The capital of Spain (since 1561) is the ideal destination for those seeking nightlife that never seems to end (opened daily by the rite of "tapas" with reference to the tradition of serving snack-appetizer, vegetarian and non, to taste with beer or wine after dinner is 22, and you do not go to the disco before 3), and for those who love culture (take for example the Prado museum that houses, among others, works by Goya, Velazquez, Bosch as well as a section dedicated to Italian painting of the late Renaissance and Baroque Italian). A monumental city, but with 33 percent of the green surface, the intense traffic, but with an extensive network of underground transport.

What to visit

At the center, physical and vital, Madrid is the Puerta del Sol, in which is placed the plate of the zero kilometer, which is used to calculate distances in the Spanish state.

Near Puerta del Sol is the oldest part of the city, Los Austrias, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and Plaza Mayor, the historic square of Madrid, surrounded by important buildings of the era.
But around Puerta del Sol, in the east and south, between Plaza de Cibeles, Atocha Station and Sol, is also the most vibrant city, with plenty of cafes and restaurants, three large museums and the Parque del Buen Retiro, the largest park in Madrid.
North of Puerta del Sol are the Gran Vía, the main shopping street, the Malasaña area, old residential area progressive district, and Chueca, the gay district of Madrid and liberal.

Madrid is the "home" of three major art museums, which are, among other things, a few steps from each other, and that can be visited with a single ticket, the Paseo del Arte :

    The Prado is the most famous of the three, here are masterpieces by Goya, Velázquez, Titian, Rubens and Bosch.
    The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum with Dutch painting of 1600, impressionism, Russian constructivism and pop art.
    Queen Sofía Art Centre, with a collection that collects the majority of Spanish in 1900, including Picasso's Guernica. www.museoreinasofia.es

The Palacio Real, the Royal Palace of Madrid, is a building of 1764, built to replace the Alcázar castle burned down thirty years before. Admission is free on Wednesdays to EU citizens, and you can visit almost in its entirety, including the armory (the Armería), considered one of the most important rooms in the real world. In the inner rooms you can admire works by Spanish artists such as Goya.

The Parque del Buen Retiro Park is a beautiful park of 140 acres of land, inevitable stop for tourists, and one of the favorite places of Madrid for moments of relaxation. A walk in the park door near the Crystal Palace, a greenhouse made of iron and glass in 1800, and the Palace Velazquez, in the middle of the artificial lake, Estanque.