Madrid, the city that never sleeps

Come to Madrid for the world-class art of the Prado, the opulence of the Palacio Real and the bustle of El Rastro's flea market. But Madrid's main attraction is probably its flamboyant night life. The numerous tascas, restaurants, cafes and night clubs stay open until the early morning hours. And do not miss the sultry fever of late-night flamenco.

Quick Tips:

Mugging is a serious problem in Madrid with tourists being the most likely target. Leave your valuables and passport in the safe at the hotel. Bring a copy of your passport with you since the police sometimes stop foreigners for identification.

Best Way To Get Around:

Madrid is a compact city, and most of the sights are concentrated in a downtown area 1½ miles across, stretching between the Royal Palace and the Parque del Retiro. Walking is the best way to experience this city. Public transportation, however, is excellent. Taxis are cheap, and metros and buses are plentiful.

Hotel Carlos V is a very nice family-run 3-star hotel located right in the pedestrian center of Madrid. If being just 2-3 blocks from Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real and if the El Cortes Inglese department store is important to you then this hotel is in the perfect location.

The hotel which was renovated in 1996, has 67 rooms with AC and Internet access. We reserved our rooms from the US directly through the Best Western system. The very reasonable rate included a plentiful buffet breakfast served in a very nice guest lounge/dining room decorated with beautiful crystal chandelier. Airport shuttle can be reserved through the hotel for 900 ptas per person.

The Royal Palace was commissioned in the early 18th century by Felipe V on the site where Madrid's first Alcázar was built in the 9th century and burnt to the ground in 1734.

The palace's 2,800 rooms compete with each other for over-the-top opulence. The palace was last used as a royal residence in 1931. Today, some of the rooms are open to the public, others are still used for state business. You can see the palace on your own for 950 ptas or pay 1000 ptas for a two-hour guided tour in English.

We have a passion for palaces and have seen many, from Versailles in Paris to Peterhof, Pushkin and Pavlovsk Palaces in St Petersburg; the Munich and Wurzburg Residenz(es) and Neuschwanstein in Germany; the Kungliga Slottet in Stockholm; Fredericksborg, Rosenborg and Christianborg in Copenhagen, etc. but Palacio Real remains our favorite for the most tasteful and elegant palace. The rooms are literally stuffed with art treasures and antiques. Rooms after rooms it is the symbol of monumental grandeur, with no apologies for the best damask, mosaics, stucco, Tiepolo ceilings, gilt and bronze, chandeliers. Look for frescoes by Tiepolo and Giaquinto; paintings by Goya, Rubens, Valezquez, and El Greco; dozens of Flemish and Spanish tapestries, and endless dazzling rococo decorations.

If you're rushed, the Reception Room and State Apartments which include a rococo room with a diamond clock and a porcelain salon should get priority. The Royal Chapel, the Throne Room and the Banquet Room, where receptions for heads of state are still held are also highlights. The Armory with the finest collection of weaponry in Spain and the Pharmacy should also be visited.

If your visit falls on the first Wednesday of the month, look for the changing of the guard ceremony, which occurs at noon and is free to the public.

Austere and grand, this 17th-century arcaded square in the heart of Old Madrid is an attraction in itself with its baroque architecture and eye-catching kaleidoscopic-coloured murals.

Once the sight of bullfights, public burnings of heretics, canonization of saints, executions of criminals, crowning of kings, royal marriages, masked balls, fireworks and all manner of events, celebrations, festivals, and ceremonies, Plaza Mayor has played a vital role in Spanish history. Today, it still hosts fairs, bazaars, and performances.

One can visit the many plaza shops and cafes of the square and enjoy the calm mornings, the busy afternoons, or perhaps dinner at some of the liveliest tapas bars in the city. On the ground level arcade of the plaza are shops, many selling souvenir hats of turn-of-the-century Spanish sailors or army officers.

Pedestrians pass under the arches of the huge square onto the narrow streets of the old town, where you can find some of the most intriguing restaurants and tascas, serving tasty tapas and drinks.

The area south of Plaza Mayor, known as barrios bajos, is full of narrow cobblestone streets lined with 16th and 17th century architecture. From the Plaza, take Arco de Cuchilleros, packed with markets, restaurants, flamenco clubs, and taverns, to explore this district.

A word of caution though: Be wary of thieves here, especially late at night

Staying at Hotel Carlos V, in the middle of the pedestrian center, we were surprised at how quiet the area was during the day and how busy it became after what Americans would consider business hours. The first night there, not wanting to venture into the town after dark because of jet lag and all the talk about muggings, we decided to check out the restaurant recommended by our guidebook at around 7pm. To our disappointment, it was closed. We later find out from our hotel that Madrilenos observe late dining hours and restaurants do not even open until eight or nine o'clock.

Nightowls wil find Madrid a paradise every night of the week. A typical night would begin at about 11pm at a club, with the most serious clubs starting around 1am and staying open until well beyond dawn. Street life reaches rush-hour proportions at 4am. While the busiest nights are Friday and Saturday, with Thursday a close runner-up, the locals go out every night and, miraculously, manage to work or study during the day. Perhaps the secret to endless energy lies in the tapas snacks throughout the night or could it be the thick hot chocolate, accompanied with sweet, fried churros downed at dawn after a long night out on the town?

Nightlife converges in three major districts: the Chueca (Madrid's gay village, also a trendy location for straights); Huertas (traditional Spanish music and smart clubs and bars); and around the Plaza del Dos de Mayo in the Malasaña district (favoured by a hip young crowd). Small streets off Gran Vía form the city's red-light district.

