The best things to do after dinner in Madrid show that the Spanish capital really starts getting into its rhythm once the sun starts dipping low. When you're done devouring patatas bravas and glugging Rioja wines in tapas joints, don't go thinking that the day is done. In fact, you might just get back to your hotel in the early hours of the morning.

This guide will showcase just a few of Madrid’s best places to go at night. Suggestions include nocturnal jaunts through iconic museum collections that boast Picasso canvasses or visits to high-perched rooftop bars for cocktail evenings with a view. There's also a nod at Madrid's throbbing nightlife hubs and even charming plazas for people watching during the later hours of the day.

What are the best things to do at night in Madrid?

  • 1

    Rooftop bars

    Go above the Spanish capital

    Rooftop bars
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    Rooftop bars are something of a speciality in Madrid. Although you might not be able to see them from street level, they speckle the whole centre of the city, offering views across the skyline from several storeys up.

    Check out the legendary rooftop bar of La Terraza de Óscar. Set on the top of Room Mate Óscar in the area of Justicia, it has heated terraces and a menu of Tiki-inspired cocktails. The 11th-floor WXYZ Bar is another cracker, with gin highballs that include cava rosé and views across the Gran Via. There's also Ginkgo Restaurante, a boho eatery with tropical-fruit mixed drinks galore.

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    Reina Sofia Museum

    Check out priceless artefacts in the evening

    Reina Sofia Museum
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    The Reina Sofia Museum is one of the most prestigious art institutions in Spain. It's also good for those looking for a post-dinner activity packed with culture because the collections stay open to the public until 8 pm. Last entry is usually a little earlier than that, so be sure to move from the tapas joint to the Estación del Arte plaza as fast as you can.

    Visiting in the later hours is great if you like to see priceless masterworks without too many crowds getting in the way. Speaking of the masterworks, this is the place to come to see the legendary Guernica by Pablo Picasso, along with famous pieces by Dali, Joan Miro, and Kandinsky – some of the most influential artists of the last 200 years.

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    Lage: Calle de Santa Isabel, 52, 28012 Madrid, Spain

    Öffnungszeiten: Wednesday–Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm, Sunday from 10 am to 2.30 pm

    Telefon: +34 917 74 10 00

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  • 3

    Barrio de las Letras

    Moody streets galore

    Barrio de las Letras
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    The Barrio de las Letras is hallowed ground for literary lovers hitting Madrid. Wedged into the heart of the old city, between the Plaza Mayor and the Museo Nacional del Prado, it's where many of the greatest Spanish writers once lived – Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora, and so on. A tour by day is a must, but a tour by night is filled with mystery.

    Letterbox-wide alleys and narrow side streets shoot this way and that through the Barrio de las Letras, many of them awash with hole-in-the-wall beer joints and quirky bars. Wander and walk and you might just happen upon lovely Plaza de Santa Ana, where lively gastropubs hide under the plane trees and the evening people-watching is second to none.

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  • 4

    Chueca

    A gay-friendly neighbourhood with a fabulous party atmosphere

    Chueca
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    Chueca is a lively Madrid neighbourhood that's home to the city’s gay community. You'll find some of the liveliest bars, bistros and nightclubs in the city here, where you can enjoy cheeky drag shows until late.

    If you’re visiting Madrid between June and July, the annual Gay Pride Festival is a must-see. Costume parades and live music can be enjoyed in popular areas throughout the city, but Chueca is arguably the best place to be during that time of the year.

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  • 5

    Plaza del Angel

    Where shops give way to an evening nightcap

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    The Plaza del Angel is a hubbub of cafés and beer-clinking bars come the evening. It spills from the side of the Barrio de las Letras and out into the Centro area of Madrid, running for nearly 100 metres from end to end. If you can find a space on the pavement tables amid the thronging crowds of students and backpackers, you're in for some cracking people-watching.

    Plaza del Angel also happens to be a great starting point for some late-night retail therapy as the district just to the south offers loads in the way of handbag ateliers, fashion stores, and concept art workshops. Keep going and you'll eventually enter Lavapiés, an area famed for its Indian cookhouses and off-beat photography museums.

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    Lage: Plaza del Ángel, 28012 Madrid, Spain

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  • 6

    Flamenco in Madrid

    Visit a tablao to watch Spain’s most famous dance

    Flamenco in Madrid
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    Flamenco is a vibrant dance style paired with singing and clapping of hands, as well as the use of guitars and castanets. Watching an authentic flamenco show is a common thing to do in Madrid, and theatres all over the city often hold grand performances throughout the week.

    Tablaos (flamenco bars) offer a more laidback and intimate setting, as you can enjoy a filling meal while watching talented dancers performing Spain’s most famous dance. A popular spot to enjoy flamenco is Corral de la Morería, one of Madrid’s oldest tablaos. You can enjoy a special degustation menu during the show.

