There are year-round
turismo
offices at the following
locations: Aeropuerto de
Barajas (Mon-Fri 8am-8pm,
Sat 9am-3pm; tel 913 058
656); Estación de Atocha
(Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat
& Sun 9am-1pm; tel 902
100 007; Estación de
Chamartín (Mon-Fri
8am-8pm, Sat 9am-1pm; tel
913 159 976); Plaza Mayor
3 (Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat
10am-2pm; tel 915 881
636); Mercado Puerta de
Toledo, Ronda de Toledo 1
(Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat
9.30am-2.30pm; tel 913 641
876); c/Duque de
Medinaceli 2 (Mon-Fri
9am-7pm, Sat 9am-3pm; tel
914 294 951; Métro: Banco
de España). The Madrid
tourist board has a web
page at
www.munimadrid.es
and the regional authority
has one at
www.comadrid.es
. In the
summer ,
turismo posts operate at
popular tourist spots such
as the Puerta del Sol and
the Prado, and there are
staff (in blue and yellow
uniforms) on call outside
the Palacio Real,
ayuntamiento
(town hall) and the Prado,
and in the Plaza Mayor and
Puerta del Sol. You can
phone
for information in
English on 010 within the
city and 915 404 040 from
outside. There is also a
tourist information line
on 901 300 600.
Free maps of
Madrid are available from
any of the turismos
detailed above. However,
if you intend to do more
than just a day's
sightseeing, you would be
well advised to invest in
the Almax Madrid Centro
map (?2), available from
just about any kiosk in
the city; this is very
clear, 1:10,000 in scale,
fully street-indexed, and
has a colour plan of the
metro on the reverse. The
area covered on this
represents just about
everything of interest; if
you want more, Almax also
produces a rather less
clear, 1:12,000-scale Madrid
Ciudad (?4.70) that
goes right out into the
suburbs. Again, it's
widely available.
