Once a haunt of writers and intellectuals, this architectural gem blends Modernista and art-deco styles, and its interior could well overwhelm you with all the mirrors, chandeliers and bow-tied service of another era. The atmosphere is suitably quiet and refined, although our favourite corner is the elegant glass pavilion out on Paseo de los Recoletos.
Café-Restaurante El Espejo
Chueca
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.67 MILES
Welcome to one of the world's premier art galleries. More than 7000 paintings are held in the Museo del Prado’s collection (of which only around 1500 are…
1.04 MILES
Home to Picasso’s Guernica, arguably Spain’s most famous artwork, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is Madrid’s premier collection of contemporary art.
0.52 MILES
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is one of the three points composing Madrid’s Golden Triangle of Art along the Paseo del Prado (Art Walk), together with the…
0.53 MILES
Spend a day exploring the vast grounds of Madrid’s emblematic park.
Basílica de San Francisco El Grande
1.49 MILES
Crowning Madrid’s oldest neighborhood of La Latina is an architectural and visual masterpiece that is the Basílica de San Francisco el Grande (Basilica of…
1.62 MILES
One of Spain’s most atmospheric arenas, the Plaza de Toros Las Ventas has hosted everything from Beatles concerts to motocross competitions during its…
1.36 MILES
Few people would ever guess that a 2200-year-old Egyptian temple exists in the center of Madrid. Yet the Templo de Debod is in no way a Vegas-style…
0.97 MILES
This imposing early-20th-century Italianate stone mansion, set discreetly back from the street, belonged to Don José Lázaro Galdiano (1862–1947), a…
Nearby Chueca attractions
0.09 MILES
This wax museum, with more than 450 characters, is a fairly standard version of the genre. Models range from the Beatles to Bart Simpson, and from…
2. Biblioteca Nacional & Museo del Libro
0.11 MILES
Perhaps the most impressive of the grand edifices erected along the Paseo de los Recoletos in the 19th century, the 1892 Biblioteca Nacional (National…
0.14 MILES
This understated monument to Spain's favourite explorer has stood here since the 1880s.
4. Museo Arqueológico Nacional
0.16 MILES
The showpiece National Archaeology Museum contains a sweeping accumulation of artefacts behind its towering facade. Daringly redesigned within, the museum…
5. Monumento al Descubrimiento
0.22 MILES
Important landmark dedicated to the discoveries made by Cristobel Colon (Columbus).
0.25 MILES
So extraordinary is the Palacio de Comunicaciones on Plaza de la Cibeles that many visitors fail to notice this fine 19th-century pleasure dome that…
0.25 MILES
Set back amid gardens on the northwest edge of Plaza de la Cibeles stands the Palacio Buenavista, now occupied by the army (and not open to the public)…
8. Sociedad General de Autores y Editores
0.28 MILES
This swirling, melting wedding cake of a building is as close as Madrid comes to the work of Antoni Gaudí, which so illuminates Barcelona. It’s a joyously…