A weekend city break in Madrid

A much-loved destination for Brits, Madrid still retains an utterly Spanish character and offers some of the country's best gourmet and cultural experiences to visitors.

A weekend trip in summer for blazing sunshine, spring or autumn for more temperate weather or in winter to avoid the crowds should be long enough to cover the main attractions and still leave you yearning for more.

Madrid is a vibrant, medium-sized city with good public transport links ensuring you will be able to get to most areas of interest from wherever you stay.

Plus the brand new airport is a 25-minute connection by Metro to the centre making a Friday evening ideal for arrival, still leaving time for tapas and drinks.

Spaniards are well known for their late night fiestas, particularly well reflected in Madrid's nightlife. On Friday nights Café Central has a live jazz band for a blinder of an evening (just make sure you get there early), well worth the €14 entry. Clubbing in Madrid will appeal to any taste of music and goes on well into the morning hours.

A Saturday afternoon could see you visiting the world famous Museo Nacional del Prado with some of Europe's most prized artworks, a must-see for culture and art lovers.

Going further afield, Madrid has plenty of free galleries boasting equally interesting works by lesser-known artists. One such gem is the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art in the former Conde Duque barracks, which has over 200 works to enjoy.

Eating out in Madrid is an adventure in its own right. For traditional Spanish cuisine head down to La Paella de Reina (Calle Reina 39) which offers the classic dish, fantastic seafood and sangria.

For a lighter bite and a lively atmosphere check out Taberna Kaixo on Calle Barcelona which offers a range of tapas and great daily specials. If you are after something different try Janamoto (Calle Reina 27), one of Madrid's original Japanese fusion restaurants still run by the family who originally set it up.

Shopping in Madrid tends be another late affair. Most tend to stay open until around 22:00 or 23:00 (as a result of their long lunchtime closures) and heave with shoppers until the very last minute. Calle de Fuencarral is one of Madrid's most lively shopping streets for fashion, accessories, gifts and more from both well-known chain stores and designer boutiques.

For bargain hunters and those after something original, El Rastro open air market located between La Latina and Calle de Toledo Metro stations on Sundays is a dream come true where you will find plenty of stalls selling hand-crafted gifts alongside antiques and second hand fashion.

After the madness, drop by Bar Santurce (Calle Amazonas 14) like one of the locals – you will not eat better calamari anywhere else.

You can then wrap up the weekend with a walk in one Madrid's beautiful parks.

The Retiro is reminiscent of a mini Central Park whilst the enormous Casa de Campo features cable cars, an amusement park and even a temple given to Spain by the Egyptians (Temple Debod).

In fact, you could dedicate a whole weekend just to exploring the Casa de Campo - which may leave needing to plan when you will be making your next weekend break to Madrid.

Olja Pavlovsky