Where to Stay in Madrid

The old literary quarter between Sol and the Paseo del Prado, where Cervantes and Lope de Vega lived and their names are set into the paving. The three great museums are a short flat walk east, the restaurants are genuinely good rather than tourist traps, and the streets are narrow enough to feel like a neighbourhood.

Good to know: Calle Huertas and Calle de las Huertas run loud at weekends, so pick a side street if you are a light sleeper. It is the best all-round compromise in Madrid and prices reflect that, though it is still cheaper than the equivalent in Barcelona.

The commercial and geographic centre, taking in Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and the streets running down to the Royal Palace. Multiple metro lines meet here, Gran Via is a two-minute walk, and you can reach most of what you came to see on foot.

Good to know: It is the busiest part of the city from morning until well past midnight, and the restaurants immediately around Plaza Mayor charge tourist prices for mediocre food. Convenient rather than charming. Walk five minutes in any direction for better dinner.

North of Gran Via around Plaza del Dos de Mayo, the neighbourhood that gave Madrid its counterculture in the eighties and now runs on vintage shops, speciality coffee and small bars. Calle Fuencarral on its eastern edge is the city's best street for browsing.

Good to know: This is the loudest option on the list. The plaza fills with people drinking outdoors until very late, especially Thursday to Saturday, and the noise carries. Wonderful if you want to be in it, difficult if you want to sleep before one.

East of Malasana and just as central, Chueca is the city's LGBT+ district and one of its most sociable. Mercado de San Anton does a good lunch, the restaurants are strong, and the streets stay busy without feeling threatening at any hour.

Good to know: Busy and loud at weekends, and rates jump hard during Pride at the start of July, when the whole neighbourhood becomes the venue. Book months ahead for those dates or stay elsewhere.

South-west of Plaza Mayor, built around Cava Baja, a single street with more good tapas bars on it than most cities manage in total. Sundays bring El Rastro, the sprawling flea market, and the neighbourhood turns into one long vermouth session afterwards.

Good to know: Sunday is glorious and completely impassable. If you are arriving with luggage on a Sunday morning, get out at a different metro stop and approach from the north. Fewer hotels here than elsewhere, so more of the stock is apartments.

The grid east of the Retiro, built in the nineteenth century for people with money and still doing that job. Calle Serrano and the streets around it hold the designer shops, the pavements are wide, the buildings are elegant, and it is noticeably quieter at night than anywhere central.

Good to know: The trade-off is atmosphere. Salamanca is calm to the point of being sleepy after dark and the restaurants are pricier for what you get. Good for families, light sleepers and anyone who wants a real night's rest, less good if you want to walk home past something interesting.

South of Barrio de las Letras and downhill from everything, Lavapies is the most mixed neighbourhood in central Madrid, with Indian, Senegalese, Moroccan and Bangladeshi kitchens alongside old Spanish bars. It is ten to fifteen minutes' walk to Sol and the Reina Sofia sits on its northern edge.

Good to know: Scruffier than the rest of the list, and the hill back up is real. It is safe to walk at night on the main streets, but it is the one area where you should look at the specific address rather than the neighbourhood name. The value is genuine.