Madrid 4-day itinerary
4 days in Madrid, planned the tabi way — one neighbourhood per day, gapless timing, every stop chosen from 44 human-verified places across 6 curated neighbourhoods. Open it offline and follow it street by street, or make it the starting point for your own plan.
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Stay near Sol & Plaza Mayor Hotels on Klook ↗
Sol & Plaza Mayor & nearby — a sights day
The official centre of Spain, kilometre zero underfoot — an arcaded seventeenth-century square, a covered market turned tapas hall, and the pedestrian shopping streets that connect them.
- 08:0008:30BreakfastSuggested
- 08:3009:00Landmark30 min
A closed rectangular square built in 1619, arcaded on all four sides with nine gated entrances. Look up at the Casa de la Panadería, the frescoed building on the north side — the paintings are 20th-century but the square once hosted bullfights, executions and royal proclamations underneath them. A statue of Philip III on horseback sits at the centre. The terrace restaurants ringing the square are priced for tourists and rarely the best meal in the neighbourhood — walk two minutes into the surrounding streets instead. In December it fills with a Christmas market; year-round it's open and free to walk through at any hour.
must seelandmarkfreeverify opening hours - 09:00~5 min walkroute
- 09:1510:30Market75 min
An iron-and-glass 1916 market hall rebuilt in 2009 into a stand-and-graze tapas hall — small plates from a few euros to €10+ per dish at dozens of stalls (oysters, vermouth, jamón, croquetas, pastries). It's genuinely one of the pricier ways to eat in the neighbourhood, especially at the stalls nearest the main door, so treat it as a grazing stop rather than a full meal if budget matters. Open until midnight most nights and until 1am Friday and Saturday. It gets very crowded from early evening onward — arriving right at opening (10:00) or on a weekday afternoon is the way to actually get a seat at one of the standing counters.
must seemarketfood hallverify opening hours - 10:30~10 min walkroute
- 10:4511:45MuseumMonasterio de las Descalzas Reales60 min
A working convent of cloistered nuns founded in 1559 in a former royal palace, one block from Sol but visited by a fraction of the crowd. Every visit is a guided tour of about an hour (English-language tours run daily at 12:00; more Spanish-language departures through the day) through galleries the noblewomen who took the veil here filled with Titian, Rubens and Brueghel over four centuries, plus a grand staircase and choir. Adult tickets cost €9. There is currently no accessible route for wheelchair users — the building's original stairs and floor levels have not been adapted. Closed Mondays.
must seemuseumguided tour onlyverify opening hours - 11:45~5 min walkroute
- 12:0012:20Landmark20 min
Spain's official kilometre zero — the marker in the pavement outside the Real Casa de Correos (now the regional government building) that every national road distance is measured from. Look up at the clock tower for the bells that ring in the New Year, and find the bronze bear reaching into a madroño tree, Madrid's civic symbol, near the eastern corner. It's the busiest single square in the city at any hour, always crowded with street performers and vendors, so keep bags zipped and to the front — this is the most-cited pickpocket spot in central Madrid. Every metro line in the centre converges underneath it, making it the natural starting point for a first day.
must seelandmarkfreeverify opening hours - 12:20~10 min walkroute
- 12:3513:35LunchSuggested
- 13:3514:35MarketMercado de San Antón60 min
A three-storey food market a block from Chueca's terraces — ground-floor stalls for fish, produce, and jamón, a mid-level food court, and a rooftop terrace-restaurant with skyline views. Stalls run Monday to Saturday roughly 9:30am to 9:30pm and are closed Sundays, while the gastro-bars and rooftop restaurant stay open every day well past midnight. Come earlier in the day for the market stalls themselves; by evening it's mostly the bars and restaurant still going.
marketfood hallrooftopverify opening hours - 14:35~5 min walkroute
- 14:5015:10ChurchIglesia de San Antón20 min
A working parish church that keeps its doors open day and night — a long-standing policy meant for anyone who needs shelter or a quiet moment, and travellers are welcome to step in outside Mass. It's also the church where Madrid brings dogs, cats, and other pets each January for the traditional blessing of San Antón, and a side window serves breakfast each morning to anyone who needs it. Avoid photography during Mass out of respect.
churchpet friendlylocal institutionverify opening hours - 15:10~5 min walkroute
- 15:2516:25MuseumMuseo de Historia de Madrid60 min
Free municipal museum behind a striking Pedro de Ribera stone doorway — worth walking past even if you skip the exhibits. Inside, models and paintings trace Madrid's growth from a minor Habsburg outpost into a modern capital. Step-free access covers the building and the front desk has a magnetic induction loop for hearing aids. Closed Mondays and on 1/6 January, 1 May, and 24/25/31 December; these are the summer hours (mid-June to mid-September) — outside that window the museum stays open an hour later. Rooms clear ten minutes before closing.
