How many days do you need in Madrid?

1. 1Old center & Royal PalacePlaza Mayor, palace, Templo de Debod at sunset1 day
2. 2Prado & RetiroPrado at opening, Retiro late afternoon1 day
3. 3Gran Vía, Malasaña & Reina SofíaReina Sofía closed Tuesdays1 day
4. 4Toledo or Segoviaday trip, about 30 minutes by train1 day

The short answer by trip length

• 1 day: Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and the outside of the Royal Palace in the morning, the Prado in the afternoon, tapas in La Latina at night. Rushed, but it shows you the city.

• 2 days: one day for the old center and the Royal Palace, one for the Prado and the Retiro. You lose the Reina Sofía and Malasaña.

• 3 days: the right length for a first visit. One area per day, with evenings free for the late dinner culture our Madrid guide describes.

• 4 days: what we had. Add Toledo or Segovia as a day trip; see day trips from Madrid.

• 5 or more: both day trips, plus El Escorial, the Thyssen and the neighborhoods most visitors skip.

Madrid's center is compact. Sol to the Royal Palace is about a 15-minute walk and Sol to the Prado about the same, so you do not need to spend time on transit. What eats your days is the museums: the Prado alone is a morning, and the city's rhythm (lunch at 2pm, dinner after 9pm) leaves the hottest hours of the afternoon for resting in summer.

Day by day: 4 days in Madrid

Day 1, the old center and the Royal Palace. Start at Puerta del Sol and walk to the arcaded Plaza Mayor before the café terraces fill. Continue west to the Royal Palace: the official ticket is about €18 (≈ $20) and the summer hours (April to September) run roughly 10:00 to 19:00 Monday to Saturday and 10:00 to 16:00 on Sunday, with last entry an hour before closing. Then the Almudena Cathedral next door and the Sabatini Gardens. End at the Templo de Debod, the reassembled Egyptian temple on the ridge to the northwest, for sunset, and eat late in La Latina.

Day 2, the Prado and the Retiro. The Prado opens at 10:00 and deserves three hours: Velázquez's Las Meninas, Goya's black paintings and Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. Entry is free for the last two hours of the day (18:00 to 20:00 Monday to Saturday, 17:00 to 19:00 on Sundays), but two hours is not enough for a first visit, so pay and go in the morning. Walk across to the Retiro in the late afternoon for the boating lake and the glass Palacio de Cristal, then eat in the Barrio de las Letras.

Day 3, Gran Vía, Malasaña and the Reina Sofía. Walk Gran Vía for its early 20th-century facades and rooftop terraces, then the side streets of Malasaña and Chueca. Spend the afternoon at the Reina Sofía for Picasso's Guernica. It closes on Tuesdays, so swap days 2 and 3 if needed. On a Sunday morning, put El Rastro flea market in La Latina first.

Day 4, Toledo or Segovia. Avant trains to Toledo leave from Atocha and take about 33 minutes; high-speed trains to Segovia leave mainly from Chamartín and take about 25 to 30 minutes, but Segovia-Guiomar station is about 5 km from the old town, so add a city bus to the aqueduct. Pick one. Toledo is the cathedral and the hilltop old town above the Tagus; Segovia is the Roman aqueduct and the Alcázar. Our day trips from Madrid compares them.

Where Madrid fits in a wider route

Spain's high-speed lines meet in Madrid, which makes it a natural first or last stop. On our trip it was the first stop of the whole route: 4 days in Madrid, a few hours in Ávila, then 3 days in Salamanca, then north to Oviedo, Gijón and the Picos de Europa. Alvia trains reach Salamanca in about 1.5 hours but do not stop at Ávila; slower regional trains call there on the way, and since late 2023 the train to Oviedo takes a little over 3 hours. Our 60-day Spain itinerary lists every stop.

On a shorter trip, Madrid sits between Barcelona and Andalusia. Our 2-week Spain itinerary gives it 3 nights, about 2.5 hours by fast train from Barcelona, before continuing south to Granada, Córdoba and Seville; the Andalusia itinerary covers that leg. Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo all run the Barcelona and Seville lines, so compare fares.

For a base, our where to stay in Madrid compares Sol, Las Letras, Malasaña and the areas near Atocha. If you plan two day trips, staying within walking distance of Atocha saves time on the Toledo morning.

When to go to Madrid

April to June and September to October are the best months, warm enough for terraces without the heat. In the warmest month Madrid averages a high of about 32°C (AEMET normals), and in July and August many locals leave the city. We were there at the end of June, at the start of that heat, which is when the late-evening rhythm makes most sense: sightsee in the morning, rest after lunch, and go out again after 8pm.

Winter is cold and dry but clear, with short queues at the museums. Whatever the month, plan dinner for 9pm or later; a restaurant that looks closed at 7pm usually is.

Common mistakes

• Treating the Prado's free hours as a plan. Two hours at the end of the day, with a queue, is fine for a return visit, not for a first one.

• Booking the Reina Sofía for a Tuesday. It is closed. The Royal Palace can also close at short notice for official events, so keep a flexible day.

• Doing Toledo and Segovia on the same day. They are on different lines from different stations. One per day.

• Eating on a northern European schedule. Lunch around 2pm and dinner after 9pm is when the tapas bars of La Latina and the Cava Baja are full; our what to eat in Madrid covers what to order and tipping in Spain covers what to leave.

• Forgetting entry rules. US travelers need no visa, but the Schengen 90/180-day rule applies; see do I need a visa for Spain.

Frequently asked questions