Madrileños are a vigorous, joyful lot, famous for their ability to defy the need for sleep: They embrace their city's vibrant cultural offerings and make enthusiastic use of its bars and cafés. Match this energy and you'll take in Madrid's museum mile, with more masterpieces per square foot than anywhere else in the world; the palaces and boutiques of regal Madrid; the dark, narrow lanes of medieval Madrid; and the real action, Madrid after midnight.Life in Madrid is lived in the crowded streets and the noisy cafés, where talking, toasting, and tapa-tasting last long into the night. The city's endless energy is hard to resist, and its sociable style invites you to jump right in. 

The first thing you notice here may be the bright blue sky, as immortalized in the paintings of Velázquez. Despite 20th-century pollution, that sky is still much in evidence thanks to breezes that sweep down from the Guadarrama mountains, blowing away the urban smog. 

Modern-day Madrid sprawls northward in block after block of dreary, high-rise brick apartment and office buildings. The population of three million is also moving into surrounding villages and new suburbs, creating traffic problems in and around the city. These new quarters and many of Madrid's crumbling old residential neighborhoods may seem unprepossessing, but don't be put off by first impressions. Much of the city's appeal comes from its vivacious people and the electricity they generate, whether at play in bars and clubs or at work in Spain's finance, advertising, television, and film industries, all headquartered here. 

Poised on a plateau 2,120 ft above sea level, Madrid is the highest capital in Europe. It can thus be one of the world's hottest cities in summer, and freezing cold in winter. Spring and summer are the best times to visit, but each season has its own charms: In winter, steamy café windows and all-night street festivals beckon, and the famous blue skies are particularly crisp and bright. That's when Madrid, as the local bumper stickers will tell you, is the next best place to heaven. 

DMC Companies

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• Citytravel
• Euromotivation
• Intersol
• Latitud 4 Destination Management

Summary|Barcelona|Madrid