Holiday rentals & lettings in Madrid

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a holiday rental and letting in Madrid?
• Holiday rentals and lettings in Madrid: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring Madrid: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in Madrid?

• Central flats and townhouses: Most lettings sit inside the old centre or the inner barrios, so the Prado, Plaza Mayor and Retiro are usually a short walk or one metro stop away.
• Pick your barrio first: Sol suits first-timers, Malasaña and Chueca suit night owls, Salamanca suits shoppers and Chamberí suits slower, more local stays.
• Guests rate the location: Our best-reviewed Madrid lettings score above 9.7+, with visitors praising quiet bedrooms, working air conditioning and easy metro links.
• Easy to reach: Barajas airport is 30 minutes from the centre by metro or Cercanías, and Atocha puts Seville and Barcelona within a few hours by high-speed train.
• Spring and autumn are kindest: May, June, September and October bring terrace weather without August's fierce heat, while winter is quiet and better value.

Madrid's stock is overwhelmingly urban: restored flats in nineteenth-century blocks, top-floor áticos with terraces over the rooftops, and roomy family places in the quieter northern barrios. You will also find compact studios for a couple of nights, alongside apartments, bed and breakfasts and the wider choice of villas. Whatever you book, ask about the amenities that matter most in a hot, lively capital.

• Air conditioning, essential from June to September
• A balcony or terrace for late suppers
• Lift access in older centre buildings
• Washing machine for longer city stays
• Fast Wi-Fi and a proper work desk

Space and comfort come at a range of prices, from simple studios to luxury rentals.

What are the best areas to stay in Madrid?

For a first visit, Centro is hard to beat, because almost everything you have come to see is within walking distance. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guests staying in Madrid tend to review two things above all: how quiet the bedroom is once the shutters are down, and how quickly they can walk or ride to the Paseo del Arte. The lettings below all clear 9.7+, and the comments repeat the same points, that check-in was straightforward, the air conditioning worked properly through the summer, and the flat felt genuinely lived-in rather than anonymous.

Here are our top-rated holiday lettings from the past year:

1. M Parque de Atracciones-Zoo-Casa de Campo - 10.0: Room for eight with a large terrace, praised for space and the short hop to Casa de Campo's park, zoo and funfair.
2. Guestready - One fantástic city retreat - 9.9+: A Tetuán retreat for seven with pool, terrace and yard, and reliable metro links straight into the centre.
3. Charming Madrid City - Nuevo apartamento, 2 dormitorios, Magnífica Cocina, Wifi - 9.7+: Two bedrooms in leafy Chamberí, singled out for its well-equipped kitchen and quiet, thoroughly local street.

Madrid sits almost exactly at the centre of Spain, high on the Castilian plateau, ringed by the Sierra de Guadarrama to the north.

✈️What is the best way to get to Madrid?

For most visitors the plane wins outright, since Madrid is Spain's main gateway. Here are the most common ways to get to the city:

• Plane: Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas is the country's busiest airport, roughly 13 kilometres north-east of the centre and served from every major British airport. Metro line 8 runs from Terminals 2 and 4 to Nuevos Ministerios in about 15 minutes, where you change for the centre, while Cercanías line C-1 links Terminal 4 with Chamartín and Atocha. Taxis to the centre run on a fixed fare, and the 203 Exprés Aeropuerto bus serves Atocha through the night.
• Train: High-speed AVE services make Madrid the hub of the Spanish rail network, with Barcelona in around two and a half hours, Seville in a little over two, and Valencia in about one hour and 40 minutes. Long-distance trains arrive at Atocha, just below the Prado and Retiro, or at Chamartín in the north; both sit on the metro and Cercanías networks, so you can be at your letting within half an hour of stepping off.
• Car: Six radial motorways, the A-1 to A-6, converge on the capital, with the M-30 and M-40 ring roads distributing traffic around it. Driving is only worth it if you plan to explore the sierra or the villages beyond, because the centre lies inside the Madrid 360 low-emission zone and street parking is tightly controlled. Choose a letting with a garage, or use a car park on the edge of Centro.

