Madrid

Madrid operates on its own time zone — dinner before 10pm feels rushed, the night begins around midnight, and the city genuinely does not sleep. The Prado is one of the world's three or four greatest art museums: Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Bosch — all in one building, all undervisited relative to the Louvre. The Reina Sofía houses Guernica, which will stop you cold. Between them, the Thyssen-Bornemisza completes a Golden Triangle of museums that could occupy a week. The food scene runs on tapas, vermouth and jamón ibérico: Mercado de San Miguel for tourists done well, La Latina neighbourhood for the real thing. Gran Vía is the theatrical main boulevard, Malasaña is alternative and slightly scruffy in the best way, Salamanca is money and elegance. Spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October) are the ideal seasons — winter is cold but festive, July and August are ferociously hot and half the city leaves.