    Lage: Corral de la Morería, Calle de la Morería 17, Madrid, Spain

    Öffnungszeiten: Daily from 5.30 pm to midnight

    Telefon: +34 913 61 137

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  • 7

    La Latina

    An area to know for its after-dinner fun

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    La Latina is known as one of the main nightlife quarters in the Spanish capital, so it's definitely worth marking on the map if you're keen on glugging sangria and boogying once the tapas has gone down. The barrio is shaped like an upside-down triangle and sits on the eastern edge of Centro – just look for the La Latina metro stop.

    More than anything, La Latina is a tapas and craft beer haven. Purveyors of hops-filled brews pop up on virtually every corner, with bars like El Viajero, Hopper and La Osita coming up trumps. Between Monday and Thursday, you also might be just in time to catch the hustle and bustle of the Mercado de la Cebada. It stays open until after 8 pm and is filled with mushroom sellers, fruit stalls, artisan butchers – you name it.

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  • 8

    Madrid pub crawl

    Meet and mingle with other travellers over drinks

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    There's now a whole host of Madrid pub crawl tours that will whisk you through several of the capital's happening bars and nightclubs in a single evening. Most meet near big landmarks in the Centro area or nominate a single bar to start at. There's typically a set price for the whole event, but you'll pay extra for drinks in every place you visit.

    The good thing about organised bar crawls is that you'll be taken through the endless nightlife offering of the Spanish capital with an in-the-know expert. That means you'll get to sample local drinking holes you might not find on your own. What's more, there's often a crowd of other backpackers along for the ride, so prepare to meet and mingle with like-minded globetrotters over endless supplies of sangria.

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  • 9

    Teatro Real

    Madrid’s leading opera house since 1818

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    Teatro Real, founded in 1818, is one of Madrid’s oldest opera houses. It showcases world-class performances throughout the year, most of which are home productions or co-productions with other major European opera houses.

    You can explore Teatro Real’s stage area, workshops, dressing rooms, and rehearsal space through guided tours, which are available every day from 10am to 1pm. The tours are conducted in Spanish, English, French, and German.

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    Lage: Plaza de Isabel II, s/n, 28013 Madrid, Spain

    Öffnungszeiten: Daily from 10 am until late (evening shows start from 8 pm)

    Telefon: +34 902 244 848

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  • 10

    Malasaña

    For vintage cafés and punk bars in Madrid

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    Malasaña is a coffee-scented student hub by day and one of Madrid's undisputed nocturnal gathering points after the sun has disappeared. It can be found spreading out from the Gran Via roadway on the north side of the Centro, unfolding in blocks filled with craft cafés and late-night joints.

    Perhaps more than anything, Malasaña is known for its electro haunts and underground dance bars. For lovers of alt music and kitschy design, there are options like Tupperware, complete with glitter-strewn wall décor, and La Via Lactea, a rumbling punk joint set in a gritty cellar. You should be sure to start at one of the quieter and more sophisticated roadside cafés, though. Many of these still sport handsome 1920s façades and terraces.

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  • 11

    Lavapiés

    See Madrid's multicultural side

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    Lavapiés is fizzing with life. The whole district tumbles down a steep hill on the southern edge of Madrid's centre. Famed for its multicultural makeup, the area is often scented with Indian spices and set to the sounds of calling street hawkers.

    The district is a joy to explore both day and night, but the darker hours herald moody flamenco halls and quirky art-house cinema bars that all have their own unique character. La Casa Encendida is a particular standout, known for its summertime electro concerts on an alfresco rooftop. But there's also the Circo Price theatre, for cutting-edge dance shows, and Club 33, an LGBTQ+ bar with an alternative music policy.

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  • 12

    Circulo de Bellas Artes

    A fantastic view awaits

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    The Circulo de Bellas Artes sits alongside some of the most iconic museums in the whole of Europe and is just a stone's throw from the Banco de Espana metro stop in downtown Madrid. It's known as one of the city's top multi-disciplinary arts venues, with all sorts on display, from avant-garde installations to photography.

    But there's also a trump card for the evening hours. That comes in the form of one of Madrid's very best rooftop lookout points. It's open until around midnight in the summer months, which means you can stroll up post-tapas and gaze down at the buzzing Gran Via that spreads out below.

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    Lage: Calle de Alcala, 42, 28014 Madrid, Spain

    Öffnungszeiten: Daily from noon to 1 am

    Telefon: +34 913 60 54 00

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  • 13

    Príncipe Pío

    A place to wonder at grand sights all lit up

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    Príncipe Pío is a train station on the northern side of Madrid. It's also known, helpfully, as the Estación del Norte for its location, which is right next door to the beautiful Sabatini Gardens and the vast hills of the Casa de Campo neighbourhood.

    At night, the whole area is something to behold. Look one way and you'll see the handsome 19th-century exteriors of the train station itself, the magenta-hued alcoves out front glowing behind the palms. Look another and there's the uber-enchanting Palacio Real, set ablaze with the colours of the Spanish royal family. There are also endless tapas and beer joints on the doorstep courtesy of the Malasaña and Centro districts that await nearby.

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Joseph Francis | Freie(r) Autor(in)