Madrid Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and La Latina

About this experience

The streets of old Madrid follow a wall you can hardly see. This walk traces it, from the square named for one of its gates to the Closed Gate where it ends. Start at Kilómetro Cero in the Puerta del Sol, pass the royal convent of the Descalzas Reales and the San Ginés chocolate passage, and cross the Plaza Mayor, rebuilt to one height after the fire of 1790 and levelled on a man-made terrace. See the iron Mercado de San Miguel above the old ditch and the granite, brick and slate of the old town hall. Go down to the Basílica de San Miguel's curving front, the mudéjar tower of San Pedro el Viejo, the Plaza de la Paja and San Isidro's dome, then up the Cava Baja, La Latina's tapas street, to Puerta Cerrada. Twelve stops, about 2.4 km and 90 minutes, at your own pace, in English, with two short flights of steps. Entry to the Descalzas Reales is not included.

Experience type

Day tour or activity

Duration

1 hour and 15 minutes

Audio guide

English

Guide

English

Categories

Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours

What's included

Self-guided audio tour in English: 12 stops, 2.4 km, 75 minutes Stops at Kilómetro Cero, Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it

What's not included

A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee

Please note

To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: A weekday morning, Tuesday to Saturday: Sol and the Plaza Mayor are quietest early. The Descalzas Reales is closed on Mondays, the Capilla del Obispo opens only on Wednesday mornings (11:00 to 14:00), and the Carboneras nuns' turntable opens 9:30 to 13:00 and 16:30 to 18:15. The Casa de la Panadería's painted front faces south and is in sun most of the day. For tapas, the Cava Baja is liveliest in the evening and at weekend lunchtimes. Checked 14 October 2026. Getting to the start: Sol Metro (L1, L2, L3) and Cercanías Sol open straight onto the square. Ópera (L2, L5, R) and Callao (L3, L5) are close to stop 2. The walk ends at Puerta Cerrada: La Latina (L5) is about 270 metres away at the Plaza de la Cebada, Tirso de Molina (L1) about 450 metres; Sol is about 600 metres back up Calle de Cuchilleros (steps at the arch) and across the Plaza Mayor. Descalzas Reales (stop 2): guided visits only, closed Mondays; prices, hours and the English tour time are on that stop's card. Checked 14 October 2026. San Ginés church (stop 3): open Monday to Friday 08:45 to 13:00 and 18:00 to 20:45; Wednesday 08:45 to 13:30 and 17:30 to 20:45; Saturday 08:45 to 13:00 and 17:45 to 20:45; Sundays and holidays 09:45 to 13:45 and 17:45 to 20:45. The El Greco can be seen every day except Wednesday, outside mass. Checked 14 October 2026. Plaza Mayor (stop 4): the tourist information centre in the Casa de la Panadería is open daily 09:00 to 20:00. The café terraces charge for the view. Checked 14 October 2026. Mercado de San Miguel (stop 5): free to enter; Sunday to Thursday 10:00 to 24:00, Friday, Saturday and the eves of holidays 10:00 to 01:00. It reopened on 26 February 2026 after foundation works. Checked 14 October 2026. Carboneras convent (between stops 6 and 7, Plaza del Conde de Miranda): the nuns sell home-made sweets through a turntable from 9:30 to 13:00 and 16:30 to 18:15, by the right-hand door where the Calle del Codo comes out into the square. Checked 14 October 2026. Basílica de San Miguel (stop 7): free; from 29 September to 30 June, Monday to Saturday 09:45 to 13:15 and 17:30 to 21:15, Sundays and holidays 09:45 to 14:15 and 18:00 to 21:15; guided tours on weekdays at 11:15, booked ahead. Checked 14 October 2026. Step-free alternative between stops 7 and 8 (the route has steps down the Pasadizo del Obispo and 22 steps up the Travesía del Nuncio): go west along Calle de San Justo, down Calle Doctor Letamendi to Calle de Segovia, east along Segovia's pavement to Puerta Cerrada, then up Calle del Nuncio. About 240 metres longer. It passes through Puerta Cerrada, so the last stop's audio may start early: pause it and play it again at the end. San Pedro el Viejo (stop 8): free; Monday to Thursday and Saturday 09:00 to 12:30 and 17:00 to 20:00 (summer 18:00 to 21:00), Friday 07:00 to 21:00, Sundays and holidays 09:00 to 12:30. Checked 14 October 2026. Capilla del Obispo (stop 9): free, unaccompanied visits every Wednesday 11:00 to 14:00 (since November 2025). Jardín del Príncipe de Anglona (gate at Plaza de la Paja 6): free, October to February 10:00 to 18:30, March to September 10:00 to 22:00 (some guides give 18:00 in winter). Checked 14 October 2026. From stop 10, the Las Vistillas gardens are about 300 metres north-west, with a view over the west of the city, and the dome of San Francisco el Grande about 300 metres south-west. Near stop 11, a restored stretch of the Christian wall with a semicircular tower stands in the municipal garden at Calle del Almendro 15 to 17. Opening hours not checked. Near the end, the Colegiata de San Isidro stands on Calle de Toledo, about 150 metres east of Puerta Cerrada, on a busy traffic street. Pickpockets work the crowds in the Puerta del Sol, in the arches of the Plaza Mayor and at the Mercado de San Miguel's doors. Keep bags closed and in front of you. Between stops 3 and 4 the route crosses Calle Mayor, where buses and taxis run: use the zebra crossing. Between stops 5 and 6 the route follows Calle Mayor, a bus street: stay on its south pavement, the same side as both squares. Between stops 7 and 8: steps down the Pasadizo del Obispo (handrails), then a few metres along Calle de Segovia's pavement and across the road itself, just before Calle Doctor Letamendi: a two-lane road with traffic up to 50 km/h and no lights, so cross with care. Then 22 steps up the Travesía del Nuncio, with no handrail and no lighting at night. A step-free alternative is in the tips. The Calle del Codo (between stops 6 and 7) is a narrow lane that drops steeply; take it slowly. The Cava Baja (stops 10 to 12) is a single-lane street with narrow pavements; cars and delivery vans come down it toward you. Keep to the pavement. At the end of the Cava Baja, cross the street's end on the zebra and the Puerta Cerrada road at the traffic lights. The paved strip at the Mercado de San Miguel (stop 5) is narrow and the door queue gathers there, and the San Ginés passage (stop 3) fills with the chocolate shop's queue in the evenings and at weekends: stand to the side. The churches on the route are places of worship: visit outside services, quietly. La Latina is a lived-in neighborhood: keep your voice down by the houses and do not go into doorways or courtyards. The Real Casa de Correos (stop 1) is the seat of the regional government: exterior only. Its façade was under works in 2025; part of it may still be covered. Checked 14 October 2026. On Sunday mornings the Rastro market brings big crowds to the streets a few hundred metres east of the end. Public transportation nearby