Step-freefree entrymuseumhistoryverify opening hours - 17:3018:45DinnerSuggested
Alternatives for Day 1
Swap something out, or add another verified stop nearby — 1 available
One of several secondhand shops clustered on Calle de Velarde, Malasaña's vintage-shopping strip a couple of minutes from Tribunal metro — racks of clothing and accessories spanning the 1950s through 1980s. Open Monday to Saturday, roughly 11:30am to 9pm, closed Sundays. Mornings and weekdays are noticeably calmer than weekend afternoons.
Palacio & Ópera — a sights day
Bourbon Madrid on the western edge of the plateau — the largest royal palace in western Europe by floor area, a cathedral that took a century to agree on, and an Egyptian temple rebuilt above the sunset.
- 08:0008:30BreakfastPick a spot nearby — not booked yet
- 08:3010:00Historic sitePalacio Real de Madrid90 min
Europe's largest royal palace by floor area, though the state rooms open to visitors cover only a fraction of it. Self-guided entry is €18; a guided tour in Spanish or English runs €26. Monday to Thursday 17:00-19:00 in summer (16:00-18:00 in winter, when the whole palace also closes an hour earlier across the board), EU citizens and Ibero-American nationals get in free on production of a passport or ID - the catch is it's ticket-office-only, no online booking, and unguided visits only. Beyond the scheduled closures, the palace can shut with little notice for state ceremonies, so have a backup plan for that day. Wheelchairs are available on-site and the route is adapted for reduced mobility; ask at the ticket office. Photography without flash is fine, but leave the tripod and selfie stick behind.
Step-freemust seeroyallandmarkverify opening hours - 10:00~5 min walkroute
- 10:1510:45ChurchCatedral de la Almudena30 min
Entry to the cathedral nave is free (a €1 donation is suggested), open daily 10:00-20:30 (until 21:00 in July-August). The small museum, reached from Plaza de la Almudena, keeps shorter hours - weekday mornings only, roughly 10:00-14:30, closed Sundays and feast days - and charges around €7 (€5 reduced). The crypt underneath, entered from Calle Mayor, is separately free with a €1 donation suggested and runs 10:00-14:00 and 16:30-20:00 daily; a guided crypt tour costs around €4. Whatever you visit, expect the doors to close during Mass and other services, so check the schedule board before queueing.
churchmust seefreeverify opening hours - 10:45~5 min walkroute
- 11:0011:45GardenJardines del Campo del Moro45 min
The palace's other, wilder garden - an English-style landscape below the west facade with fountains, peacocks and the long lawn used for the classic postcard photo of the palace. Free entry, open daily except 25 December and 1 January; enter from Cuesta de la Vega (behind the cathedral), Cuesta de San Vicente, or the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto side near Príncipe Pío. It's flatter and less busy than Sabatini, and a better spot for a picnic bench with a view than a quick walk-through. Free to enter, open daily from 10:00, and it stays open until 20:00 between April and September rather than the 18:00 winter close.
gardenfreequietverify opening hours - 11:45~10 min walkroute
- 12:0012:30GardenJardines de Sabatini30 min
A formal, symmetrical garden along the north side of the Royal Palace, laid out in the 1930s on the site of the old royal stables. Free entry, open daily 09:00-21:00 October-April and 09:00-22:00 May-September. Benches and clipped hedges make it a good sit-down break with a postcard view of the palace facade; it's much quieter than the Plaza de Oriente side.
gardenfreeparkverify opening hours - 12:30~10 min walkroute
- 12:4513:45LunchSuggested
- 13:4514:15LandmarkTemplo de Debod30 min
A genuine 2nd-century BC Egyptian temple, gifted to Spain in 1968 and rebuilt on this hill purely for its sunset views over the city. Entry is free, open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-20:00 (last entry 30 minutes before close), closed every Monday including bank holidays, plus 1 and 6 January, 1 May, and 24, 25 and 31 December. Interior capacity is limited, so book the free timed slot online in advance rather than risk being turned away at busy sunset hours. Outside, the surrounding park and reflecting pools are open access and are where most people actually watch the sunset - you don't need the interior ticket for that.
