It’s autumn and Madrid is breathing a collective sigh of relief. Everything is open again and the intense heat, which seems to ooze out of the walls and up from the pavements in summer, has mellowed to pleasantly warm. It’s the perfect temperature for languishing on a cafe terrace with the sun tickling your skin as afternoon slips into evening. Noise levels are back to normal, which means cacophonous.
It feels like the entire population is out on the streets, catching up with their friends and chatting about all the things they want to do, the films they want to see, the new bars they’ve heard about and the restaurants they fancy trying over the next few months. If you could do with a boost, spend a few days in the Spanish capital this autumn.
The dazzling light and clear blue skies lift your mood as soon as you arrive. Madrid being the highest major capital city in Europe may have something to do with that. It is a comparatively young capital too. Arabs from north Africa settled here in the ninth century, building a citadel where the royal palace and Almudena cathedral are now, but Madrid only really got going when Philip II moved his court here from Toledo in 1561, establishing the city as the new capital of Spain.
To get a sense of the city’s history, walk from the Puerta del Sol – the centre not just of Madrid but the whole of Spain – to the 17th-century Plaza Mayor, which is framed by redbrick buildings with slate roofs and spindly spires. Then stroll along Cava Baja, the curving street that follows the course of the 12th-century city wall. Vestiges survive in the basements of several bars and restaurants that originated as inns and taverns for the merchants and travellers who arrived by stagecoach.
In Madrid, you absorb the city’s heritage just by walking around. In the Barrio de las Letras, or literary quarter, the bar-lined streets are named after the great writers who lived there in the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco de Quevedo and Lope de Vega.
You could spend weeks in the city’s big three museums – Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofia – but try to fit in some others too. The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando gets a fraction of the visitors, despite being just off the Puerta del Sol and having astounding collections that include Goya, El Greco, Picasso and Francisco de Zurbarán.
This autumn I’m looking forward to the Suma Flamenca festival (14 Oct-2 Nov), where leading flamenco dancers, singers and musicians will be performing new work such as Flamenco Gospel by Juan Carmona. The main festival venue is the Teatros del Canal, an arts complex designed by Juan Navarro Baldeweg, one of Spain’s most renowned architects, who is also an artist (an exhibition of his work is on at Centro Centro until 14 December). The Teatros del Canal is also a hub for the Festival de Otoño, (6-30 Nov), one of the cultural highlights of the year, with theatre, music and more by Spanish and international artists.
The Chamberí district, where the Teatros del Canal is found, is in a less touristy area, just north of downtown. The most traditional and characterful areas of the city, considered the homes of a “pure” and distinctive Madrileño spirit, are called barrios castizos – and Chamberí certainly fits that description. Base yourself here for a more authentic feel – try the palatial and stylish One Shot Fortuny hotel, which has doubles from around £160 room-only in October.
As you explore, take in the flowers spilling over the wrought-iron balconies and the gleaming fruit and vegetables outside little shops (particularly the mushrooms at this time of year) and peer into the tiny, tiled bars where locals are having a quick coffee or beer. Walk in, find yourself a place at the bar and you’ll wonder why you don’t live in Madrid.
Trafalgar, the part of Chamberí closest to the centre, is fast becoming one of the most fashionable parts of town, but still has a laid-back, family vibe. I’ve been meeting friends in the Plaza de Olavide for decades and seen it undergo umpteen makeovers.
Eight streets flow into the square, bringing a constant stream of people searching for friends and dragging chairs to form messy configurations of all ages that change constantly as the night wears on. It’s normal to arrange to meet one friend here, and end up with a table of 10.
New bars, restaurants, galleries and boutiques are opening in traditional premises here, but I love that the people behind them are keeping the original fixtures and fittings or hunting down zinc or steel counters and revamping old bar stools to recreate the castizo character, while also adding their own contemporary vibe. Pop into Bar Trafalgar for a cocktail – or maybe a vermouth and a smoked ham and cheese toasted sandwich – and you’ll get the idea. It’s the kind of place that works at any time of day or night. I love the Olavide Bar de Libros too, both a bookshop and a cafe – browsing books and sipping a glass of wine are two of my favourite things.
Also on my list this autumn is International Architecture Week (until 13 Oct, although some exhibitions run beyond that date). The programme includes an Álvaro Siza exhibition (until 9 Jan 2026) at the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid, a short stroll from the Plaza de Olavide. This is followed by Madrid Otra Mirada (16-19 Oct), when you can visit historic buildings and gardens that are not usually open to the public.
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At the Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, Leica: A Century of Photography, 1925-2025, features work by Sebastião Salgado, Steve McCurry and Alberto García-Alix and runs until 11 Jan. And I’ll be booking ahead for Warhol, Pollock and other American spaces at the Thyssen-Bornemisza (21 Oct-25 Jan).
While there’s certainly a lot to see and do at this time of year, you don’t want to get too hung up on packing your days with plans. Madrid is all about going with the flow. Drift around Parque del Buen Retiro for a couple of hours, taking in the startlingly vivid magenta and ochre tones of the oak, chestnut and willow trees. Exit the park on the east side, where Calle de Ibiza and the surrounding streets have become a gastronomic hotspot. I love tapas at the bar at La Catapa or La Taberna de Rox, although both also have tables if you want to rest tired feet.
For more autumnal hues, it’s now a lot easier to visit the elegant Campo del Moro gardens, which slope down from the royal palace to the Manzanares River. There used to be only one entrance, down by the river – which always felt like too much of a hike after traipsing around the palace. A lot of people weren’t aware that the gardens were open to visitors. Now, thank goodness, you can get in from the top end, from the Cuesta de San Vicente or the Cuesta de la Vega, which is really handy if you are going to the Royal Collections Gallery as there is direct access.
If you haven’t been to Madrid for a few years, this museum, which opened in 2023, is a must, with paintings by Bosch, Titian, Velázquez and Goya as well as a vast array of treasures collected by Spanish monarchs over the centuries, housed in a spectacular building designed by Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla.
Walk down through the gardens – maybe stopping for a drink on the cafe terrace at the bottom – and cross the river to reach the Casa de Campo, the largest green space in Madrid. I rarely get beyond the lake, where there is a string of restaurants with tons of outdoor tables. A plate of garlic prawns with fried eggs at Villa Verbena invariably seems like an excellent idea at this point. It’s worth going just for the view of the Madrid skyline.
Back in the centre, head for Lavapiés, which is one of the most castizo neighbourhoods in Madrid but also the most international, with a huge range of places to eat and drink. Not that you need any excuse for a night out here, but the Tapapiés tapas and music festival (16-26 October) is a particularly good time for a mooch around. More than 100 bars and restaurants are taking part and are offering a tapa and a beer for €3.50. There’s going to be live music, dancing, processions and kids’ activities too. If all that’s not a good enough reason to book a stay, I don’t know what is.
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