Visitor Information

Tourist Offices

You can begin your info search with Spain's tourist offices (www.okspain.org).

In The United States -- For information before you go, contact the Tourist Office of Spain, 666 Fifth Ave., Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10103 (tel. 212/265-8822). It can provide sightseeing information, events calendars, train and ferry schedules, and more. Branches of the Tourist Office of Spain are also located at: 8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 956, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 (tel. 323/658-7188); 845 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 915E, Chicago, IL 60611 (tel. 312/642-1992); and 1221 Brickell Ave., Ste. 1850, Miami, FL 33131 (tel. 305/358-1992).

In Canada -- Contact the Tourist Office of Spain, 102 Bloor St. W., Ste. 3402, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1M9, Canada (tel. 416/961-3131).

In the U.K. -- Write to the Spanish National Tourist Office, 22-23 Manchester Sq., London W1M 5AP (tel. 020/7486-8077).

In Madrid -- The Patronato Municipal de Turismo, Calle Mayor 69 (tel. 91-588-29-00; Mon-Fri 9am-2pm) will provide you with up-to-date information on what to do and where to go in the Spanish capital.

Other tourist offices providing free maps and information can be found at Duque de Medinaceli 2, Barajas Airport, Puerta de Toledo, and the Atocha and Chamartín rail stations. Opening hours vary. The main Madrid Office of Tourism (Oficina Municipal de Información y Turismo) is at Plaza Mayor 3 (tel. 91-588-16-36; Metro: Sol), and is open Monday to Friday 10am to 8pm, and Saturday 10am to 3pm.

Maps

The tourist offices can also supply you with free pocket-size maps of the city. Metro stations will in turn provide you with a free, up-to-date map of the ever-changing underground and suburban railway systems (the latter is known as the cercanías and divided into different price-colored zones).

You can buy larger and more detailed city maps in newspaper kiosks and in the bookshop section of stores like the Corte Inglés or FNAC, in the central Calle Preciados, near the Callao metro station, for around 5€ ($8).