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Retiro
Your quiet and green seclude
Overview
Artwork and rose gardens.
Crystal palaces and parks.
Living in Retiro, you have all these things and more at your fingertips.
It's home to the titanic Retiro Park. Locals call it the "green lung of Madrid." It's very designed, very elegant, and more than a little romantic. A Spanish Juliet and her Romeo have no doubt stolen a kiss on the shady path between the fir trees and lake.
It's also the best place you can go to relax, eat a picnic, stretch out on the grass and take your Saturday-afternoon siesta.
Retiro is central, but without the rush of normal Madrid life. So if you seek a quiet and beauty, come to Retiro.
What can I do here?
Shop till seven at the local boutiques.
Admire Velazquez and Goya paintings in the Prado Museum. The last 2 hours of each day, you get in free.
By now your feet will be sore, so meet your friends for dinner and drinks. Cibeles Palace is a good choice. The 6th floor is a rooftop terrace.
If it's a full stomach you're after, consider Alfredo's Barbacoa: barbecued steaks, chili con carne and juicy 250 g burgers. The meat is from bull calves fattened for 48 months. Delicious.
On Sunday you belong in Parque del Buen Retiro. It's a genteel 350-acre park, one of Europe's best. You'll find squirrels, migratory birds and 15,000 shady trees. One of them, a 400-year-old cypress, is the oldest in Madrid.
Monuments and sculptures surround you:
You can also row an iconic blue boat across the green waters of the park lake. Say hi to the ducks and terrapins for us.
There's a lot here.
Artistic fact
In Retiro Park, you can see the famous Fountain of the Fallen Angel, one of the only depictions of Satan worldwide. Avant-garde.
How affordable is this neighbourhood?
€€–€€€ (mid-range–expensive)
