Neighborhoods in Brief

Madrid can be divided into three principal districts: The old traditional Center, with the Puerta del Sol and Gran Vía at its heart and surrounding 17th-century Austrias and castizo Argüelles, Chueca, Malasaña, Chamberí, and Lavapiés districts all offering the most tourist interest; the newer Ensanche area, which includes the classy Salamanca barrio and cosmopolitan Castellana avenue and features some of the best shops and hotels; and the Periphery, which contains modern suburbs ranging from easterly Ciudad Lineal to the burgeoning northern area of Sanchinarro, and is of little interest to visitors.

The Center

The Austrias & Plaza Mayor With its alleys and tiny plazas, the Austrias quarter was named after the 17th-century monarchs of Spain and contains the city's most evocative churches. In 1617 the Plaza Mayor became its hub, and today is one of the key nighttime centers of tourist activity. Filled with taverns and bars, it is bounded by Calle Mayor, Cava de San Miguel, and Calle de la Cruz. Westwards from the Plaza the above-mentioned Arco de Cuchilleros is filled with Castilian restaurants and taverns; while cavelike touristy locales called mesones -- hewn into the base of Cava de San Miguel's old five-story buildings at the northern end of the plaza -- provide wine, tapas, and musical entertainment.

Puerta del Sol Just east of the Plaza Mayor, the semicircular "Gateway to the Sun" is no less thronged with visitors at night, though its attractions are more peripheral, ranging from the shops and department stores of northerly traffic-free Preciados to the countless array of bars and nightspots lining the narrow alleys of the southerly Huertas district.

Gran Vía/Plaza de España Gran Vía is the city's main street, limned with cinemas, department stores, and the headquarters of banks and corporations. It ends at the Plaza de España, where bronze figures of Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, are set in a park beside a fountain overlooked by the stark 1950s Torre España and Edificio Europa buildings.

Argüelles/Moncloa Just to the northeast of Plaza España is Argüelles, a compact barrio of narrow, crisscrossing lanes sandwiched between promenade-like Pintor Rosales (which runs along the edge of the Parque del Oeste) and the shop-filled Calle Princesa, which leads up to Moncloa. The latter is home to the kitsch '50s Ministerio del Aire building and a huge university campus area bounded by the green recreational zones of Puerta de Hierro to the north and Cea Bermúdez and Bravo Murillo avenues to the east. Students haunt its cafes, tascas, and more recently, its wine bars.

Chueca This old, atmospheric area north of the Gran Vía includes the narrow streets of Hortaleza, Infantas, Barquillo, and San Lucas. It's the center of Madrid's gay scene, with dozens of clubs and restaurants of all price ranges and nationalities. At night the whole area is very lively, especially in the tiny main square.

Malasaña Centered around the famed (but innocuous) Plaza Dos de Mayo, this traditional barrio is named for a teenage seamstress, Manuela Malasaña, who became an unwitting martyr for the Spanish cause during the Peninsula War, when the scissors she was carrying for her work were interpreted as a lethal weapon by the occupying French forces and she was summarily tried and executed. Its grid system of narrow, crisscrossed, lanes is bordered by traditional (and now largely renovated) 19th-century buildings. Its many music bars are patronized at night by hard rock and grunge fans.

Chamberí Though actually built in the late 19th century outside the old city walls, this formerly working-class zone is neither grungy nor gay like its southern neighbors but more low-keyed and upmarket. The focal point is the circular Plaza Olavide. This barrio offers an attractive selection of restaurants, bookshops, art galleries, and museums, such as the charming Museo Sorolla.

Lavapiés In decay until a few decades back, this former medieval working-class quarter south of the Plaza Mayor (earlier mentioned as the barrios bajos) has seen many of its lanes turned into pedestrian zones, houses tastefully converted into studio flats, and a polyglot ambience born out of the recent influx of immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East. The neighborhood, a blend of the international and earthy bohemian, has become one of the most evocative and stimulating in Madrid.

The Ensanche

Salamanca Quarter Ever since Madrid's city walls came tumbling down in the 1860s, the district of Salamanca to the east has been one of the most fashionable places to live in Madrid. Calle Serrano marks the western border of this neighborhood and is lined with international shops, stores, and boutiques. The U.S. Embassy is located halfway up the avenue, close to the Lázaro Galdiano Museum.

Castellana/Recoletos/Paseo del Prado Not a real city district, this long continuous avenue is Madrid's north-south axis, its name changing along the way. In summer its large medians serve as home to open-air terraces filled with animated crowds. Many restaurants and hotels are located both on it and along its side streets. The Castellana is the longest and most modern section, descending from Plaza Castilla to Colon Square and including the skyscraper AZCA business center, the huge Santiago Bernabeu soccer stadium, and a choice of top hotels en route. Shorter and more intimate is Recoletos, linking Colon with Cibeles. Its central median is often reserved for antique book fairs, and its most famous buildings include the National Library and the Gran Café de Gijón. Leading from Cibeles down to Atocha, the Paseo del Prado is the elegant final stretch. Tree-shaded and maturely beautiful, it's home to such incomparable city gems as the Neptune statue, the Bolsa (Stock Exchange), the Ritz hotel, the Museo del Prado, and the Botanical Gardens.

The Periphery

Ciudad Lineal This was originally envisioned as the progressive face of Madrid, and its elegant, tree-lined outer avenue is named after its idealistic 19th-century planner Arturo Soria. Today the rest of the district's "attractions" -- more crassly commercial than classy -- are centered on the large Alcalanorte commercial complex. Unfortunately, there's little here to make the visitor stop en route to two of the city's best parks, El Capricho and Juan Carlos 1.

Sanchinarro This neighborhood is the still-unfinished face of 21st-century Madrid. Its ultra-modern apartments are grouped around a giant Corte Inglés center, and new rail services including the tren ligero are scheduled to link it with the center and further outlying new areas such as Las Tablas by spring 2007.