Barrio de Salamanca: the elegant grid

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

1. 01

   1

   Calle de Serrano

   The barrio's spine and its shopfront: Loewe, the Spanish houses, the global names, all in cut-stone buildings with doormen. You don't have to buy anything — walk it for the architecture above the windows, which is where the money first went in the 1860s.

   01

   Calle de Serrano

   The barrio's spine and its shopfront: Loewe, the Spanish houses, the global names, all in cut-stone buildings with doormen. You don't have to buy anything — walk it for the architecture above the windows, which is where the money first went in the 1860s.

   ◉Street View
2. 02

   2

   Calle de José Ortega y Gasset

   Cut east along the cross-street the locals call the milla de oro, the golden mile — the densest run of luxury in Spain. Two minutes of window-front, then turn back north; the point is made quickly.

   02

   Calle de José Ortega y Gasset

   Cut east along the cross-street the locals call the milla de oro, the golden mile — the densest run of luxury in Spain. Two minutes of window-front, then turn back north; the point is made quickly.

   ◉Street View
3. 03

   3

   The gallery cluster around Calle de Claudio Coello

   Salamanca's contemporary-art quarter, a scatter of dealers in the side streets — names change, so step into whichever doors are open. Most shows are free and most are quiet on a weekday afternoon.

   03

   The gallery cluster around Calle de Claudio Coello

   Salamanca's contemporary-art quarter, a scatter of dealers in the side streets — names change, so step into whichever doors are open. Most shows are free and most are quiet on a weekday afternoon.

   ◉Street View
4. 04

   4

   Calle de Velázquez

   The grid's grandest residential avenue, wide and tree-lined, the apartment blocks all balconies and stone. Walk a few blocks north simply to feel the scale the developers were aiming at — this is the barrio at its most confident.

   04

   Calle de Velázquez

   The grid's grandest residential avenue, wide and tree-lined, the apartment blocks all balconies and stone. Walk a few blocks north simply to feel the scale the developers were aiming at — this is the barrio at its most confident.

   ◉Street View
5. 05

   5

   Museo Lázaro Galdiano

   A financier's mansion stuffed with the art he hoarded — a Goya or two, a Bosch, Hispano-Flemish panels, ivories and enamels, all in the rooms he lived among. The least-crowded great collection in Madrid. Go up to the painted ceilings.

   05

   Museo Lázaro Galdiano

   A financier's mansion stuffed with the art he hoarded — a Goya or two, a Bosch, Hispano-Flemish panels, ivories and enamels, all in the rooms he lived among. The least-crowded great collection in Madrid. Go up to the painted ceilings.

   ◉Street View
6. 06

   6

   Calle de Serrano, north end

   Drift back to Serrano at its quieter top, where the shops thin and the embassies begin. Gregorio Marañón is a block west when you're done — the cleanest exit off the grid.

   06

   Calle de Serrano, north end

   Drift back to Serrano at its quieter top, where the shops thin and the embassies begin. Gregorio Marañón is a block west when you're done — the cleanest exit off the grid.

   ◉Street View