Madrid
A landlocked capital that eats late and lives outdoors, with more tapas bars per block than anywhere else in Spain.
Madrid has no coastline and no single monument doing the city's talking for it — it runs on its bars instead, especially the old ones clustered around Centro and Chamberí that have been serving the same few dishes for a century. Summers get properly hot; spring and autumn are when the terraces fill up.
Logged in Madrid
Bodega de la Ardosa
Madrid, SpainA barrel-stacked Centro tavern open since 1892, known for hot vermouth and a crowd that never seems to change.
Café Gijón
Madrid, SpainAn 1888 café on the Paseo de Recoletos that became the meeting place of Spain's post-war writers, with poets' tertulias at its tables.
Casa Ricardo
Madrid, SpainA Chamberí institution serving a set table and a slow-cooked stew that tastes like old Madrid.
Casa Toni
Madrid, SpainA loud, crowded Centro tapas bar built around offal and tripe, with regulars who've been coming for decades.
Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid
Madrid, SpainThe 1910 Ritz that Alfonso XIII personally commissioned after finding Madrid had nowhere grand enough for his wedding guests.
Where to stay in Madrid
Stays shown via Stay22 — booking through the map supports the log.
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Casa Ricardo
Madrid, SpainA Chamberí institution serving a set table and a slow-cooked stew that tastes like old Madrid.
Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid
Madrid, SpainThe 1910 Ritz that Alfonso XIII personally commissioned after finding Madrid had nowhere grand enough for his wedding guests.
Parador de Lerma
Lerma, SpainThe 17th-century ducal palace built by the Duke of Lerma on Lerma's main square, now a state-run Parador.
Lerma
A ducal town on the Arlanza built almost entirely under one 17th-century duke, still barely on the way to anywhere.