The nightlife scene is varied, with music halls, clubs, cafés, cocktail bars and flamenco tablaos all playing a role.

Madrid's bars range from dark, wooden-panelled taverns to fabulous establishments decorated with painted tiles of typical Madrid scenes from the 1900s or Velázquez's The Drunkards.

The best tapas bars are clustered in the narrow central streets. As dawn breaks, try Chocolatéria San Ginés, a mecca for hot chocolate and churros.

Madrid moves to the sound of Latin American music, world music, mainstream disco, flamenco, salsa, jazz. Most tourists converge on the clubs around the Sol and Gran Vía, but you may want to try out some of the local haunts instead. There is no admission charge and chic dress is recommended.

When urban commotion starts to overwhelm, seek respite in the Parque del Retiro, a vast 350 acres of verdant oasis in the heart of the city, at a stone's throw from the Prado.

Once the private playground of royalty, Parque del Retiro is a vast expanse of green encompassing formal gardens, numerous fountains and statues, a large lake and children's play areas. There are also two exposition centers, the Velásquez and Crystal palaces, and a lakeside monument, erected in honor of King Alfonso XII.

The park is especially lively on weekends, when it fills with street musicians, jugglers, clowns, gypsy fortune-tellers, and sidewalk painters along with hundreds of Spanish families out for a walk.

In summer, the rosaledas (rose gardens) are worth a visit, and you'll find several places for inexpensive snacks and drinks. The park hosts a month-long book fair in May and occasional flamenco concerts in summer.

The park is open daily 24 hours, but it is safest from 7am to about 8:30pm.

If you have only 1 day for an excursion outside of Madrid, go to Toledo, the fortified town atop a hill and surrounded on three sides by the Tagus River. Toledo is one of the most important centers of European medieval history. It was the capital of Spain until 1560 when it lost its political status to Madrid. Today, it remains Spain's religious center.

A natural fortress encircled by monumental walls in the center of the Iberian Peninsula, the medieval city of Toledo represents the coexistence or succession of different cultures: Roman, Jewish, Visigothic, Muslim and Christian. A national landmark, the city that so inspired El Greco has remained relatively unchanged since the 16th century. Walking through its giant labyrinth of streets that are barely wide enough for a man and his donkey, much less for an automobile, one feels like having stepped back into the Middle-Ages

The city of Toledo has many religious temples of the three main cultures that coexisted here, Jewish Synagogues, Islamic Mosques and Catholic Churches of which the Cathedral is an absolute "do not miss". The major city attractions are near the city central hill. Plaza Zocodover is the center of the town’s life. Here is where old men come to talk politics and read newspapers, old women to gossip, youngsters to show off their new tricycles.

Today, Toledo is a very provincial city. You will find plenty of tourists visiting the city during the daytime, but apart from visiting the monuments there are not many other things to do. Contrary to Madrid, the night brings quiet to the streets of Toledo.

The city of Toledo is well known for its souvenirs, the damascene Swords and Knifes and armors. The "Swords of Toledo" gave world-wide fame to its steel-production. You can also find many different iron sculptures, especially popular are the "Don Quijote de la Mancha" ones. Marzipan is the local delicatessen.

In a town where Roman, Jewish, Visigothic, Muslim and Christian cultures coexist, the Christian presence is most easy to see in Toledo because of the prominent presence of its Cathedral. Rising white and high in the center of the low, brown Muslim city, the cathedral is best appreciated from outside the city, where the hundred-metre spire and the weighty buttressing can be seen to advantage. Once inside the city, the narrow streets of Toledo do not afford a sufficiently broad perspective of its exterior; the Cathedral must be viewed from the interior, where its grandeur may be appreciated.

A robust Gothic construction which took over 250 years (13th-15th century) to complete, its rich internal decoration includes masterpieces of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. The cathedral, ranked as one of the finest in the world behind St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican, Notre Dame in Paris, and St. Paul's in London, was constructed in the tradition of the cathedrals and churches of France.

The Cathedral has five naves and several chapels. The most famous are: the Main Chapel, The Santiago Chapel, The Mozarabic Chapel and the Santiago Chapel. At the heart of the church is the Coro, with two tiers of intricately carved wooden stalls. Directly opposite stands the gigantic Gothic altar piece. Directly behind the main altar is perhaps the most extraordinary art treasure in the cathedral, the Transparente, a wonderfully Baroque wall of marble and alabaster sculpture, high rising cherubs, alabaster Last Supper and a Virgin in ascension. The wall was overlooked for years because the cathedral was too poorly lit until Sculptor Narcisco Tomé cut a hole in the ceiling to let the light in.

For 500 ptas, you can visit the Treasure Room with its 500-pound gilded monstrance, allegedly made with gold brought back from the New World by Columbus. Other highlights of the cathedral include El Greco's Twelve Apostles and Spoliation of Christ and Goya's Arrest of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

This is one of the most impressive Cathedrals we have seen--especially in terms of the quality of its art. The great "Greco" collection makes this Cathedral a true Museum. And, best of all, this is not a dead temple but a working church. Everyday a mass is said and there are several on Sundays.

The most frustrating things we encountered during our visit to this beautiful structure were that pictures are forbidden inside the cathedral and the streets of Toledo are too narrow for pictures that would really do justice to the grandeur of the building.