Almudena Cathedral
Almudena Cathedral sits directly opposite the Royal Palace and is Madrid's main cathedral, completed only in 1993. Free to enter (donations encouraged).
Museum in Madrid
The Prado is one of the world’s greatest art museums, housing Velazquez’s Las Meninas, Goya’s Black Paintings, Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, and masterpieces by El Greco, Titian, and Rubens. Entry is paid. Free Monday to Saturday 6-8pm and Sunday 5-7pm. Budget travelers visit during the free evening hours and see a collection that rivals the Louvre for European painting.
Practical
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Almudena Cathedral sits directly opposite the Royal Palace and is Madrid's main cathedral, completed only in 1993. Free to enter (donations encouraged).
El Rastro is Madrid's Sunday morning flea market, sprawling through the streets of La Latina neighborhood from Plaza de Cascorro downhill to the Embajadores roundabout. Free to browse.
Gran Via is Madrid's most famous boulevard, a wide avenue of early 20th-century buildings, theatres, shops, and neon signs running from Calle de Alcala to Plaza de Espana. Free to walk.
La Latina is the neighborhood south of Plaza Mayor where Madrilenos go for Sunday tapas after the El Rastro market. Free to walk.
The Mercado de San Miguel is a glass and iron market hall next to the Plaza Mayor with gourmet food stalls selling tapas, wine, oysters, pastries, and iberico ham. Free to enter.
The Parque de El Capricho is an 18th-century garden in the Alameda de Osuna district, the only garden in Madrid with three styles (French, Italian, English) in one park. Free.
Working out what Madrid costs?
The whole of Madrid