The Making of Madrid
Your guide to Spain’s capital
Insider Tips for Visitors to Madrid
First time in the city and don’t know where to start? This info will help you get oriented.
Where to find a bathroom in Madrid
Updated 5 Dec 2025 On a trip to Madrid, finding public restrooms can be a challenging adventure for tourists. From historic streets to modern museums, finding a clean and accessible bathroom requires insider knowledge and a bit of strategic planning. Public bathrooms: the awful reality Finding a public bathroom in Madrid can feel like a quixotic…
Quiet Madrid: Tranquil Spaces in Hidden Places
After eight years of blogging about the city of Madrid, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my new guidebook: Quiet Madrid. A great companion to the Lonely Planet Madrid guidebook I worked on last year, this book features my own photography taken during countless explorations of Madrid’s quieter side, along with tons of insider knowledge…
Your Complete 3-Day Madrid Itinerary
Visiting Madrid for the first time? Then this is the post for you! In it, I’ll present a three-day itinerary that’ll give you a flavour of the city and hopefully leave you coming back for more! As everyone is different, it has lots of options for you to adapt it to your needs. On day one,…
Retiring to Madrid for US Citizens with Marsha Scarbrough
For the latest episode of The Making of Madrid podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with writer Marsha Scarbrough, an experienced expat and correspondent for International Living magazine. Marsha was declared the “La Primera Exiliada” (the first exile) from Trump by El Mundo back in 2017 when she packed her bags and left for Madrid….
Neighbourhood Guides
Trying to work out what parts of the city to explore? These posts will guide you through Madrid’s neighbourhoods.
Quiet corners of the Prado
Out of the pandemic, there’s no perfect time to visit the Prado. Even if you visit first thing in the morning or during lunchtime – that’s 2 pm to 4 pm in Spain – you’ll still have to contend with crowds swarming around the museum’s greatest masterpieces. And while Velazquez’s Las Meninas, Goya’s Black Paintings and…
Book launch: A Guide to Madrid’s Literary District
I’m delighted to announce that A Guide to Madrid’s Literary District will be officially launched in Secret Kindoms bookshop on April 20, 2024! Illustrated by Nathan Brenville and published by Secret Kingdoms, the book is a glossy bilingual guide to Barrio de las Letras. In honour of Cervantes, the launch of A Guide to Madrid’s Literary…
Guide to Malasaña: Madrid’s Alternative Neighbourhood
Away from the tourist traps of Sol, lies Malasaña, a graffiti-spattered yet elegant neighbourhood filled with achingly cool boutique shops and hidden treasures. Once seedy and even a little dangerous, it’s been transformed for better and worse in the past few years by gentrification, making it a safer, yet increasingly chichi destination. While its heart is…
Guide to La Latina
In the heart of old Madrid and yet a world apart from the touristy mayhem surrounding the royal palace, La Latina is the perfect place to base a stay in the city. For me, the steeply sloping squares and cobbled streets of the barrio (neighbourhood) offer a tranquil retreat into historic Madrid. By contrast, the bustling…
Hidden Gems
My guide to Madrid, away from the crowds. For more on the city’s tranquil side, check out my book Quiet Madrid.
Hidden Gems: Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares
Madrid’s Lavapiés neighborhood is home to one of the city’s most overlooked cultural treasures: the Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares. While this hidden gem lies off the beaten tourist track, offering a peaceful retreat from Madrid’s busier attractions, be warned that on a Sunday, you’ll find it closed when the bustling Rastro market takes over….
Madrid’s Hidden Gems: The Manzanares River, with Clare Starkie
A deeper look at the Manzanares River Visitors to Madrid often leave the Manzanares River off their itineraries in favour of the Prado, the Royal Palace and Retiro Park. That’s not to say it isn’t popular. Ever since a €4 billion rewilding project was completed in 2011, the river has become a haven for locals taking…
Hidden Gems: Campo del Moro
Nestled below the royal palace lies one of the city’s most beautiful and overlooked treasures: the Campo del Moro gardens. One of the destinations in my new book Quiet Madrid: A Guide to the City’s Third Spaces and Hidden Places, these stunning gardens offer both tranquility and a fascinating glimpse into the city’s medieval past. A…
Hidden Corners of Retiro: The Artificial Mountain
A romantic folly I’ve spent a lot of time exploring hidden corners of Retiro recently while making my new audio tour for Voicemap. However, as Retiro’s Montaña Artificial (artificial mountain) lay well off my route, I hadn’t had time to visit since was reopened this summer. Still, I’m glad I waited. With the autumnal leaves in…
Popular Madrid History Posts
A history buff’s guide to the forces that have shaped Spain’s capital.
A brief crawl around Madrid’s most historic bars
There’s a reason why Madrid’s most historic bars are still in business. After finding the right formula for success, these places have stuck to doing what they know best. Sometimes it doesn’t do to change with the times! Casa Labra There are some bars that, rather than advertise their existence, seem to actively discourage new clientele….
Why are true Madrileños called gatos?
What is a gato? Gato means cat in Spanish but in Madrid, it also refers to someone who can count their ancestry back two generations within the city. This means that both their parents and grandparents were born and raised here. While there’s a little bit of debate on whether this should be on both sides…
How Paris Has Shaped Madrid
Bonjour à tous! This latest missive from The Making of Madrid comes to you from Paris. Summer in Madrid is way too hot for me and my Guardian opinion piece on the destruction of trees in Madrid has made things even hotter! My critique of the local government’s policy seems to have stirred up a small…
Street Signs in Madrid: a Brief History
The beautiful tiled street signs in Madrid are one of the city’s most distinctive features and reproductions of them are sold by the bucket-load to tourists looking to take some souvenir of their stay back with them. But did you know that these iconic tiles only date as far back as the 1990s? What might surprise…
Watch or Listen to the Podcast
Prefer to listen to content? Then check out The Making of Madrid podcast.
Recent blog posts
Guide to Malasaña: Madrid’s Alternative Neighbourhood
Away from the tourist traps of Sol, lies Malasaña, a graffiti-spattered yet elegant neighbourhood filled with achingly cool boutique shops and hidden treasures. Once seedy and even a little dangerous, it’s been transformed for better and worse in the past few years by gentrification, making it a safer, yet increasingly chichi destination. While its heart is…
Your Complete 3-Day Madrid Itinerary
Visiting Madrid for the first time? Then this is the post for you! In it, I’ll present a three-day itinerary that’ll give you a flavour of the city and hopefully leave you coming back for more! As everyone is different, it has lots of options for you to adapt it to your needs. On day one,…
A Guide to El Rastro: Madrid’s Legendary Flea Market
Tumbling down the hill in downtown Madrid, El Rastro flea market is chaotic, historic, and endlessly entertaining. So if you’re planning a trip to Madrid, I’d put it right up there alongside the Prado as one of those experiences you absolutely can’t miss (for more on getting the most out of a short trip, check out…
Where to Stay in Madrid: A Local’s Guide to the Best Neighborhoods
Originally published 8 December 2025 As a tour guide and Lonely Planet guidebook writer, I’ve been pounding Madrid’s streets for more than a decade, exploring not only its busy grand boulevards but also its charming quieter corners. So I’m a good person to ask about accommodation options if you’re a first timer with only a few…
Journalism by Felicity Hughes
Felicity Hughes has written about Madrid for major publications, including Lonely Planet, the Guardian, the Financial Times and Time Out. Here are a few examples of her work:
Tours
Felicity Hughes can be hired as a guide to the city. Check the guided tours page to see if she’s available. Or consider getting one of her Voicemap audio guides.
Tour Reviews