🥗Where to eat in Madrid?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Casa Dani is the best rated restaurant in Madrid. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Charlotte recommends the Chocolatería San Ginés in Madrid: it is open around the clock, so churros and thick chocolate work equally well as breakfast or as the last stop of a very long night out.

☀️When is the best time to visit?

The sweet spots are spring and autumn. From late April to June, and again through September and October, terraces are busy, the parks are at their best and daytime temperatures stay comfortable for walking. August is fiercely hot and many neighbourhood businesses close, while winter is crisp, bright and much better value.

Spring (March to May)

• Best for: Walkers, museum-goers and anyone who wants Retiro's rose garden at its peak.
• Weather: Mild days climbing into the mid-twenties by late May, with cool evenings.
• Atmosphere: Lively but manageable, building towards the San Isidro festivities in mid-May.

Summer (June to August)

• Best for: Late-night terraces, rooftop pools and open-air cinema in the parks.
• Weather: Hot and dry, regularly above 35°C in July and August, with warm nights.
• Atmosphere: Quieter by day as locals leave the city, then thoroughly awake after sundown.

Autumn and winter (September to February)

• Best for: Museums, cocido season and Christmas lights along Gran Vía.
• Weather: Warm early autumn, then cold, clear winter days and the occasional frost.
• Atmosphere: Local and unhurried, apart from the busy festive weeks in December.

⭐Our Hosts' recommendation: Our Madrid local expert, the Guestready team of Guestready - One fantástic city retreat recommends coming to visit the Paseo del Arte on a weekday morning. Their guests are told to start at the Reina Sofía when it opens, walk up through the Botanical Garden to the Prado, and leave the Thyssen-Bornemisza for the afternoon. Finish in Retiro, where the rowing boats and the Palacio de Cristal are only ten minutes away on foot.

1. Walk the Paseo del Arte
2. Row a boat in Retiro park
3. Tour the Royal Palace
4. Hunt bargains at the Rastro
5. Taste tapas and vermut

1. Walk the Paseo del Arte

   Three world-class collections sit within a kilometre of one another on the Paseo del Prado. The Prado holds Velázquez's Las Meninas and Goya's black paintings, the Reina Sofía keeps Picasso's Guernica, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza fills the gaps between them with eight centuries of European art. Buy the combined Paseo del Arte ticket, spread the three across two days rather than one, and use the late-afternoon free hours if you are travelling on a budget. The Botanical Garden next door is a good place to rest between galleries.

2. Row a boat in Retiro park

   Madrid's great green lung began as a royal retreat and still feels like one. Hire a rowing boat on the Estanque Grande, then walk on to the Palacio de Cristal, a glasshouse that now stages contemporary art shows. The rose garden peaks in May, the Paseo de la Argentina is lined with statues of Spanish monarchs, and buskers and puppet shows fill the main avenues at the weekend. Come early for the quiet, or late for the light. It is also the easiest place in the city to escape the summer heat.

3. Tour the Royal Palace

   Europe's largest working royal palace by floor area has more than 3,000 rooms, of which a generous selection is open to visitors. The Throne Room, the Royal Armoury and the Stradivarius string quintet are the highlights, and the changing of the guard takes place on the first Wednesday of most months. Combine it with the neighbouring Almudena Cathedral and the Sabatini Gardens, then carry on to the Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple rebuilt in Madrid, for one of the best sunsets in the city.

4. Hunt bargains at the Rastro

   Every Sunday morning the streets below La Latina fill with Madrid's Rastro flea market, a sprawl of stalls running down Ribera de Curtidores selling antiques, vinyl, vintage clothing and a great deal of cheerful junk. Arrive by ten, keep an eye on your bag in the crush, and finish the way locals do, with a vermut and a plate of something fried in the tabernas of Cava Baja. It pairs neatly with a weekend trip to Madrid if your stay is a short one.

5. Taste tapas and vermut

   Eating is the city's real pastime. Work through bocadillo de calamares near Plaza Mayor, cocido madrileño in winter, and croquetas almost anywhere, washed down with vermut poured from the tap at midday. The Mercado de San Miguel is handsome but touristy, so head instead to Mercado de la Paz or the bars around Chamberí. In December the stalls and lights on Plaza Mayor make Christmas in Madrid a particularly good time to graze your way around the centre.