Loco2 recommends

• Spain's Delicatessen

  

  A week could be spent sampling Madrid’s gastronomical offerings and while your appetite may be satiated, you’ll have only just touched the tip of the culinary iceberg. Pretty streets flecked with authentic tapas bars lure you in with tempting charcuterie in their windows.

  Visit the San Miguel market, a honeycomb of stalls specialising in cured hams, artisan cheeses and seafood. Pick up a gourmet picnic and while the afternoon away at one of Madrid’s glorious green spaces such as the tropical Jardín Botánico, where you’ll feel transported back to prehistory among lush greenery, or the less stuffy Parque del Buen Retiro where you can take shade under an age-old tree.

  As dusk falls, indulge in tapeo, (a tapas crawl) for the quintessential Spanish experience. Colourful bite-sized portions of chorizo sausage, cured ham and deep-fried seafood should be washed down with locally produced Vermouth for a genuine experience. After dinner is when the capital really comes into its own and the Madrid nightlife has plenty of fizz. Don’t bother going before midnight - make like a Madrileño - eat late, party late and forgo sleep. Bank on tomorrow’s siesta!

  Image: Jen SFO-BCN reproduced with thanks under a CC Attribution 2.0 Generic licence

• Stylista's Paradise

  

  Calle Fuencarral is Madrid’s principal shopping artery where stylish Madrileños hang out alongside designer boutiques. It could be a case of handbags at dawn in this perenially busy district but stick at it and you might find yourself a happy bargain. If nothing else, the experience will give you a glimpse of how commercial Spain has evolved since the fall of General Franco.

  Madrid is a prolific footwear producer so shoe lovers should hot foot it to Calle Augusto Figueroa for factory samples at outlet shops. Or for a more traditional experience, the Antigua Casa Crespo sells espadrilles in every colour and size imaginable in perfectly preserved surroundings. This is an opportunity to see the product of a skill that has been passed down through the generations of this artisan family since 1836.

  If you revel in the hustle and bustle then head to El Rastro Market, a 500 year old flea market where Sunday’s punters arrive early to haggle kitsch antiques and costume jewellery.

  Image: Felipe_Gabaldon reproduced with thanks under a CC Attribution 2.0 Generic licence

• Metropolitan Madrid

  

  Fans of fine art should go no further than Madrid's Golden Triangle to see a trio of Spain's most impressive museums. They say good things come in threes, and you can judge for yourself, with each building walking distance from the next.

  Browse the likes of Goya and Velázquez at the Museo del Prado. Or head to the Reina Sofia for a whistle stop tour of 20th century art including Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece, Guernica. Complete your cultural education at the Thyssen-Bornemisza, which houses 20th century pop art and Dutch masters within whitewashed walls.

  When you’ve had your fill of blockbusters, slip away to a secluded plaza for ice-cold beer at a cervezeria in the surrounding streets. Hemingway famously roamed these parts, and they were also the stomping ground of pretty much every Spanish artist that ever lived. Follow in the footsteps of the great writers on Barrio de las Letras whose streets bear inscriptions of famous quotes. Or seek out the battered leather seats of Café del Real for delectable cake and coffee overlooking the square at Opera.

  Image: Felipe_Gabaldon reproduced with thanks under a CC Attribution 2.0 Generic licence