Active Pursuits

Golf

Golf is not cheap in Madrid, where it still has the faint aura of an elitist activity. (Weekends are particularly expensive so avoid them if you can.) Among the few venues around the capital, the best is the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid (Madrid Country Club; Carretera de Castilla Km 2; tel. 91-550-08-40; http://clubdemadrid.com), which has a challenging par-71 course. This is a full-fledged sports center with tennis, squash, horseback-riding, pigeon shooting, and a swimming pool among its other facilities.

Another topnotch venue, located on the eastern outskirts of Madrid between the Juan Carlos Exhibition Halls and Barajas airport, is the Club de Golf Olivar de la Hinojosa (Avenida de Dublin s/n, Campo de la Naciones; tel. 91-721-18-89; http://golfolivar.com), which has one 9-hole course and one 18-hole course. You'll need a handicap card to play there.

Tennis

You'll find reasonably priced courts for hire (around 4€/$5 per hour) at large polideportivos (multifacility sports centers) run by the Madrid municipality. Casa del Campo (tel. 91-464-91-67), Barrio del Pilar, Barrio de la Concepción, and La Elipa are among the main locales. Private courts with high membership fees and court fees are also available at the Club de Tenis de Chamartín (tel. 91-345-25-00; www.ctchamartin.es).

Swimming

There's a good choice of municipal pools run by the Instituto Municipal de Deportes (tel. 010 for info on areas and rates; www.imd.es). Their best indoor pool is the Olympic-size one at Chamartín (tel. 91-350-12-23), which closes in August but is open the rest of the year. Smaller is the centrally located indoor La Latina pool (tel. 91-365-80-31). During the summer months from June to August the municipality has a wider variety of good-size open-air pools. Among the best are those at La Elipa and Lago. The Comunidad de Madrid also runs a popular summer pool at Canal de Isabel II (tel. 91-533-96-42) in Chamberí.

Keeping Fit

If you want to stay trim in order to do justice to the sights, many hotels either have their own facilities or have agreements with private clubs for clients to use their facilities. One of the best-run of these is the Bodhidharma in the southerly suburb of Embajadores (tel. 91-517-28-16).

Walking

The Guadarrama mountains are nearer than you think. Just 1 hour and 20 minutes by suburban train from Chamartín takes you to the town of Cercedilla, which has an information center and six graded trails in them thar hills. Another fine walking spot -- reached by bus from Plaza de Castilla -- is Manzanares el Real, with its beautiful and dramatic La Pedriza park, where many scenes from the Charlton Heston '60s epic El Cid were filmed.

Horseback Riding

The closest place for taking to the saddle is the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid sports complex on the edge of the leafy Casa del Campo park. At the nearby upmarket suburb of Pozuelo, you can also hire horses by the hour or day at the Escuela de Equitación Pozuelo. Further countryside riding facilities are available at outlying towns such as Cercedilla and Manzanares el Real.

Skiing

The most popular resort near Madrid for this strictly midwinter activity (Nov-Feb) is Puerto de Navacerrada, with its 15 ski slopes and chairlift up to the 2,100m (7,000-ft.) Bola del Mundo. Valdesqui near Cotos has 24 slopes and usually the best snow, while Valcotos has the most attractive setting. For up-to-date details on skiing accommodations, locations, and snow conditions around Madrid in general, contact ATUDEM (tel. 91-350-20-20). They only speak Spanish, so you may want to get someone (your concierge, for example) to help translate. Skiing conditions are generally limited; for many the main pleasure in such outings is seeing the beautiful surrounding countryside covered in a white blanket of snow.