 #1 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Puerto del Sol
Madrid
~0.02 miles from Madrid city center
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The Puerta del Sol (Spanish for "Gate of the Sun") is one of the most well known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre (Km 0) of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year. The New Year's celebration has been broadcast live on TV since 31 December 1962.
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El Oso de Madrid
Madrid
~0.04 miles from Madrid city center
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This statue weighs almost 20 tons! This statue is sometimes translated as the Bear and the Strawberry Tree. The Madroño tree (which sounds like Madrid) is not native to Madrid. And it is not a strawberry tree. The berries of the Madroño tree are red like strawberries. However they are very sweet and are really not good eaten raw (unlike strawberries), but are only good to eat when made into a jam.
|  #3 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Real Academica de Bella Artes de San Fernando
Madrid
~0.15 miles from Madrid city center
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he Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery.The academy was established by royal decree in 1744. About twenty years later, the enlightened monarch, Charles III purchased a former Baroque palace and commissioned architect Diego de Villanueva to convert it for academic use. Doubling as a museum and gallery, today it houses a fine art collection of paintings from the 15th to 20th century: Giovanni Bellini, Correggio, Rubens, Zurbarán, Murillo, Goya, Juan Gris... The academy is also the headquarters of the Madrid Academy of Art.Francisco Goya was once one of the academy's directors, and, its alumni include Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Fer...
|  #4 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
Madrid
~0.18 miles from Madrid city center
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The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales is a royal monastery situated in Madrid, administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. It is not to be confused with the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales (Valladolid).El Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, literally the Monastery of Barefoot Royals, resides in the former palace of Carlos I and Isabel of Portugal. Their daughter, Joan of Austria, founded this convent of nuns of the Poor Clare order in 1559. Throughout the remainder of the 16th century and into the 17th century, the convent attracted young widowed or spinster noblewomen. Each woman brought with her a dowry. The riches quickly piled up, and the convent became one of the richest convents in all of Europe. Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spain's finest Renaissance composer, worked at the convent from 1...
|  #5 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Plaza Mayor
Madrid
~0.20 miles from Madrid city center
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The Plaza Mayor was built during the Habsburg period and is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta del Sol. The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la Panadería, serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor.
|  #6 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Teatro Real
Madrid
~0.32 miles from Madrid city center
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The Teatro Real (literally Royal Theatre) or simply El Real (as it is known colloquially), is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.After thirty-two years of planning and construction, a Royal Order on 7 May 1850 declared the immediate termination of the "Teatro de Oriente" and the building works are finished within five months. The Opera House, located just in front of the Palacio Real, the official residence of the Queen who ordered the construction of the theatre, Isabel II, was finally inaugurated on 10 October 1850, with Donizetti's La Favorite. In 1863, Giuseppe Verdi visited the theater for the Spanish premier of La Forza del Destino. In 1925 the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev performed in the theatre with the presence of Nijinsky and Stravinsky).From 1867 it housed the ...
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Teatro Monumental
Madrid
~0.34 miles from Madrid city center
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Attraction type: Theatrehttp://www.rtve.esAddress: Atocha 65 Madrid SpainTel: 91 429 81 19
|  #8 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Casa del Ayuntamiento
Madrid
~0.40 miles from Madrid city center
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|  #9 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Museo Thyssen Bornemisza
Madrid
~0.43 miles from Madrid city center
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The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, or in Spanish Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, is an art museum near the Prado Museum in Madrid. It is known as a part of the "Golden Triangle of Art", which also includes the Prado and the Reina Sofia galleries. The Thyssen-Bornemisza fills the historical gaps in its counterparts' collections: in the Prado's case this includes Italian primitives and works from the English, Dutch and German schools, while in the case of the Reina Sofia the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, once the second largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection[citation needed], includes Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the second half of the 20th century, with over 1,600 paintings. The competition was won after in 1986 Baron Th...
