🇧🇬 Sofia → 🇪🇸 Madrid · Weekend

Prado Museum

Arrive at opening (10am) to beat tour groups. Head directly to the Velázquez rooms on the first floor, then the Goya Black Paintings. Give yourself at least 2 hours — the collection is genuinely overwhelming.

Retiro Park

Walk five minutes east from the Prado into the Retiro. Rent a rowboat on the lake for €8/30 min, then find the stunning Crystal Palace on the park's eastern side — free to enter and usually has a contemporary art installation.

Malasaña neighbourhood

Take the metro to Tribunal and spend the evening wandering Malasaña — Madrid's bohemian barrio. Calle del Pez and Plaza del Dos de Mayo are the heart of it; great for people-watching and pre-dinner drinks.

Mercado de San Miguel

Arrive at 10am when it opens — before the tourist crowds — and graze through the stalls. The anchovies and the Spanish tortilla are standouts. It's touristy but the produce quality is genuine.

Royal Palace & Almudena Cathedral

The Palacio Real is the largest royal palace in Western Europe by floor area. Book tickets online to skip the queue. The cathedral opposite is free and often overlooked — the crypt is atmospheric and quiet.

Reina Sofía Museum

Head down in the afternoon (free from 7–9pm Mon–Sat, 1:30–7pm Sun). Guernica is the centrepiece but the broader 20th-century Spanish art collection — Miró, Dalí — is world-class. Take the external glass elevator up.