Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Welcome to the Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Destination Guides

bthere! Destination guides

Previous issues for Madrid

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy,
please confirm event/venue details in advance.

Spain : Madrid - August 2009

Country Code: Dial for Spain

The variety of the dance, music and theatre on throughout August as part of the festival Veranos de la Villa (on until 23 August) is one of Madrid’s best-kept secrets. The outdoor concerts, ranging from tango to orchestral music, are a great way to enjoy the warm summer nights. Sarah Morris finds plenty to like about the Spanish capital this month

Getting around

Barajas Airport

Bus: There are regular buses from the airport to Avenida de America (which connects with Metro lines 4, 6, 7 and 9) until 11pm. The journey takes between 30 minutes and an hour (emtmadrid.es).
Train: Terminal 4 is covered by line 8 of the metro system. The journey to the city centre takes about 45 minutes and a single ticket costs €2.
Taxi: The journey to the centre takes around 20 minutes and costs around €28 (which includes the taxis’ airport charge of €5,25).
Tourist information: The main office is at 27 Plaza Mayor (tel. , www.turismomadrid.es) but there’s also an information stand at Terminal 1.

MALASAÑA AND CONDE DUQUE

Take a stroll around the streets between Calle Fuencarral and San Bernardo, which are lined with attractive stone houses with wroughtiron balconies. Plaza del Dos de Mayo is the place to grab a table in the sun.

Culture vultures – A former army barracks, the enormous Centro Cultural Conde Duque (9-11 Calle Conde Duque) holds outdoor concerts on its patio and free exhibitions inside.

Must eat – Get to La Musa (18 Calle Manuela Malasaña, tel. ) before 9pm. By 9.30pm it’ll be heaving with those partial to its venison kebabs, barbecued meats and fried green tomatoes with goat’s cheese.

Must drink – Enjoy a beer or a coffee in the belle epoque atmosphere of Café Comercial (7 Glorieta de Bilbao). It’s one of the oldest cafés in Madrid and holds games of chess upstairs.

Shop til you drop – Delight anyone back home who is learning Spanish with a T-shirt from inventive La Tipo (7 Calle Conde Duque).

CHUECA

Madrid’s gay area is the friendliest and youngest-feeling part of the city, with some of the best boutiques and most original bars and restaurants.

Sleep soundly – Located on a square straddling the Chueca neighbourhood and Gran Via, Room Mate Óscar (12 Plaza de Vázquez de Mella, tel. , room-matehotels.com, rooms from €80) is the hotel of choice for committed clubbers. All the rooms have bold print duvets and pictures of attractive torsos above the beds.

Must eat – Sit at the bar in Baco y Beto (24 Calle Pelayo, tel. ) for the best view of the blackboard of imaginative tapas for you to try. If you’re lucky, chef Beto will have made some plantain tartlets stuffed with refried beans, prawns and avocados; if not, indulge in some cava (served by the glass) with duck in tequila and soy sauce.

Dance the night away – Housed in a former flamenco tablao, Polana (10 Calle de Barbieri) is a gay nightclub that’s very hetero-friendly and plays a contagious mix of international and Spanish pop and salsa.

Shop til you drop – The line of small stores along Calle de Augusto Figueroa makes the street a shoe-lover’s paradise. Look out for bargain out-of-season pairs in the shops here.

SOL

In the heart of Madrid, the historic streets around Sol are the place to prowl for stand-up tapas rather than sit-down meals.

Sleep soundly – The rooms at the minimalist Chic & Basic Colors (14 Calle Huertas, tel. , chicandbasic.com, rooms from €55) eschew the threadbare bedspreads and grandmother style of so many basic Spanish hotels.

Must eat – The young couple who run Museo del Vino Madrid (4 Calle Núñez De Arce, tel. ) offer little white plates of complementary tapas with the glasses of wine. As well as providing an excellent selection of wines, there is also a restaurant downstairs serving a range of traditional Spanish dishes cooked with top-quality ingredients.

Must drink – The only drink served in La Venencia (7 Calle Echegaray) is sherry, along with strong manchego cheese, olives and good cured meats.

Dance the night away – Elaborate tiling, old pictures and mirrors give bar-slash-club Viva Madrid (Calle Manuel Fernandez y Gonzalez) the feel of a Toulouse-Lautrec poster. It also serves some of the best mojitos in the city, which are best enjoyed on the outside terrace.

Shop til you drop – Calle Preciados and the adjoining pedestrianised streets offer a good cross-section of Spanish high-street stores in one place, including El Corte Inglés (1-4 Calle Preciados) and Zara (18 Calle Preciados). For really original design, head to Hoss Intropia (19 Tetuán).

Compiled by Sarah Morris

Previous issues for Madrid

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy,
please confirm event/venue details in advance.

Find cheap flights to Madrid | Book your flight to Madrid