|  #10 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Madrid Convention Center
Madrid
~0.43 miles from Madrid city center
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The Madrid Convention Center is located in downtown Madrid, Spain. The Convention Center offers a variety of banquet halls and meeting rooms perfect for any occasion.
|  #11 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Thyssen Bornemiza Museum
Madrid
~0.47 miles from Madrid city center
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The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, or in Spanish Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, is an art museum near the Prado Museum in Madrid. It is known as a part of the "Golden Triangle of Art", which also includes the Prado and the Reina Sofia galleries. The Thyssen-Bornemisza fills the historical gaps in its counterparts' collections: in the Prado's case this includes Italian primitives and works from the English, Dutch and German schools, while in the case of the Reina Sofia the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, once the second largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection, includes Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the second half of the 20th century, with over 1,600 paintings. The competition was won after in 1986 Baron Thyssen having trie...
|  #12 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Plaza de Oriente
Madrid
~0.47 miles from Madrid city center
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Located opposite the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), this is the city's largest, most elegant and peaceful square. It's a semi-circle of landscaped gardens planted with many varieties of trees and flowers. Statues of medieval kings line one of the walkways and Felipe IV takes center stage. The horse he sits on was modeled after a Velázquez drawing. It's an attractive pedestrianized area with an underground parking lot and many smart cafes with outdoor terraces to choose from. The Teatro Real (Opera House) is just around the corner.
|  #13 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Chueca
Madrid
~0.52 miles from Madrid city center
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Chueca is a neighborhood in Madrid. It is located just to the north of the downtown core and old city, centered around the Plaza de Chueca and Chueca metro station. It is known as the main gay village of Madrid.A decade ago it was a dangerous area where drugs and male prostitution were rampant. However, Madrid's increasingly growing and affluent gay community has made Chueca one of the most fashionable and cosmopolitan areas of Madrid. During the day the majority of activity is concentrated in the numerous shops and boutiques of both international and independent designers, and the chic cafés. At night, the area is known for its innovative restaurants, bars, and clubs. In addition to this, there are other businesses oriented toward a gay clientelle such as travel agencies, lawyers and vi...
|  #14 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Royal Palace
Madrid
~0.55 miles from Madrid city center
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The Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid), also known as the Palacio de Oriente (English: The East Palace), is the official residence of the King of Spain in the city of Madrid, and it is only used for State Ceremonies.However, King Juan Carlos and the Royal Family do not reside in in it, choosing instead the more modest Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid. The palace is owned by the Spanish State and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional, a public agency of the Ministry of the Presidency.The palace is located on Bailén Street, in the Western part of downtown Madrid, East of the Manzanares River, and is accessible from the Ópera metro station. The palace is partially open to public, except when it is being used for official business.
|  #15 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Prado Museum (Museo del Prado)
Madrid
~0.55 miles from Madrid city center
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The Museo del Prado is a museum and art gallery located in Madrid, the capital of Spain. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture, it also contains important collections of more than 5,000 drawings, 2,000 prints, 1,000 coins and medals, and almost 2,000 decorative objects and works of art. Sculpture is represented by more than 700 works and by a smaller number of sculptural fragments. The painting collection comprises about 7,800 paintings, of which only about 900 are at public display, mainly because of the museum's lack of space for it. A new, recently opened wing enlarged the display area by about 400 paintings, and it is...
|  #16 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Plaza de la Cibeles
Madrid
~0.55 miles from Madrid city center
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The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid. The fountain of Cibeles is found in the part of Madrid commonly called the Paseo de Recoletos. It depicts the goddess Cibeles (Cybele), the Phrygian goddess of fertility, sitting on a chariot pulled by two lions. The fountain was built in the reign of Charles III and designed by Ventura Rodríguez between 1777 and 1782. The goddess and chariot are the work of Francisco Gutiérrez and the lions by Roberto Michel. The fountain originally stood next to the Buenavista Palace, and was moved to its present location in the middle of the square in the late 19th century. Up until the 19th century both the fountain of Neptune and Cibeles looked dire...
