Best things to do in Madrid to make the most of the Spanish capital

Join the throng at Buen Retiro Park

When a Madrid local tells you the greatest thing to do in the city is to go to the park, you might feel slightly underwhelmed – initially. But that’s before you experience Madrid’s particular park culture first-hand. While the city’s main high streets may be busy, they’re nothing compared to its green spaces on one of its plentiful sunny days. One of the largest of these, with its 15,000 trees and, since 2021, UNESCO World Heritage Site status, Buen Retiro Park (‘the park of pleasant retreat’, roughly), is the most popular. The pebbled pathways draw joggers, romantics and business types on lunch. Keep walking past the historic fountains and gardens until you reach the lake and the paddle-boaters doing their best to dodge the swans, and be sure to make time to duck inside its stunning Glass Palace (Palacio de Cristal). Here light beams bounce beautifully from every angle and engaging art shows can be found: on our last visit, crowds swarmed over unusually positioned mirrors to capture selfies while a light layer of smoke wafted up to the sky-high ceilings.

Address: Parque del Buen Retiro, Plaza de la Independencia, 7, 28001 Madrid
Website: esmadrid.com

Have a sherry in one of Ernest Hemingway’s favourite bars

La Venencia and Salmon Guru are said to be Madrid’s two greatest bars, and they couldn’t be more different. The former is a traditional Spanish drinkery specialising in Sherry that has been open since 1922, barely updated  (we think it’s been dusted) and allegedly formerly one of Ernest Hemingway’s preferred haunts. The latter, meanwhile, is a shadowy, hip cocktail bar that opened in 2016 and had quite the queue around the barrio when we last checked it out, one spring Saturday night. The pair share the same neighbourhood, however, just 10 minutes’ walk on from Lavapies and then 30 seconds’ from each other.

Address: La Venencia, Calle de Echegaray, 7, 28014 Madrid; Salmon Guru, Calle de Echegaray, 21, 28014 Madrid
Website: lavenencia.com; salmonguru.es/en