Madrid in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Madrid covers 45 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Madrid rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Prado Museum: Spain's national art museum and one of the world's greatest, home to Velázquez's Las Meninas, Goya's Black Paintings, and masterpieces by El Greco, Bosch, and Titian.
2. Royal Palace of Madrid: The largest royal palace in Western Europe with 3,418 rooms, official residence of Spain's monarchy used for state ceremonies, housing treasures by Caravaggio, Velázquez, and Stradivarius.
3. Reina Sofía Museum: Spain's national museum of modern art, home to Picasso's Guernica, Dalí, and Miró, housed in a converted 18th-century hospital with a striking modern extension by Jean Nouvel.
4. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: The third pillar of Madrid's Golden Triangle of Art, housing one of the greatest private art collections ever assembled, from medieval European masters to 20th-century American pop art, all in chronological sequence.
5. Retiro Park: Madrid's beloved 125-hectare central park, featuring a rowing lake, the Crystal Palace, the Monument to Alfonso XII, and the world's only public statue of the Devil, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.
6. Puerta del Sol: Madrid's bustling central square, kilometre zero of Spain's radial road network, home to the famous Bear and Strawberry Tree statue, and the place where all Spain eats 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve.
7. Plaza Mayor: Madrid's magnificent 17th-century arcaded square, once the scene of royal proclamations, Inquisition trials, and bullfights, today a beloved gathering place anchored by the equestrian statue of King Philip III.
8. Gran Vía: Madrid's most celebrated boulevard, opened in 1910, lined with Art Nouveau and Art Deco masterpieces including the Edificio Metrópolis, the Edificio Telefónica, and classic cinemas, often called 'Madrid's Broadway'.
9. Almudena Cathedral: Madrid's most recent cathedral, neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque, completed in 1993 after over 100 years of construction, famous for the 2004 royal wedding of Prince Felipe and Letizia, and facing the Royal Palace across its dramatic square.
10. National Archaeological Museum: Spain's most important archaeological collection, including the iconic Lady of Elche, Iberian treasures, Roman Spain, and the magnificent Visigothic Guarrazar treasure crowns.
11. Sorolla Museum: The former home and studio of the great Valencian Impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla, now a charming museum showcasing his luminous Mediterranean beach scenes and stunning private garden.
12. Lázaro Galdiano Museum: A remarkable private collection of over 13,000 art objects housed in a stunning early-20th-century palace, featuring works by Goya, Velázquez, El Greco, Bosch, and Constable.

Afternoon

1. Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales: A hidden 16th-century royal convent in the heart of Madrid, still inhabited by Franciscan nuns, containing one of the richest collections of religious art in Spain.
2. Royal Armoury (Armería Real): One of the finest collections of European armour in the world, housed within the Royal Palace complex, featuring battle suits of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Philip II.
3. Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal): A breathtaking 1887 structure of iron and glass in Retiro Park, inspired by London's Crystal Palace, originally built for a Philippine colonial exhibition and now a contemporary art venue for the Reina Sofía Museum.
4. Mercado de San Miguel: A stunning early 20th-century iron and glass market hall adjacent to Plaza Mayor, transformed into Madrid's finest gourmet food market with tapas, jamón, seafood, and wines from across Spain.
5. El Rastro Market: Madrid's legendary Sunday flea market, a centuries-old tradition in the La Latina neighbourhood, with over 1,000 stalls selling antiques, vintage clothing, bric-a-brac, and everything imaginable.
6. Templo de Debod: A genuine ancient Egyptian temple from the 2nd century BC, gifted to Spain by Egypt in 1968 and reassembled in a Madrid park, offering remarkable sunset views over the Casa de Campo.
7. Puerta de Alcalá: An iconic 18th-century neoclassical triumphal arch with five arches at the entrance to Madrid, one of the five original gates of the old city wall and now the symbol of the Spanish capital.
8. Cibeles Fountain: Madrid's most iconic fountain (1782), the goddess Cybele on her chariot pulled by lions, surrounded by the grand Palacio de Comunicaciones and flanked by majestic Belle Époque buildings at the city's most ceremonial intersection.
9. Cibeles Palace (Palacio de Comunicaciones): Madrid's magnificent 1919 neo-Plateresque former post office, nicknamed the "cathedral of communications," now serving as Madrid City Hall with a spectacular rooftop viewpoint.
10. Royal Botanical Garden: An 18th-century royal scientific garden adjacent to the Prado with 5,000 plant species, ornamental fountains, and a peaceful green oasis in the heart of central Madrid.
11. Jardines de Sabatini: Elegant formal French gardens behind the Royal Palace, designed in the 1930s on the site of the old royal stables, offering fine views of the palace's impressive western façade.