|  #17 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Cathedral de la Almudena
Madrid
~0.59 miles from Madrid city center
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Santa María la Real de La Almudena is a Catholic cathedral in Madrid.When the capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the seat of the Church in Spain remained in Toledo; so the new capital – unusually for a Catholic country – had no cathedral. Plans were discussed as early as the 16th century to build a cathedral in Madrid dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena, but construction did not begin until 1879.Francisco de Cubas, the Marquis of Cubas, designed and directed the construction in a Gothic revival style. Construction ceased completely during the Spanish Civil War, and the project was abandoned until 1950, when Fernando Chueca Goitia adapted the plans of de Cubas to a neoclassical exterior to match the grey and white façade of the Palacio Real, which stands dir...
|  #18 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Plaza Espana
Madrid Sp
~0.62 miles from Madrid city center
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Plaza de España (or "Spain Square" in English) is a large square, and popular tourist destination, located in central Madrid, Spain, at the western end of the Gran Vía. It features a monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, and is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers. Also, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) is a short walk south from the plaza.
|  #19 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Museo Municipal
Madrid
~0.64 miles from Madrid city center
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Famed for its outstanding baroque facade, this 18th-century building has a collection of documents, models, paintings, drawings, and sketches that amply covers the history of the Spanish capital. Formerly an orphanage, it's located on the eastern edge of the Malasaña district a short walk up from the Gran Vía. It re-opened in 2005 after 2 years of renovation work.Telephone Number: 91-588-86-72Transportation: Metro: TribunalPrice Information: Admission freeHours: Tues-Fri 9:30am-8pm, Sat and Sun 10am-2pm; mid-July-mid-Sept Tues-Fri 9:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-2pm
|  #20 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Museo Romantico
Madrid
~0.65 miles from Madrid city center
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This characteristic 18th-century palace has been converted into a museum that captures the essence of middle-class life in the city during the 19th Century. You'll see an interesting collection of household objects like lamps, furniture, china and pianos, laid out in different rooms decorated with portraits of the Royal Family and important politicians and military leaders of the era. The walls are also hung with portraits of popular artists of the time, like Salvador Gutierrez, Ribera, Madrazo, Alenza and Esquivel. You can even wander through the ballroom where famous writers, such as Bequer, Campoamor and Martínez Campos used to gather for literary evenings. There's a room entirely given over to the life of Romantic period novelist, Mariano Jose de Larra.Open Hours: 9:30a-3p Tu-Su, 1...
|  #21 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Jardines Botanicos
Madrid
~0.66 miles from Madrid city center
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The Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (Spanish for the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid) is an 8-hectare botanical garden located in the Plaza de Murillo, next to the Prado Museum in Madrid (Spain).The garden was founded on October 17, 1755, by King Ferdinand VI, and installed in the Orchard of Migas Calientes, near what today is called Puerta de Hierro, on the banks of the Manzanares River. It contained more than 2,000 plants collected by José Quer y Martínez, botanist and surgeon. In 1774 King Charles III ordered the garden moved to its current location on the Paseo del Prado, with design by architects Francesco Sabatini and Juan de Villanueva that organized the garden into three tiered terraces, arranging plants according to the method of Linnaeus. This new site opened in 1781. Its mis...
|  #22 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Plaza de Espana
Madrid
~0.66 miles from Madrid city center
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Plaza de España (or "Spain Square" in English) is a large square, and popular tourist destination, located in central Madrid, Spain, at the western end of the Gran Vía. It features a monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, and is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers. Also, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) is a short walk south from the plaza.
