Madrid, Spain

Explore The Golden Triangle of Art, Europe’s largest palace and play Jack Nicklaus golf at a members’ club for the Spanish elite.

At the heart of Iberia, Madrid has been the centre of Spanish royalty for centuries, with its Royal Palace the official residence of the monarchy since King Charles III in the 1700s, and the city itself awash with art and green spaces, and fuelled by one of the most exciting cuisines on the continent.

The Royal Palace is one of the capital’s greatest pulls, with a heritage dating much further back than the rebuild of the 1700s, a fortress stood on the site from the 9th century, and what you see today is simply breath-taking – the largest royal palace in western Europe, it covers 135,000 sq m with 3,418 rooms and is one of the few official head of state residences that’s open to the public. Inside, you can find the Royal Armoury, where the weapons and armour of kings and royalty paint a vivid picture of Spain’s rich history, going back to the 13th century. Equally impressive is the Painting Gallery, where works such as Virgin with Child by Luis Morales and Juan de Flandes’ Portrait of Isabella the Catholic have found a fitting home.

Beyond the palace walls, art in every form fills the streets, none more so than in The Golden Triangle of Art, where The Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thryssen form the ultimate artistic triumvirate, collectively bring together some of the world’s finest works, both classic and contemporary, from both American and European masters.

Countering the urban concrete sprawl of so many cities, Madrid is the greenest city in Europe with more trees per capita than anywhere else, and in the shade of the trees – which you’ll need in the summer sun – you’ll find endless rows of cafes, restaurants and bars, celebrating the best of Spanish food. Madrid might not have the culinary reputation of some of the country’s other big-hitting gastronomic cities, but it does uniquely bring together the best of Spain’s regional cuisine in one place. You can find the flavours of Barcelona or San Sebastián within walking distance of the art galleries, museums and palaces, and Michelin stars are not in short supply.

Even those that don’t love sport, will want to experience the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the over 85,000-capacity home of Real Madrid, the 14-time champions of Europe [by comparison Barcelona, have just five European Cups]. Either on a match day or on a stadium tour, seeing the amphitheatre where the likes of Ronaldo [both Portuguese and Brazilian variants]; Zidane, Figo, Carlos, Ronaldinho, [Hugo] Sanchez, and Beckham once went about their day jobs is essential.

And when many of those names weren’t on the field, they would have been found in one of Madrid’s plush suburbs, such as La Moraleja. Here, in sprawling mansions, football galacticos shared postcodes with A-list celebrities and movie stars – Bing Crosby even once lived here.

And many would have also ensured they had a membership to Real [Royal] Club La Moraleja, home to an Olympics-worth of world-class sporting facilities and four golf courses across two sites, all designed by Jack Nicklaus, where the No.3 course is considered among Europe’s very best.

Like the rest of the city, it’s golf that’s fit for a king.