Itinerary

1. 1
   Day 0

   Puerta del Sol: Kilómetro Cero

   Puerta del Sol, at the Kilómetro Cero plaque by the Real Casa de Correos, Madrid

   Spain's Kilometre Zero sits beneath the clock that rings in the year. The square is named for a gate in the vanished medieval wall that carried a sun.

2. 2
   Day 0

   Descalzas Reales: The Plain Royal Wall

   Plaza de las Descalzas, facing the Descalzas Reales convent, Madrid

   A royal convent hides behind a plain wall of granite and brick, a few steps from a carved Baroque doorway by Pedro de Ribera.

3. 3
   Day 0

   San Ginés: The Chocolate Passage

   Pasadizo de San Ginés, by the San Ginés church, Madrid

   A narrow passage runs along one of Madrid's oldest parishes, past a chocolate shop open since 1894.

4. 4
   Day 0

   Plaza Mayor: A Square on a Terrace

   Plaza Mayor, south side facing the Casa de la Panadería, Madrid

   The Plaza Mayor stands level on a man-made terrace of earth. After the 1790 fire every house was rebuilt to the height of the bakers' house, whose front Carlos Franco painted in 1992.

5. 5
   Day 0

   Mercado de San Miguel: Iron Above the Ditch

   Plaza de San Miguel, by the Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid

   Madrid's last iron market hall stands beside the medieval wall's ditch, where the Plaza Mayor's buttress walls drop to the Cava de San Miguel.

6. 6
   Day 0

   Plaza de la Villa: The Old Town Hall

   Plaza de la Villa, facing the old Town Hall, Madrid

   Madrid's old town hall rises in granite and brick under slate spires. A fifteenth-century tower and a Renaissance palace share the little square.

7. 7
   Day 0

   Basílica de San Miguel: The Curving Front

   Calle de San Justo, facing the Basílica de San Miguel, Madrid

   A Baroque church front curves outward into a medieval lane, a shape rare in Spain and unique in Madrid.

8. 8
   Day 0

   San Pedro el Viejo: The Mudéjar Tower

   Calle del Nuncio, below San Pedro el Viejo's tower, Madrid

   A brick mudéjar tower from the 1340s rises over Calle del Nuncio. Its windows are horseshoe arches.

9. 9
   Day 0

   Plaza de la Paja: The Bishop's Chapel

   Plaza de la Paja, La Latina, Madrid

   A sloping La Latina square is ruled by a Gothic burial chapel. A walled palace garden lies at its foot.

10. 10
    Day 0

    Plaza de los Carros: San Isidro's Dome

    Plaza de los Carros, facing San Andrés and the San Isidro chapel, Madrid

    The dome of San Isidro's chapel rises over the Plaza de los Carros. Its interior, burned in 1936, was rebuilt from old photographs.

11. 11
    Day 0

    Cava Baja: The Street in the Ditch

    Calle de la Cava Baja, La Latina, Madrid

    La Latina's tapas street runs in the ditch outside the medieval wall, whose stones survive in the backs of its houses.

12. 12
    Day 0

    Puerta Cerrada: The Closed Gate

    Plaza de Puerta Cerrada, by the Arco de Cuchilleros steps, Madrid

    The Closed Gate was walled up because robbers hid there. From its square, the Plaza Mayor's buttressing walls rise at the top of Calle de Cuchilleros.

Meeting point

Puerta del Sol, Madrid Puerta del Sol, at the Kilómetro Cero plaque by the Real Casa de Correos, Madrid, Community of Madrid, ES

Pick up

Pickup is not provided.

Cancellation policy · Madrid Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and La Latina

Standard Viator policy

• Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
• Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.

Good to know

Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.