Riding into the centre of Madrid is not anyone's idea of a scenic route, but the Paseo del Prado makes up for the traffic. This broad, tree-lined boulevard, laid out in the eighteenth century under Charles III as a showpiece of the Enlightenment, runs from the Cibeles fountain past Neptune to the Atocha station, and along it stand three of the greatest art museums in the world: the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and, a short walk away, the Reina Sofía with Picasso's Guernica. Behind the Prado, the Buen Retiro park spreads over more than a hundred hectares of gardens, lakes and avenues, once the grounds of a royal palace. In 2021 UNESCO listed the ensemble as the Landscape of Light, a recognition of the boulevard and the park as a planned urban landscape devoted to science, art and leisure.
The Retiro is where Madrid goes to breathe. On the big lake people row hired boats beneath the colonnaded monument to Alfonso XII; in a quiet corner stands the Palacio de Cristal, a glass and iron pavilion built in 1887 that now hosts contemporary art. On weekend mornings the paths fill with joggers, families and street musicians, and the shade beneath the chestnuts and plane trees is the coolest place in the city in summer.
For a rider, the practical side matters. Madrid has strict low-emission rules, and motorcycles are subject to them too, so check that your bike's environmental label and registration are accepted before you come in. Motorbikes are everywhere in the city, and parking for them is relatively easy compared with cars, but leave nothing on the bike. Traffic around the roundabouts at Cibeles and Atocha is dense and fast, with taxis and buses changing lanes without much ceremony. Sunday mornings are the calmest time to arrive.
The city is also a great base. To the north and west, the Sierra de Guadarrama rises within an hour, with mountain passes like Navacerrada and Morcuera offering proper curves and cool air. To the south, the road leads through La Mancha towards Toledo and Aranjuez.
Fuel, food and rest are everywhere. Eat late, as Madrid does: a plate of calamari in a roll, a cocido madrileño in winter, or a long lunch on a terrace. Then walk the Prado and spend an hour with Velázquez, a surprisingly good way to rest tired legs.