landmarkviewpointsunsetverify opening hours - 14:15~15 min walkroute
- 14:3015:45EntertainmentTeatro Real75 min
Madrid's opera house, rebuilt inside a 19th-century shell and reopened in 1997. If you're not catching a performance, four guided-tour formats let you in during the day: a self-paced audio tour (10:30-14:30, last entry 13:30, about €10), a general tour in Spanish at 10:00/12:00/13:30 or in English/French at 10:15 (about €13, 75 minutes), plus technical and artistic tours that run earlier and cost more. Arrive on time - a few minutes late forfeits your slot - and skip the technical tour if you're prone to vertigo, since it climbs up into the rigging. No photography once a tour starts. Tours are the only way in outside a performance and they all run in the morning, from 09:30 with the last audio-tour access early afternoon, so this cannot be an evening stop.
operalandmarkbook aheadverify opening hours - 17:3018:45DinnerSuggested
Paseo del Arte & Retiro — a museum day
Three of the world's great painting collections on one boulevard — Velázquez and Bosch in the Prado, Guernica up the road, a private empire's worth in between — with a royal park behind them for the recovery.
- 08:0008:30BreakfastPick a spot nearby — not booked yet
- 08:3010:00ParkParque del Retiro90 min
Madrid's former royal park, opened to the public in 1868 — free to enter, any day, any time within opening hours. Rent a rowboat on the Estanque Grande (the big lake), or walk to the glass-and-iron Palacio de Cristal a few minutes further in. Current (April-September) hours run 06:00 to midnight; the park closes earlier, at 22:00, from October to March, and gates do lock for the night, so don't linger past closing. Dog-exercise areas open separately from 07:30. Weekends bring buskers, tarot readers and a puppet theatre near the lake — lively rather than quiet.
must seeparkfreeverify opening hours - 10:00~10 min walkroute
- 10:1510:30Landmark15 min
A neoclassical granite gate built for Charles III in 1778, one of the last survivors of the five royal gates that once marked the roads into the city. It stands on the traffic circle at Plaza de la Independencia, right at the edge of Retiro park nearest the museums — a natural photo stop on the walk between the Prado and the park, and lit up after dark. There's no ticket or interior to visit, just the monument itself in the middle of the roundabout, so budget only a few minutes here.
landmarkfreephoto spotverify opening hours - 10:30~10 min walkroute
- 10:4512:15MuseumMuseo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza90 min
The third leg of the Golden Triangle — a private collection spanning Old Masters through 20th-century avant-garde in a single walk-through, complementing the Prado's classical focus and the Reina Sofía's modern one. It's the only one of the three open on Mondays, and free that day from 12:00 to 16:00 (a Mastercard-sponsored slot). Current summer hours (July-August) run Tuesday-Friday 10:00-21:00 and Saturday until 23:00; hours shift shorter, closing at 19:00 Tuesday-Friday, outside the summer season. General admission is €14. The museum holds an AENOR universal-accessibility certification with adapted routes and lifts throughout the building.
Step-freemust seemuseumartverify opening hours - 12:15~5 min walkroute
- 12:3013:30LunchSuggested
- 13:3016:00MuseumMuseo del Prado150 min
Spain's national gallery, built around the Spanish royal collection — Velázquez's Las Meninas, Goya's Black Paintings, Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. General admission is free every Monday to Saturday from 18:00 to 20:00 and Sunday/holidays from 17:00 to 19:00; this is the busiest slot of the day, so arrive 30-45 minutes before the doors open if going free. Unlike the other Golden Triangle museums, the Prado has no weekly closure day at all — it's open all seven days, shutting only on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The building is step-free throughout with adapted restrooms, accessible lifts and ramps, and wheelchairs available to borrow at the information desk. Large bags must go into the free cloakroom.
