around Madrid.
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Landmark
Museo del Prado
Velázquez, Goya and Bosch on the Paseo del Prado, with The Garden of Earthly Delights among them.
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Landmark
Royal Palace
More than three thousand rooms, still used by the Crown for state ceremonies and open on other days.
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Landmark
El Retiro
A park of some 140 hectares with a boating lake and a glass palace of 1887, listed by UNESCO with the Paseo del Prado.
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Opera & music
Teatro Real
King Felipe VI attended the opening of the 2026 to 2027 season at Madrid's opera house, with Puccini's Manon Lescaut.
Official site -
Culture
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Seven centuries of European painting fill this museum on Madrid's Paseo del Arte.
Official site -
Culture
Museo Reina Sofía
Picasso's Guernica hangs here alongside works by Dalí and Miró and a large collection of contemporary art.
Official site -
Racing & sport
Hipódromo de la Zarzuela
Flat racing returns each autumn to this 1940s racecourse, with 13 race days in 2026 ending on 29 November.
Official site -
Culture
Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial
Philip II built this monastery and palace in the 16th century; visits take in the basilica, the Pantheon of Kings and the frescoed library.
Official site -
Nature
Peñalara, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park
Starting at Puerto de Cotos, a circular route of about 14 km passes glacial lagoons below the 2,428 m summit of Peñalara.
Official site
On the calendar
Dates to plan around.
Dates as published by the organisers. Runways, hotels and slots fill early around these weeks: the sooner we know, the more choice you have.
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19 Apr – 2 May 2027
Tennis
Madrid Open
Combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 clay court tournament held at the Caja Mágica in Madrid.
Caja Mágica
In 6 months
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5 Jun 2027
Football
UEFA Champions League Final
The final of Europe's leading club football competition, played at Atlético de Madrid's home stadium after the venue was moved from Milan.
Estadio Metropolitano
In 7 months
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10–12 Sep 2027
Formula 1
Spanish Grand Prix
Round 15 of the 24-round 2027 Formula 1 World Championship, held at Madring.
Madring
In 10 months
Where to stay
Belle Époque, palaces and the Castellana.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid Opened in 1910 by César Ritz at the urging of Alfonso XIII, a step from the Prado, and the only hotel in the city with three MICHELIN Keys.
- Four Seasons Hotel Madrid The first Four Seasons in Madrid, with two hundred rooms in the Canalejas complex near the Puerta del Sol.
- Rosewood Villa Magna A granite building on the Castellana with private gardens and some four hundred works of art.
- Gran Meliá Palacio de los Duques A nineteenth-century palace by the Opera, with a rooftop pool that looks across to the Royal Palace.
- Único Madrid Forty-four rooms with tall ceilings behind a nineteenth-century façade, and a garden set back from the shopping streets.
- URSO Hotel & Spa An early twentieth-century building that kept its original lift, marble staircase and stained glass.
- Brach Madrid A Gran Vía address with interiors designed by Philippe Starck.
- Heritage Madrid A five-star hotel whose restaurant is in the hands of the chef Mario Sandoval.
- The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Madrid Open since 1912, with 470 rooms and a glass and wrought-iron dome made by the Maumejean workshop.
- Santo Mauro, a Luxury Collection Hotel Forty-nine rooms in the former residence of the Duke of Santo Mauro, whose library is now the restaurant.
- Gran Hotel Inglés On the Calle Echegaray since 1886, now with 48 rooms decorated in the style of the 1920s.
- The Madrid EDITION Entered through a baroque portico of 1733 attributed to Pedro de Ribera; the pool and the Oroya restaurant share the fourth floor.
- Bless Hotel Madrid Forbes Travel Guide gave it five stars in 2023; it has 111 rooms and a lounge on the roof.
- Mercer Hotel Madrid Sixty-one rooms in the building of 1905 that was the headquarters of the Spanish sugar industry.
- Hotel Orfila A nineteenth-century mansion with its hall and staircases kept as built, and a member of Relais & Châteaux.
- Hotel Urban Opened in 2004, it hangs art from New Guinea, Egypt and Asia in its rooms and corridors.
- Hospes Puerta de Alcalá The house of General Prim's widow, built in 1883, facing the Puerta de Alcalá.
- Hotel Palacio del Retiro, Autograph Collection An early twentieth-century mansion across the street from the Retiro, with views over the park.
- Hotel Fénix Gran Meliá The Beatles stayed here in 1965, the year of their only concert in Madrid.
- Wellington Hotel & Spa On the Calle de Velázquez, with Ricardo Sanz Wellington, a restaurant with one MICHELIN star.
Where to dine
One three-star kitchen and six with two.
From the MICHELIN Guide 2026, shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these restaurants.
- DiverXO Three Michelin stars Creative €€€€ NH Collection Eurobuilding, Padre Damián
- Coque Two Michelin stars Creative €€€€ Marqués de Riscal
- Deessa Two Michelin stars Creative €€€€ Mandarin Oriental Ritz
- DSTAgE Two Michelin stars Creative €€€€ Calle Regueros
- Paco Roncero Two Michelin stars Creative €€€€ Real Casino de Madrid, Alcalá
- Ramón Freixa Atelier Two Michelin stars Creative €€€€ Calle Velázquez, Salamanca
- Smoked Room Two Michelin stars Contemporary €€€€ Hyatt Regency Hesperia, Castellana
- El Invernadero One Michelin star Vegetarian €€€€ Calle Ponzano
- Corral de la Morería Gastronómico One Michelin star Modern €€€€ Calle Morería
Elsewhere in Spain
More reasons to come.
- Barcelona Gaudí, the old town and the city beaches.
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Marbella
The old town, the Golden Mile and Puerto Banús, under La Concha.
- Ibiza Coves and the old town by day, the island's clubs by night.
- Palma de Mallorca A cathedral city on its bay, with the coves of Mallorca all around.
- Seville Moorish palaces, orange trees and flamenco in the capital of Andalusia.
- Málaga Picasso's birthplace, and the airport of the whole Costa del Sol.
- Valencia The City of Arts and Sciences, the old silk exchange, and paella at its source.
- San Sebastián La Concha bay, and one of the great food cities of Europe.
- Bilbao The Guggenheim on the river, and the Basque coast beyond.
Flying to Madrid?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.