Ópera: the Palacio Real and Plaza de Oriente
The royal palace, the white cathedral, the king's square, and the gardens that fall toward the river. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Plaza de Isabel II
Start in front of the Teatro Real, the royal opera house that gives the quarter its name. Coffee here before the walk; from this square it's a straight line west to the palace. Look back at the opera house's curved rear before you set off.

2. Plaza de Oriente
The crescent square the palace looks onto, laid with formal hedges and lined with the stone kings of Spain — statues meant for the palace roof, set too heavy and brought down to ground. The equestrian Philip IV in the centre was cast with help from Galileo on the physics. Walk the gravel slowly.

3. Palacio Real
The largest royal palace in Western Europe by floor area, raised in stone after the old Habsburg fortress burned in 1734 — the kings no longer live here. The courtyard (*Plaza de la Armería*) is free to enter; the state rooms are ticketed. Stand in the courtyard and take the scale before deciding whether to go in.

4. Catedral de la Almudena
The cathedral facing the palace across the courtyard — begun 1879, finished only in 1993, which is why the Neo-Gothic interior carries a startling painted modern ceiling. Madrid had no cathedral for centuries; this one took a while. Step inside for the colour, then walk the south terrace for the view over the cornfields the city grew from.

5. Jardines de Sabatini
Round the palace's north side into the formal gardens laid out in the 1930s on the site of the royal stables — clipped hedges, a reflecting pool, the palace wall rising behind. Quietest in the morning. A bench here is the best free seat in monumental Madrid.

6. Cuesta de San Vicente / Príncipe Pío
Descend the slope northwest toward the river and the old Príncipe Pío station, now a transport hub with a glass-roofed concourse. The walk has dropped from palace height to river level; end here and take any of three Metro lines home.

Ópera: the Palacio Real and Plaza de Oriente