Madrid - cool places to go
Night life in Madrid
There’s no real need to tell you where the night life is in Madrid: if you don’t find it, you can be sure that it will find you. Due to the warm climate, most of the people at night go around the streets, stopping at bars for a drink or two, and chatting outside, so it’s not very difficult to find the places where people are having fun. There’s a huge number of bars, clubs and restaurants of every kind, and especially in the most popular districts you will receive a lot of advertisement and flyers that advertise places and venues, especially strip clubs.
The most famous district for clubs and drinking is Malasaña, which is the area around the eponymous Calle Manuela Malasaña; if you like world music, you have probably heard it mentioned (in very good terms) in a Manu Chao song. The first night you go out in Madrid, that’s were you want to go.
Most interesting areas and districts
Lavapiés
This southern district is one of the most beautiful and fascinating in Madrid. Unlike many other central districts, its lower-class population has not moved to the suburbs, and is still a vibrant place where you can find a mixture of local population, immigrants from all over the world, and a lot of good Arab restaurants. If you are attracted by the melting pots of big cities, and you don’t mind a little mess, it is a great place to go.
La Gran Vía
This is the main street of Madrid, full of cinemas, fast food restaurants, expensive shops and tourist traps. It is always crowded with people strolling around, and is the place where the local people meet and show off.
Chueca
It used to be one of the poor districts of the city, but now it is a place inhabited by immigrants and students, and is full of clubs and bars. At night, it turns into one of the areas with the highest density of venues and clubs, and is home of a very lively gay community.
Parque Del Buen Retiro
If you want to relax, this is a great place. It is the typical big park that exists in every big city, with families strolling around, in the weekends it gets so crowded that it’s hard to move. There are many buskers, there are people playing chess in the open air, there’s a skating and bike track, and a beautiful building in iron and glass, called Palacio de Cristal (Crystal Palace), which is used for temporary exhibitions.
El Rastro - Madrid’s most famous flea market
This market takes place every Sunday morning, and starts from Puerta de Toledo and ends in Plaza de Tirso de Molina, so it occupies most of the La Latina quarter, which is one of the most beautiful in Madrid. While in the 80s it used to be a wilder place, with a lot of unusual second-hand clothes, antiques, books and assorted trash, it is not as genuine any more, is full of tourists and second-hand stalls are getting rare. Nevertheless, it is a big market in a very nice setting, so it is well worth a visit.
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