Madrid's main sights occupy
a compact area between the
Palacio
Real (Royal Palace) and
the gardens of
El Retiro
. The great trio of museums
- the
Prado,
Thyssen-Bornemisza and
Reina
Sofía - are ranged
along the Paseo del Prado,
over towards the Retiro. The
oldest part of the city, an
area known as
Madrid de
los Austrias after the
Habsburg monarchs who built
it, is centred on the
gorgeous, arcaded
Plaza
Mayor , just to the east
of the Palacio Real.
If you have very limited
time, you might well do no
more sightseeing than this.
However, monuments are not
really what Madrid is about,
and to get a feel for the
city you need to branch out
a little, and experience the
contrasting character and
life of the various barrios
. The most central and
rewarding of these are the
areas around Plaza de
Santa Ana and c/Huertas
, east of Puerta del Sol; La
Latina and Lavapiés ,
south of Plaza Mayor, where
the Sunday market, El
Rastro , takes place;
and Malasaña and Chueca
, north of Gran Vía. By
happy circumstance, these barrios
have some of Madrid's finest
concentrations of tapas bars
and restaurants.
