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.
A Wine Lover’s Guide to Drinking in Madrid
Madrid is an excellent place to enjoy wine, not only because of the variety on offer but also because of the unbeatable prices. It’s a subject that came up when I recently interviewed Luke Darracott for my podcast. “Spain and actually, I would say Portugal are probably the best two in the world for price to…
How to Survive Summer in Madrid
Updated 19 May 2025 You’re coming to Madrid in August for your summer holidays, hombre, are you crazy? – would be the typical response a Madrileño would give you if they heard your travel plans. They know from bitter experience that this delightful city turns into a furnace during summer. Anyone in their right mind ought…
Madrid for Foodies
Madrid’s culinary scene is constantly evolving, and there’s no better guide to the city’s food than Joy, a tour guide and Instagram star who has spent years exploring its markets, restaurants, and tapas bars. I recently interviewed her for my podcast, which you can listen to below but if you’re short on time, here’s a roundup…
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,…
Neighbourhood Guides
Trying to work out what parts of the city to explore? These posts will guide you through Madrid’s neighbourhoods.
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…
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…
New Audio Tour of the City’s Muslim Origins
Think you know Madrid? Think again. Beneath the grand boulevards and baroque palaces lies a city with a very different origin story—one that’s largely hidden from view. My new audio tour with Voicemap, Medieval Madrid: A Guide to the City’s Muslim Past, peels back the layers of time to reveal a forgotten history that begins not…
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…
Hidden Gems
My guide to Madrid, away from the crowds. For more on the city’s tranquil side, check out my book Quiet Madrid.
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…
Madrid’s Hidden Gem: Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
The big news at The Making of Madrid is that there’s a new podcast in the works. When the project was conceived, the very first person I wanted to interview was historian Caroline Fish – not only because she was about to leave for the States but also because she’s such an engaging speaker. A Fulbright…
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 Most Underrated Attractions
Madrid is full of world-famous attractions, but if you only stick to the big hitters, you’ll miss out on some of the city’s most fascinating spots. For every overcrowded tourist trap, there’s a dusty but delightful museum waiting to be discovered. It’s a topic I tackle in my latest podcast, which you can listen to by…
Popular Madrid History Posts
A history buff’s guide to the forces that have shaped Spain’s capital.
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…
Key Moments in Madrid’s History: For Whom the Bell Tolls
San Pedro el Viejo and Madrid’s Muslim past Legends about Madrid’s dark past have long echoed through the city’s medieval streets, giving us flashes of insight into the city’s collective psyche. One of these legends involves a church nestled in the heart of historic La Latina. San Pedro el Viejo (or San Pedro el Real) sits…
Three Myths About the Spanish Inquisition
Challenging the Myths of the Spanish Inquisition Founded in 1478 to root out false Jewish converts to Christianity, the Spanish Inquisition was a bloodthirsty organization that killed between 5,000 and 10,000 people during its 350-year existence. Given these horrifying statistics, it might seem odd to say that the Spanish Inquisition wasn’t quite as bad as it…
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…
Watch or Listen to the Podcast
Prefer to listen to content? Then check out The Making of Madrid podcast.
Recent blog posts
Audio Tour of Retiro
I’m delighted to announce that after months of hard work, my audio tour produced in collaboration with Voicemap has been launched. If you’re interested in finding out more here’s my sales pitch: Visiting Madrid and want to find out more about the history of its most famous park? Why not buy my audio tour of Retiro?…
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…
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
