Quick answer: when the centre is too much, go to Chamberí: the ghost metro station closed in 1966 (Andén 0), the house and Andalusian garden of the painter Sorolla, and a real training mine 25 metres under the Escuela de Minas. Bonus: the Teleférico, a ten-minute cable car over the Casa de Campo that almost nobody takes.
Plans away from the noise. One in the air, others behind a wall or under the ground. Perfect for a day when you don’t want to see anybody. Not even yourself.
Madrid off the beaten path
Chamberí ghost station: Madrid’s abandoned metro stop
Chamberí opened in 1919, one of the eight stops of Madrid’s first metro line. In the sixties the trains got longer and its platforms, on a curve, couldn’t grow, so it closed in 1966 and stayed abandoned for about forty years.
Today it’s a small museum (Andén 0): old ticket offices, turnstiles and tile adverts. And the trains of line 1 pass without stopping. You can even see it from the train, between Iglesia and Bilbao.
—Everyone passes by. Nobody stops —says la Vikinga.
—Como tú en los bares —dice Puri. (Like you in bars.)
- Where: Plaza de Chamberí
- Metro: Iglesia (L1)
- Your Spanish: quedarse anclado en el pasado = to be stuck in the past
Casa Museo Sorolla: the painter’s house and garden
A brick wall separates the noise of Chamberí from the house of the painter Joaquín Sorolla. He built it in 1910 and 1911, and his widow, Clotilde, gave it to the State on one condition: that it became a museum. The light comes in everywhere, and the Andalusian garden has fountains, tiles and benches in the shade.
- Where: Paseo del General Martínez Campos, 37
- Metro: Iglesia or Rubén Darío
- Tip: check the official website for free days
- Your Spanish: sentirse como en casa = to feel at home
Escuela de Minas: a real mine under Madrid
At Ríos Rosas, 21, under a school of engineers from 1893, there’s a copy of a real mine built in the sixties for students: 25 metres deep, with a coal tunnel and little wagons. Upstairs there’s a glass-roofed patio, a wooden library and cases full of fossils. The mine opens for visits on some days; check the dates.
- Where: Calle de Ríos Rosas, 21
- Metro: Ríos Rosas (L1)
- Your Spanish: cavar hondo = to dig deep
Teleférico de Madrid: ten minutes in the clouds
Everybody thinks the cable car is “for kids”. That’s why there’s never anyone. It goes from Paseo del Pintor Rosales to the Casa de Campo since 1969: about ten minutes each way, flying over the Parque del Oeste, with the Royal Palace and the Almudena behind you.
- Where: Paseo del Pintor Rosales
- Metro: Argüelles (L3, L4, L6)
- Your Spanish: estar en las nubes = to be daydreaming
Free PDF · No-Guiris Madrid · download it now
Want all 30 secrets, with la Vikinga and Puri, where to eat in every barrio and the Spanish you need at each stop?
Bonus: Madrid Río and Matadero
Madrid Río is the river walk: locals run, kids scream, and in summer the fountain “beach” is pure Madrid, with no sea and lots of chanclas (flip-flops). Matadero Madrid (Paseo de la Chopera, 14) is an old slaughterhouse turned cultural space. Metro: Legazpi.
Spanish you’ll need at Matadero
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Hola, ¿qué hay hoy? | Hello, what’s on today? |
| Hay una exposición. | There’s an exhibition. |
| ¿La entrada es gratis? | Is it free to get in? |
| Para esta exposición, sí. | For this exhibition, yes. |
| ¿Dónde está la entrada? | Where is the entrance? |
Where do these stories come from?
I’m writing a novel about a copywriter who walks around Madrid when she can’t sleep, when a man leaves her, or when a deadline is eating her alive. Two voices walk with her: la Vikinga, who speaks English and has no filter, and Puri, who speaks Spanish and is shocked by everything. Every secret on this page is one of her walks.
The novel is Una felación al día (yes, that’s the title, and yes, it’s a novel, not self-help): a copywriter in Madrid, love, desire, friends and a mystery, all in Spanglish. When it goes on sale, this Madrid guide will come with it as an extra. For now, it’s free: download it directly from this page.
📖 Read the first chapter of Una felación al día for free. And if you’re learning Spanish, my book How to Speak Spanish with a Narco, a Philosopher and a Real Human is the next step after the guide.
More secret Madrid, barrio by barrio
- Secret Madrid: 30 Hidden Places and the Legends Behind Them
- Madrid de los Austrias: Secrets and Legends Near Sol
- La Latina, Madrid: Hidden Walls, Secret Gardens and the Best Tapas Street
- Lavapiés and Tirso de Molina: Corralas, a Severed Head and a 1916 Cinema
- Malasaña Legends: the Fish on Calle del Pez, Manuela’s Scissors and the Missing Number 109
- Gran Vía Secrets: a Rhino, a Naked Man on the Roof and the Street of Disappointment
- Chueca Secrets: Saint Valentine’s Bones and the House of the Seven Chimneys
- Retiro and Calle de Alcalá Secrets: the Fallen Angel, the Two-Faced Gate and Tonnes of Gold
FAQ
Can you visit the Chamberí ghost station?
Yes. The old Chamberí station is a small museum called Andén 0, run by Metro de Madrid. Check opening times on the official website.
Why did Chamberí metro station close?
In 1966 Line 1 trains were made longer, and Chamberí’s curved platforms couldn’t be extended, so the station closed.
Is the Sorolla Museum worth it?
Yes, especially for the light and the Andalusian garden. It’s the painter’s own house, kept as he lived in it.
How long is the Madrid cable car ride?
About ten minutes each way, between Paseo del Pintor Rosales and the Casa de Campo.
— Monica Bernabe Perez