|  #23 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
El Rastro
Madrid
~0.67 miles from Madrid city center
Hotels Close to El Rastro
El Rastro de Madrid or simply el Rastro is the most popular open air flea market in Madrid (Spain). It is held every Sunday and public holiday during the year and is located along Plaza de Cascorro and Ribera de Curtidores, between Calle Embajadores and the Ronda de Toledo (just south of La Latina metro station).A great variety of products (new and used) can be found at el Rastro. A number of antique shops in the local area are also open on Sunday.
|  #24 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Reina Sofia Art Gallery (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia)
Madrid
~0.75 miles from Madrid city center
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This gallery of modern art features work by some of the 20th Century's most outstanding artists, including Picasso - Guernica has its own special space - Dalí, Tàpies, Chillida, Miró, Gris, Bacon, Le Cobursier, Lipchitz, Schnabel, Numan, and Roberto Matta. There is a library, research center, bookshop, cafe, souvenir shop, and restaurant.
|  #25 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
El Retiro
Madrid
~0.78 miles from Madrid city center
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The Jardines del Buen Retiro or Parque del Buen Retiro (literally "Gardens" or "Park of the Pleasant Retreat"), or simply El Retiro, the "Lungs of Madrid", is the main park of the city of Madrid, capital of Spain.Buen Retiro Park (Parque del Buen Retiro) is a large and popular 1.4 km2 (350 acres) park at the edge of the city center, very close to the Puerta de Alcalá and not far from the Prado Museum. A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid's premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.
|  #26 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
National Library
Madrid
~0.84 miles from Madrid city center
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The Biblioteca Nacional de España ('National Library of Spain') is a major public library, the largest in Spain. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos.The library was founded by King Philip V in 1712 as the Palace Public Library (Biblioteca Pública de Palacio). The Royal Letters Patent that he granted, the predecessor of the current legal deposit requirement, made it mandatory for printers to submit a copy of every book printed in Spain to the library. In 1836, the library's status as Crown property was revoked and ownership was transferred to the Ministry of Governance (Ministerio de la Gobernación). At the same time, it was renamed the Biblioteca Nacional.During the 19th century, confiscations, purchases and donations enabled the BN to acquire the majority of the ant...
|  #27 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Templo de Debod
Madrid
~0.88 miles from Madrid city center
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Dating from the second century BCE, this small Egyptian temple covered in fascinating drawings, hieroglyphics, and religious inscriptions was a gift from the Egyptian government to Spain in 1970 in recognition of Spain's assistance in saving historical remains during the construction of the Aswan Dam. You will find it located in a peaceful and pleasant park, but you are advised not to come here after dark.
|  #28 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Retiro Park
Madrid
~0.89 miles from Madrid city center
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|  #29 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
National Archaelogical Museum of Spain
Madrid
~0.90 miles from Madrid city center
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The National Museum of Archaeology (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Arqueología) of Spain (officially known as National Archaeological Museum before 2009)[1] is in Madrid, beside the Plaza de Colón (Columbus Square), sharing its building with the National Library.Façade of the museumThe museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II, and its purpose was to be a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections compiled by the Spanish monarchs.In 1895 all the collections were moved to the current venue, a neoclassical building projected by architect Francisco Jareño and built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968 were started renovation and extension works that considerably increased its area.In 2008/2009 the museum was being remodelled with o...
|  #30 of 30 Things To Do in Madrid
Casa de Campo
Madrid
~1.09 miles from Madrid city center
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The Casa de Campo (for Spanish: Country House) is the largest urban park situated west of central Madrid, (Spain). It was formerly a royal hunting estate. Its area is more than 1,700 hectares (6.6 sq mi).An amusement park, the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, and the Madrid Zoo are located inside the park. It is common for families from Madrid to spend days in the park, enjoying the nice weather and looking at the wildlife that may be seen around (mostly squirrels, rabbits and different kinds of birds). Near the lake there was a lot of prostitution in recent times.In 1936–39, during the Spanish Civil War, the front lines of the Siege of Madrid ran through the Casa de Campo, where the Republicans had halted a nationalist offensive in November 1936.
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