Museo del Prado (Prado Museum)
The 213-year-old
Prado Museum has undergone an extensive renovation to reclaim its position among Europe's greatest galleries. Within its 4000-strong collection of 16th- to early 19th-century paintings, are masterpieces by Fra Angelico, Botticelli, El Bosco, Titian, Rembrandt and Velazquez, as well as evidence of the astonishing development of Goya - from his sun-soaked early paintings of dances and festivities to the grim madness of his black period.
Paseo del Prado
Tel: (91) 330 2800 or 2900. Fax: (91) 330 2856.
E-mail: museo.nacional@prado.mcu.es
Website: http://museoprado.mcu.es
Transport: Metro Atocha or Banco de Espana; bus 9, 14, 27, 34 or 37.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0900-1900 and Sun 0900-1400.
Admission: EUR3; concessions available; free Sat 1430-1900 and Sun.
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum)
Madrid purchased the private collection of Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza after a nine-and-a-half-year loan, instantly enriching the city's fund of art treasures. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza collection contains over 800 paintings, sculptures, carvings and tapestries, ranging from primitive Flemish works to contemporary pieces. Highlights include works by Fra Angelico, Van Eyck, Durer, Caravaggio and Rubens.
Palacio de Villahermosa, Paseo del Prado 8
Tel: (91) 369 0151. Fax: (91) 420 2780.
Website: www.museothyssen.org
Transport: Metro Banco de Espana; bus 1, 2, 5, 9, 14, 27, 34, 37, 51 or 52
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1900.
Admission: EUR5 (permanent exhibitions); EUR3 (temporary exhibitions); concessions available.
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Reina Sofia National Art Centre Museum)
This museum in the former Hospital de San Carlos is almost entirely dedicated to 20th-century Spanish art and was designed to give Spain a museum to equal France's Pompidou Centre and London's Tate Gallery. In 1986, Queen Sofia opened the museum, British architect Ian Ritchies' glass lifts were installed in 1990 and, in 1992, the star attraction - Picasso's Guernica - added the final flourish. The painting depicts the horrific Nazi bombing of the Basque country's traditional capital in April 1937 (in support of Franco's cause in the Spanish Civil War). Drawing hundreds of visitors daily, Guernica has not ceased to attract controversy. Dali, Miro and Juan Gris are among the other artists on show.
Calle Santa Isabel 52
Tel: (91) 467 5062. Fax: (91) 467 3163.
Website: www.museoreinasofia.mcu.es
Transport: Metro Atocha; bus 9, 14, 27, 34 or 37.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-2100, Sun 1000-1430.
Admission: EUR3; concessions available; free Sat 1430-1900 and Sunday.
Palacio Real (Royal Palace)
With the opulence of Versailles in mind, Philip V commissioned Italian architects Giambattista Sacchetti and Francesco Sabatina to build the Royal Palace. The present king, Juan Carlos, resides in the more subdued Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid, so Philip's 3000-room extravaganza is now only used for state functions. The rest of the time, the startling white building in granite and Colmenar stone is open for tours. Highlights include the Hall of Halbardiers and Hall of Columns (with their splendid frescoes), the Throne Room (with its 17th-century sculptures) and the lavish private apartments of Charles II. Just off the courtyard is the Royal Armoury and Pharmacy - among Europe's oldest. Visits take about two hours - but for those who do not enter the palace, there are spectacular views over Madrid from the surrounding gardens.
Plaza de Oriente and Calle Bailen
Tel: (91) 542 0059.
Website: www.patrimonionacional.es
Transport: Metro Opera; bus 3, 25, 39 or 148.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800 and Sun 0900-1500; closed during official ceremonies.
Admission: EUR5.50; concessions available.
Plaza Mayor (Main Square)
Once the location of an exotic marketplace, where Arab merchants came to sell their wares, this beautifully proportioned, cobbled courtyard was begun by Philip II and completed by Philip III in 1619 - his statue stands proudly in the middle. The plaza was intended to serve as a marketplace and showplace - heretics were burned at the stake, saints canonised and bread was sold. Today, tourists outnumber the locals but the Plaza Mayor is still lively as it was in the past.
Plaza Mayor
Transport: Metro Sol; any bus route to Sol.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Parque del Buen Retiro (Retiro Park)
This lush 118-hectare (292-acre) park in the heart of Madrid was formerly the private garden of Philip IV. Visitors can enjoy a stroll among the trees and rose garden, a boat ride on the lake near the towering 1902 monument to Alfonso XII, tarot readings from hovering fortune-tellers or a game of chess. Art buffs may seek out exhibition spaces Palacio de Cristal, Palacio de Velazquez and the Casa de Vacas or the notorious Angel Caido (Fallen Angel) statue on the south avenue of the Palacio de Cristal.
Puerta de Alcala, Plaza de la Independencia
Transport: Metro Retiro, Atocha or Ibiza; any bus route to Retiro.
Opening hours: Daily 0630-2200.
Admission: Free.
Convento de las Descalzas Reales (Convent of the Royal Barefoot Sisters)
Founded in 1564 by Joanna of Austria, the daughter of Charles V, the convent has housed royal and aristocratic nuns over the centuries. Still a functioning convent, it is also a superb example of 16th-century Baroque architecture, containing a magpie's hoard of rich tapestries and jewels, Italian and Flemish art and a superb display of Spanish religious artefacts. One tiny painting has been attributed to Goya. The convent can only be visited by guided tour (in Spanish only although questions are taken in English).
Plaza de las Descalzas 3
Tel: (91) 542 0059.
Transport: Metro Callao or Sol; bus to Puerta del Sol.
Opening hours: Tues-Thurs and Sat 1030-1245 and 1600-1745, Fri 1030-1245, Sun 1100-1330.
Admission: EUR4; concessions available.
Parque Biologico (Biology Park)
The theme of this new, attractively landscaped theme park is bio-diversity. Each of the ten pavilions has been specially designed to recreate a different natural environment, with the aim of demonstrating how life - animal life in particular - has learned to adapt to a variety of ecosystems. Thanks to the latest high-tech wizardry, visitors can 'experience' a tropical storm, take a stroll through the rain forest or watch rivers of molten lava flowing 1000m (3281ft) beneath the earth's surface.
Avenida de la Democracia 50
Tel: (91) 301 6210. Fax: (91) 301 6229.
Website: www.parque-biologico.com
Transport: Metro Valbernardo or Cercanias Vicalvaro; bus 8, 71, 130 or E.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2000 (1 Apr-16 Sep); daily 1030-1800 (17 Sep-31 Mar).
Admission: EUR16; concessions available.
Faro de Moncloa (Light of Moncloa)
The Moncloa observation tower in the university district is open to the public, offering visitors panoramic views of Madrid from the flying-saucer-shaped viewing deck. The tower was designed by architect Salvador Arroyo in 1992, to monitor traffic congestion.
Avenida de los Reyes Catolicos/Plaza del Arco de la Victoria
Tel: (91) 544 8104.
Transport: Metro Moncloa; bus 1, 16, 44, 46, 61, 82, 83, 132, 133 or C
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1030-1330 and 1630-1945.
Admission: EUR1; concessions available.
