Right at the heart of the Spanish nation, the booming and buzzing metropolis of Madrid continues to pump with energy and action more than 2,500 years after the Visigoth tribesmen and Roman jet setters of Hispania first made their mark on the banks of Manzanares River.
This is a land of aromatic tapas bars, labyrinthine super clubs, a Royal Palace and vast palatial villas, and endless exhibition centres laden with masterworks bearing the names of Picasso and Monet and Goya. This is where Cervantes penned his epic Quixote narratives; where St Francis of Assisi rested while on his Pilgrimages through Iberia; and where you simply cannot afford to miss your cultural fix.  Be sure to ask your Madrid tourist guide for tips on the literary Barrio de las Letras, the famed Museum Triangle and the grand churches of the Plaza Mayor.
Then there’s Madrid’s nightlife—nothing short of legendary the Continent over. Begin early on, with some plates of mezze tapas in the hole-in-the-wall joints of downtown, heading later for the Gran Via clubs or the wine bars of La Latina.