The city of Madrid is divided in districts, which are divided in 'barrios' (neighbourhoods). Some of the most popular are:

Gran Vía: Gran Via is one of the most important avenues in Madrid. It is famous for its amazing number of shops, musical shows and cinemas.

Opera: where you can find Madrid’s main Opera house - the beautiful Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) and the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). In the Palacio Real there are some valuable masterpieces of Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Italian artist, 1571–1610), El Greco (Dominikos Theotokópoulos, Cretan Greek painter, sculptor and architect, 1541–1614), Velazquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, Spanish painter, 1599–1660), Goya (Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Spanish painter, 1746–1828), among many others.

Atocha: where you can visit the famous Reina Sofia Museum. The lively Atocha Railway Station is also located in this well-known Madrid neighborhood.

Chueca: one of the most cosmopolitan and fashion districts, also famous for being the gay district of Madrid.

Lavapiés: a bohemian area with large immigrant’s population. Here you can find many cheap and international restaurants and shops.

La Latina: the charming old part of the city where you can find beautiful churches - like Iglesia de San Francisco el Grande and Iglesia de San Andres – and the famous flea-market of Madrid called El Rastro.

AZCA / Nuevos Ministerios: a financial area where you can admire some amazing skyscrapers like Torre Europa (Europe Tower) and Torre Picasso (Picasso Tower). Also, you can go shopping in the huge building of El Corte Inglés (from Barajas Airport you can take the metro line 8 – stop Nuevos Ministerios).

Malasaña: an area with lively Madrid’s nightlife. Full of bars, discotheques and young people hanging out in the popular Plaza 2 de Mayo (2 de Mayo Square).

Retiro: typical Madrid neighborhood where you can find the Retiro Park. You can also visit Jerónimos, a beautiful area with lovely buildings and museums like the Prado.

Las Huertas: in this artistic Madrid neighborhood you can find the house of Cervantes (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spanish novelist and poet, famous for the novel Don Quijote de la Mancha, 1547–1616). It also has very lively nightlife and bars where you can enjoy ‘la movida Madrileña’.