Sol & Gran Vía

A look around

What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.

1/6

Where it sits

The circle is Sol & Gran Vía and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.

How far is everything?

From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.

• Tapas down Cava Baja10 min walk814 m
• Cibeles & the Paseo del Prado11 min walk880 m
• The Prado12 min walk1.0 km
• A flamenco tablao12 min walk1.0 km
• El Rastro on a Sunday13 min walk1.1 km
• Reina Sofía & Guernica15 min walk1.2 km
• Retiro Park19 min walk1.6 km
• Santiago Bernabéu13 min taxi4.2 km

On your doorstep

What you’re living next to if you stay here.

• 2.The Royal Palace — Europe's largest royal palace by floor area, and gaudy in the best way — throne rooms, a porcelain room, and the changing of the guard outside. Book online or queue.
• 3.Plaza Mayor — The grand arcaded square at the centre of old Madrid. The terraces on it are a tourist tax — walk through, admire it, then eat one street away.
• 6.Temple of Debod at sunset — A real 2nd-century BC Egyptian temple, gifted to Spain and rebuilt on a hill west of the centre. Go for sunset — it reflects in the pool and the whole city turns up.
• 7.Mercado de San Miguel — A beautiful iron-and-glass market turned tapas hall. Touristy and not cheap, but the produce is superb and it's the easiest first meal in the city.
• 9.Gran Vía — Madrid's Broadway — early-20th-century towers, neon, and theatres still selling out. Walk it after dark when the buildings are lit and the crowds are at their best.
• 10.Chocolate con churros at San Ginés — Open since 1894 and, more importantly, open at 4am. Thick drinking chocolate and a plate of churros — the correct end to a Madrid night out, not a breakfast.