Retiro Park & La Castellana: Madrid's Green Spine
Madrid has more parkland per capita than almost any other European capital—and the two great green arteries of the city are the Parque del Buen Retiro (125 hectares of royal parkland) and the Paseo de la Castellana (a 6-kilometre tree-lined boulevard stretching from Atocha to the north). This route spends half a day in the Retiro, then follows the Castellana north through the city's grandest architecture and up to the Santiago Bernabéu neighbourhood. Good for a relaxed morning with a coffee in the park.
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Parque del Retiro — The Boating Lake and Rose Garden
Enter the Retiro through the main Puerta de Alcalá gate (the triumphal arch at the eastern end of Calle de Alcalá is a separate monument—the park entrance is a few metres further in). Head straight to El Estanque—the central boating lake—where rowing boats can be rented for €6 for 45 minutes. This is one of the most pleasant things to do in Madrid on a Sunday morning. The statue of Alfonso XII on his colonnade overlooks the lake from the south bank. The Rosaleda (Rose Garden) in the southern section of the park has over 4,000 rose bushes and is spectacular in May and June. The park is free, open sunrise to midnight.
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Palacio de Cristal — Madrid's Crystal Palace
Walk 15 minutes south-east inside the park to find the Palacio de Cristal—a Victorian iron-and-glass greenhouse-style pavilion built in 1887 to house an exhibition of plants from the Philippines. Today it is used by the Reina Sofía museum for large-scale contemporary art installations (the space itself changes with each show). The building is extraordinary: a cross-shaped floor plan, enormous glass panels flooding the interior with reflected light from the small lake outside. Even without a major installation it is worth visiting for the architecture alone. Free entry.
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Fuente de Cibeles — Between Retiro and Castellana
Exit the Retiro through the Puerta de Alcalá and walk west along the monumental Paseo del Prado to the Plaza de Cibeles. This is where the Retiro ends and La Castellana begins. The Cibeles fountain—Madrid's most iconic landmark—sits in the centre of the plaza with the ornate Palacio de Cibeles (City Hall) behind it. The plaza is the city's grand intersection, where the art museum boulevard (Paseo del Prado) meets the political boulevard (Paseo de Recoletos/Castellana). Stop for a coffee in the Café del Círculo de Bellas Artes on Calle Alcalá—elegant, old-world, and excellent.
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Paseo de Recoletos — The Tree-Lined Promenade
Walk north on the Paseo de Recoletos—the southern, older section of the Castellana boulevard, lined with 19th-century mansions-turned-hotels and two of Madrid's great old-world café terraces: Café Gijón (1888, Spain's most famous literary café, where poets and intellectuals gathered for a century) and El Espejo (with a beautiful 1900s-style glass pavilion). The median of the boulevard has wide pedestrian walkways with chairs, benches, and chess tables. On warm evenings this becomes one of Madrid's most civilised places to sit and watch the world go by.
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Estadio Santiago Bernabéu — The Cathedral of Football
Continue north along the Castellana for about 3 kilometres to reach the Santiago Bernabéu stadium—recently completed a massive renovation (finished 2023) that has transformed it into one of the most technologically advanced sporting venues in the world, with a retractable roof, a 360-degree external skin of moving steel panels, and a new lower bowl bringing fans closer to the pitch. Whether or not you are a football fan, the exterior of the new Bernabéu—which glows different colours at night—is a piece of major contemporary architecture. Museum and stadium tours are available daily (book in advance). The Bernabéu metro stop (Line 10) is directly outside.
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Paseo de la Castellana Terraces — Outdoor Drinking in Madrid Style
Return south on the Castellana and stop at one of the outdoor terrace bars that line the boulevard—particularly good between the Nuevos Ministerios and Colón metro stops. These terrace bars are a Madrid institution: long rows of tables under the plane trees, cold beer and vermouth, plates of patatas bravas and aceitunas. On summer evenings they fill up from 8pm and the atmosphere is exactly what the Spanish describe as the good life. This is a leisurely last stop—sit for as long as you like. The city doesn't really start until 9pm anyway.