Holiday
Hero
EVERY week our Holiday Hero
NEIL SIMPSON takes an in-depth
look at a brilliant holiday topic,
doing all the legwork so you
don’t have to. This week:
minibreaks in Madrid, the late-
night capital of Europe.
COOLER days and long, deliciously
warm evenings make September
the perfect time for a city break
in Madrid (currently drying out
after flash floods last week). But
locals say their city only really
wakes up when the sun goes down,
so it’s no place for travellers who
like early nights. Here’s how to
make the most of Madrid up to –
and after – midnight.
START WITH THE ART: Madrid
doesn’t have a tradition of regular
late-night openings at its big
museums. But it does offer free
entry if you go in the last few hours
before closing. Tickets for the
world-beating Prado, with its
Goyas, El Grecos and Titians, cost
£14 in the day. But fees are waived
between 6pm and 8pm Monday to
Saturday and from 5pm to 8pm on
Sundays. Or check out Picasso’s
Guernica and the Dali, Le Corbus-
ier and other collections at the
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Day-
time tickets cost £9 but entry is
free between 7pm and 9pm every
day except Tuesday and Sunday.GET ON THE MOVE: Daytime walk-
ing tours can be uncomfortably hot
in Madrid right into the autumn. So
the two-and-a-half-hour Walking
Tour At Night from introducing
madrid.com (£6.40) can be a more
pleasant experience. The tour
starts at 9pm three times a week –
and over-18s with tour tickets get
free entry to selected city centreclubs after the walk. If you want
to cover more ground as the light
fades, then pull on the high-vis
jacket supplied with a two-hour
guided Segway tour starting at
8pm, bookable through getyour
guide.com (£28). Or follow an
actor in gothic dress on a ‘horrible
histories’ style Ghost And Spanish
Inquisition tour from 8.30pm with
mysteriumtours.com (£18).TAKE TO THE ROOF: Madrid is a
city of rooftop bars and restaurantsand they fill up fast just before sun-
set and stay busy till the early hours.
Most city-centre hotels have roof
space for guests and visitors. Radio
restaurant at ME Madrid Reina Vic-
toria is open until 3am, or sit by the
pool on the tenth floor of the Emper-
ador hotel (sunset guided tours
take place on Wednesdays) where
the Sky Bar is open until 2am.GRAB A MIDNIGHT SNACK: Res-
taurants open late and take last
orders into the small hours, soyou’re unlikely to go hungry in
Madrid. Start your night with a
three-hour evening wine tour with
secretfoodtours.com that includes
four different venues and seven
wine tastings (£44). Then go it alone
and visit the 100-year-old cast-iron
Mercado de San Miguel, the city-
centre food market where stalls
sell Iberian ham, bread, perfect pas-
tries and more till midnight in the
week and 1am at weekends. Too
early? Head to the even more his-
toric Chocolateria de San Gines. It’s
been selling hot chocolate and chur-
ros since 1894 and is open 24 hours.DANCE TILL DAWN: Locals call
themselves ‘los gatos’ – the cats –
because they like to stay out all
night. So the city is perfect for bar-
hopping and clubbers. It has plenty
of world-famous mega-clubs such
as Fabrik and Teatro Kapital. But
look at timeout.com/madrid for each
week’s most cutting-edge venues.Revel in Madrid’s darker side
open all
hours: Head
to Mercado
de San Miguel,
left, or grab
a late-night
hot chocolate
and churros,
above, at
Chocolateria
ALAMY de San Gines(^74) Holidays^ The Mail on sunday^ September 1^ •^2019