Los Jerónimos
Mandarin Oriental Ritz
A five-star Belle Époque palace between the Prado and the Retiro, with afternoon tea in the Palm Court and a garden open all year, weather permitting.
Madrid guide
Luxury travel guide to Madrid
Spain's capital, made for art and long evenings: three great museums, a royal palace, the Retiro, and dinner late.
By Ramin Jafari · Facts checked
In Madrid, the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofía stand along a stretch of the Paseo del Prado under two kilometres long, with the Royal Palace, the Retiro, five-star hotels in old palaces and the city’s Michelin-starred tables around them. As Spain’s capital, it is also the natural start of a longer journey through the country.
At a glance
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- How long
- Three or four days; a week with days out to Toledo and Segovia
- Getting there
- Fly to Madrid-Barajas, or take a high-speed train from across Spain
- The art
- Three great museums along two kilometres of the Paseo del Prado
- Best for
- Great art, a royal palace, long lunches and dinner late
When to go
The best time to visit
Spring and autumn suit Madrid best.
From March to May the average high climbs from about 16°C (61°F) to 22°C (72°F), and from September to November it eases back from about 26°C (79°F) to 14°C (57°F): weather for lunch on a terrace and long walks between the museums. In July and August it averages 31–32°C (88–90°F), and sightseeing moves to the morning and the evening. Winter is cold and often bright, and January is, with August, the month when the city’s hotels are least full; December brings the Christmas market to the Plaza Mayor.
Spring also brings San Isidro, the city’s own fiesta, on and around 15 May. Our best time to visit Madrid guide goes season by season, and the best time to visit Spain looks at the whole country.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Madrid
A Belle Époque palace by the Prado, a house on the Castellana and a boutique hotel near Chueca: three of the hotels we recommend in Madrid, each a different way to stay.
Castellana
Rosewood Villa Magna
A five-star hotel on the Paseo de la Castellana, by the Salamanca district's shops, with four restaurants and bars, a spa, and rooftop suites it calls Houses.
Justicia
Urso
A five-star boutique hotel in Justicia, near Chueca and Las Salesas, in a towered corner building, with a spa and a water area.
They are a selection, not the whole choice. Our Madrid accommodation overview compares every hotel we feature there, area by area, Palacio de los Duques by the Royal Palace among them, and we arrange others to suit you. For the rest of the country, see luxury hotels in Spain.
Food
The food of Madrid
Madrid cooks the stews and roasts of Castile, gathers the rest of Spain’s table, and holds some of its most celebrated restaurants.
DiverXO, Dabiz Muñoz’s restaurant, is the only table in Madrid with three MICHELIN Stars in the 2026 Guide, for cooking the Guide calls hedonistic, fun and irreverent. Six more in the city hold two, among them Coque, the Sandoval brothers’ restaurant, DSTAgE, Diego Guerrero’s, and Ramón Freixa Atelier, new to the list in 2026, where ten guests sit at a single table.
Among the dishes to try: cocido madrileño, the chickpea stew served in three courses, callos, the tripe stew of the city’s taverns, and the roast suckling pig of Segovia. A tasting of Spanish wines with a sommelier can be arranged on request: see our culinary and wine tours. Our Madrid food and cuisine guide has the restaurants, the market and the wines in full.
Sights
Sights and experiences
Three great collections of art, a royal palace and the city’s old gate, and the experiences we can arrange around them.
Paseo del Prado
The Puerta de Velázquez The Prado
- Private hour
- Before the museum opens, for a group
- World Heritage
- With the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro, since 2021
Open since 1819, the Prado holds Velázquez’s Las Meninas, Goya’s Third of May, 1808 and his Black Paintings, El Greco’s Knight with his Hand on his Breast and Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. We arrange a private art historian to take you through it.
Beside the Plaza de Oriente
The Throne Room The Royal Palace
Still the official residence of the King of Spain, and used for state occasions, the palace is a baroque building of more than 3,000 rooms, with works by Caravaggio, Velázquez and Goya. The visit takes in the Throne Room and the Royal Armoury; we arrange a private guide to take you through it.
Paseo del Prado
The Thyssen-Bornemisza
- The collection
- About 700 works across seven centuries
- Private visit
- Before the museum opens, with a guide
The collection the Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza gathered, and Spain acquired in the months after the museum opened in 1992: around 700 works, mostly paintings, that run through the main schools of Western art over seven centuries.
Plaza de la Independencia
The Puerta de Alcalá
- Built
- 1778, for King Charles III
- Architect
- Francesco Sabatini
A neoclassical triumphal arch of granite, once the main entrance to the city. Madrid’s tourist board counts it the first of its kind built after the fall of the Roman Empire, older than Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.
Beyond the monuments, and each on request, subject to availability:
- The museums with an art historian: the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza or the Reina Sofía, in a private visit planned around what you most want to see.
- Flamenco with dinner in a tablao, at seats we reserve.
- A drive through old Madrid with a chauffeur, from the Habsburg streets around the Plaza Mayor to the Gran Vía and the Salamanca district.
- A tasting of Spanish wines and cava with a sommelier, in a wine cellar.
- A private cooking class, Madrid’s own dishes with a chef.
There is more in our things to do in Madrid guide and among the experiences on our Madrid page; for private guides across the country, see our architecture and cultural tours.
Three days
Three days in Madrid
Three days cover the essentials at an easy pace, from the palace to the Prado and the city’s tables. Each is a starting point we shape around you.
Day 1
Arrival and the Royal Palace
Afternoon
The Royal Palace with a private guide.
Dinner
A tasting menu at a MICHELIN-starred restaurant, with wines to match.
Day 2
Art and shopping
Morning
The Prado with an art historian.
Afternoon
Shopping on the Gran Vía.
Evening
Flamenco, with tapas.
Day 3
Food and rest
Morning
A cooking class with a chef.
Afternoon
A treatment at your hotel’s spa.
Evening
Dinner on a rooftop above the city.
Our three days in Madrid gives each day in full, with the tables we reserve, and our Madrid page has three longer routes, of four and seven days.
Itineraries that include Madrid
The Grand Spanish Tour
from $27,200 per person
Spain's Culinary Heritage
from $15,300 per person
Madrid guides
- Things to do in Madrid
The Royal Palace and the Prado with a guide, the city's architecture and tables, and Toledo and Segovia.
- Madrid food and cuisine
Madrid's own dishes, where to eat, the Mercado de San Miguel and the wines around the city.
- Three days in Madrid
Three days, day by day: where to stay, the Prado, the Royal Palace, the Retiro and the city's tables.
- Best time to visit Madrid
Season by season and month by month, with the festivals, the heat and the best months for each kind of trip.
More city guides: Barcelona, Seville, Mallorca and San Sebastián, or all our Spain guides. Across Spain: our luxury travel guide, the top five-star hotels and boutique hotels, why personalisation matters, Spain’s castles and palaces and Spain’s national parks.
Plan your Madrid trip
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. Everything else we can work out together.
Plan your Madrid trip Our Madrid page
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