Day 2

Morning

1. Basílica de San Francisco el Grande: Home to the largest church dome in Spain, a neoclassical royal basilica housing an early Goya painting, and a collection of 17th-century choir stalls from the Monastery of El Paular.
2. Barrio de las Letras: Madrid's historic literary quarter where Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Quevedo once lived, now a charming neighbourhood with cobblestone streets bearing literary quotations and excellent restaurants.
3. La Latina Neighbourhood: Madrid's most atmospheric medieval neighbourhood with a labyrinth of tapas bars, ancient streets, and the best Sunday scene in the city after El Rastro market.
4. Malasaña: The Barrio of La Movida: Madrid's historic counterculture neighbourhood, birthplace of La Movida Madrileña, the explosive creative and social liberation movement of the 1980s, now a lively mix of indie bars, vintage shops, and street art.
5. Chueca: Madrid's vibrant LGBTQ+ neighbourhood, transformed from neglected slum to one of Europe's most fashionable and welcoming districts, home to the massive annual Pride festival.
6. Lavapiés: Madrid's most multicultural and bohemian neighbourhood, a vibrant district of immigrant communities, street art, neighbourhood bars, the Reina Sofía Museum, and the landmark Teatro Valle-Inclán.
7. Salamanca District: Madrid's most elegant and affluent neighbourhood, a 19th-century grid of wide boulevards home to luxury fashion on Serrano Street, embassies, the Thyssen and Sorolla museums, and Madrid's finest restaurants.
8. Museum of the History of Madrid: A charming baroque former hospice housing a fascinating collection tracing Madrid's history through maps, prints, paintings, and an extraordinary 1830 scale model of the entire city.
9. Paseo del Prado & Art Triangle: Madrid's grand museum boulevard, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape (2021) connecting the Prado, Reina Sofía, and Thyssen museums, lined with fountains, gardens, and Belle Époque buildings.
10. Madrid Río: A spectacular 6-kilometre riverside park created by burying the M-30 ring road in 2011, transforming the banks of the Manzanares into Madrid's most modern green space, with cycle paths, beaches, and the Puente de Toledo.
11. Plaza de España: A grand early 20th-century square at the western end of Gran Vía, dominated by a monument to Cervantes and the dramatic 1950s Edificio España skyscraper, now a restored luxury hotel.

Afternoon

1. Palacio de El Pardo: A former royal hunting palace 14km northwest of Madrid, used as Franco's personal residence for 35 years and now housing Spain's finest collection of 17th-century tapestries.
2. Toledo: City of Three Cultures: Spain's finest day trip from Madrid: a UNESCO World Heritage medieval city where Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures peacefully coexisted, famous for El Greco's paintings and its Gothic cathedral.
3. Segovia: Roman Aqueduct & Alcázar: A UNESCO World Heritage city 90km north of Madrid: an extraordinary Roman aqueduct still in near-perfect condition, a fairy-tale Alcázar castle that inspired Disney, and Castilian suckling pig roasted to perfection.
4. Aranjuez Royal Palace & Gardens: A UNESCO Cultural Landscape 47km south of Madrid: a Bourbon royal palace with extraordinary formal gardens along the Tagus, the inspiration for Rodrigo's famous Concierto de Aranjuez.
5. Chinchón: Circular Plaza Mayor: A perfectly preserved medieval village 45km southeast of Madrid, famous for its unique circular Plaza Mayor used for bullfights and its local anise liqueur production.
6. El Escorial: Philip II's extraordinary 16th-century royal monastery-palace-tomb in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama, one of the world's greatest Renaissance buildings and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
7. Casa de América (Palacio de Linares): A lavishly decorated 19th-century palace at the Cibeles intersection, allegedly haunted by the ghost of the first Marchioness of Linares, now housing Casa de América, a cultural centre for Latin American art and events.
8. Retiro Rose Garden (La Rosaleda): The magnificent rose garden within Retiro Park, featuring over 4,000 rose specimens in a formally designed garden, at its glorious peak in May and June when the air is heavy with fragrance.
9. Santiago Bernabéu Stadium: The legendary home of Real Madrid CF, one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world, having undergone a spectacular €1 billion renovation completed in 2023 that added a retractable roof and LED facade.
10. CaixaForum Madrid: A striking cultural centre on the Paseo del Prado, housed in a former power station transformed by Herzog & de Meuron, famous for its gravity-defying 'floating' brick facade and a spectacular vertical garden.
11. Casa de Campo: Madrid's vast urban forest and former royal hunting ground, over 1,700 hectares of woodland, a large lake, an amusement park, and a zoo on the western edge of the city.

Full Madrid guide and all stops → · Other itineraries: 3 days