About the location
A large buzzing city full of monuments, historical sites, and sprawling urban green spaces, Madrid attracts photographers from all over the world.
Read our guide or click through the many photo spots to discover the top places in Madrid to take a picture or simply enjoy the view.
Madrid’s city center is full of monumental buildings and cozy parks. In the heart of the city, stop by Plaza Mayor. Guests have to enter this large public square through several pedestrian-only stone arches. Once inside, the red arcaded buildings with spires in their corners make a unique photograph due to their architectural uniformity.
The Royal Palace of Madrid is the largest palace in all of Europe. Guests can enter and tour a small percentage of the palace’s 3,148 rooms but photography is unfortunately not allowed inside. Luckily, the imposing exterior is full of angles and various viewpoints that photograph wonderfully. Surrounding the palaces are multiple gardens and squares. Explore them all to capture the palace from every direction.
Directly across from the palace is the Almudena Cathedral. Designed to complement the white stones of the palace, these two buildings make quite the pair. The Gothic Revival architecture of the exterior opens into a modern Neo-Gothic interior. Climb up its bell towers for a great view of the palace and surrounding countryside.
Just a 20-minute walk from the palace brings you to the Templo de Debod. This park features an ancient Egyptian temple from the year 2 BC. It was flown over and reassembled brick by brick to save the temple from a flood. Now, this impressive stone temple is a great place to take photos. Come during sunset, when the warm hues light up the stones and reflect off the water.
Madrid is full of beautiful green spaces like Retiro Park. This large urban park has several photographic sights like the striking Monument to Alfonso XII looking over the park’s rowboat-filled lake. The Crystal Palace has rotating art installations and is fronted by a duck pond.