Step-freemust seemuseumartverify opening hours - 16:00~10 min walkroute
- 16:1518:15MuseumMuseo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía120 min
Spain's modern and contemporary art museum, built around Picasso's Guernica, with strong Dalí and Miró holdings besides. Closed every Tuesday — the one day to build a schedule around. General admission is €12; free entry runs Monday evenings and Sunday afternoons (book the free slot ahead if possible, it fills up). Almost every public gallery has wheelchair access via ramps and two lift towers connecting the main floors, and wheelchairs and folding seats can be borrowed at the entrance — the one exception is the Vaults Room, which isn't accessible, and a few ramps in the older part of the building lack handrails or a wide approach.
Step-freemust seemuseumartverify opening hours - 18:3019:45DinnerSuggested
La Latina & Lavapiés & nearby — a sights day
The oldest, steepest, most-lived-in Madrid — Sunday's flea market spilling downhill, vermouth poured before noon, and the city's most mixed streets a few blocks further east.
- 07:4008:00Check out of your stayUsually due by 10:00–12:00 — most stays hold your bags if you ask.
- 08:0008:30BreakfastPick a spot nearby — not booked yet
- 08:3010:00MarketEl Rastro90 min
Madrid's Sunday flea market, running downhill along Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores from Plaza de Cascorro - Sundays and public holidays only, 09:00-15:00. Show up on a weekday and there's simply nothing here but an ordinary street. Arrive early for the best finds and to beat the crowds; the first Saturday of the month adds a separate antiques fair in Plaza del General Vara del Rey. Stalls are almost all cash-only, and the crowds are exactly the kind pickpockets like, so keep bags zipped and to the front.
marketsunday onlymust seeverify opening hours - 10:00~10 min walkroute
- 10:1511:00Gallery45 min
A former royal tobacco factory now run as a free, self-managed social and cultural centre - exhibitions, workshops and events organised by dozens of resident collectives, with the raw, unrenovated factory building itself part of the appeal. There's no fixed general opening timetable the way a museum has one; each exhibition or activity keeps its own hours, posted at the entrance on Calle de Embajadores and on the centre's own site. Don't plan a visit around a specific opening time - check what's actually running that week first. Run by its own collective rather than the city, so there is no posted timetable — what is open depends on the current programme. Check what is on before making the walk.
galleryfreealternativeverify opening hours - 11:00~5 min walkroute
- 11:1511:35Landmark20 min
The sloping, triangular square that gives the neighbourhood its name and its social centre - Bangladeshi, West African, Chinese and Spanish-run cafés and shops ring the edges, and the benches fill with a genuine cross-section of the barrio rather than tourists. Always open, nothing to buy a ticket for; it's simply the best single spot to feel how mixed these streets are before wandering the calles running off it.
landmarklocal lifemulticulturalverify opening hours - 11:35~15 min walkroute
- 12:0013:00LunchSuggested
- 13:0013:45ChurchReal Basílica de San Francisco el Grande45 min
One of the largest domes in Europe sits over this basilica-museum, with ceiling frescoes and an early Goya inside. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30-14:30 and 16:00-18:30 (the afternoon session runs to 15:30 instead in July-September), closed Mondays, Sundays and public holidays. Entry is €6 (€3.50 reduced), free on Thursdays. The ticket office closes 30 minutes before the basilica does, so don't cut it close.
churchmuseumdomeverify opening hours - 13:45Transit ~15–25 minroute
- 14:0015:30MuseumMuseo Arqueológico Nacional90 min
Spain's national archaeology collection, reopened in 2014 after a major renovation, with the Iberian sculpture La Dama de Elche as its single most famous piece alongside Roman mosaics, Visigothic votive crowns, and a full-scale replica of the Altamira cave paintings in the basement. Tuesday to Saturday 9:30am-8pm, Sunday and holidays 9:30am-3pm, closed Mondays; general admission is a flat 3 euros. A lift and loaner wheelchairs cover most of the building, though a few corners of the historic structure are harder to navigate.
Step-freemuseummust seenationalverify opening hours - 15:30~5 min walkroute
- 15:4516:15ShoppingCasa Loewe30 min
The Madrid flagship of Loewe, the Spanish leather house founded in 1846, inside a restored building at Calle de Serrano 34 that doubles as a small gallery for the brand's craft and art collaborations. Open Monday to Saturday 11am-8:30pm, Sunday noon-7:30pm. Staff can talk through current in-store exhibitions as well as the collections — worth a look even just browsing.
luxuryfashionflagshipverify opening hours - 17:3018:45DinnerSuggested
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