All our Practical & tips guides for Madrid, in one place.
How Madrid's low-emission zone works in 2026, what it means for a Spanish hire car and for a foreign-plated one, and how to avoid an automatic fine.
How to move around Madrid: the rechargeable card, which pass is worth it, the zone boundary that catches people out, Cercanias for day trips and taxis.
Free museum hours, a traditional weekday set lunch, a flat walkable centre and cheap public transport. Where the money actually goes in Madrid.
What a policy needs for a Spain trip: how state healthcare treats visitors on different passports, rental car excess, cancellation cover and theft cover.
From Barajas into central Madrid: the metro and its airport supplement, the all-night express bus, the fixed-fare taxi, and which terminal matters.
What to save before you travel: the European emergency number, local police lines, how Spanish pharmacies work, and what the EHIC and GHIC cover.
How entering Spain works for Madrid: who travels visa free and for how long, the rolling Schengen count, the biometric border and passport validity.
Madrid's big museums open free in the last hours of the day. What that is like, which museums offer it, how early to arrive, and when paying is better.
The city sits on a dry plateau and July afternoons are brutal. Locals restructure the day around the heat, and the day they build is a good one.
Madrid is a safe city with a specific and well organised theft problem, concentrated in about six places. Knowing which six solves most of it.