Madrid audio guide that talks as you walk
Madrid is a capital made for walking: a royal palace and Habsburg squares in the old centre, grand boulevards, and three world-class art museums along the Paseo del Prado. With AI TourMate you don't need a pre-booked tour. Switch on GPS auto mode, start walking, and the app tells you the story of each place as you reach it — in English or any of 14 languages.
Have a listen
This is how the app tells the story when you arrive: Plaza Mayor · 0:48
In the app, every story is created on the spot, so each one is a little different. This is a pre-made example in the same voice the app uses.
Read the story
Walk over to the bronze horseman in the middle of the square and look closely at the horse's mouth. The rider is Philip the Third, under whom Juan Gómez de Mora completed this square in 1619. For centuries that mouth stood open, and small birds that slipped inside never got out; when a firecracker set off there shattered the statue in 1931, its hollow belly was full of their bones, and the mouth has been sealed ever since. Around you, markets, bullfights, royal festivities and even Inquisition trials filled this space, and the balconies served as boxes for spectators. After a fire in 1790, Juan de Villanueva rebuilt the square. Before you leave, find the Arco de Cuchilleros in the southwest corner and take its steep steps down.
How many places can the app talk about?
AI TourMate finds its stories in OpenStreetMap. Within the city limits of Madrid, that means more than 2,200 named places, for example:
- 1,080 historic sites and monuments
- 591 churches and places of worship
- 120 museums and galleries
- 584 sights, viewpoints and artworks
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors, counted on October 8, 2026.
From the Royal Palace to Retiro Park
From the royal quarter of the old town past the Prado to Madrid's green heart in one walk. The app narrates as you go — and keeps telling stories in the side streets too.
4.5 km · about 60 min walking · 8 stops
Tap a pin or a card to see the place.
What the app tells you about
In the app, each of these is a 2–3 minute story that starts as you arrive — your first one is free.
Photo: Tim Adams, CC BY-SA 4.0 1Royal Palace of Madrid
The palace was built from 1738 on the site of the old Alcázar fortress, which burned down in 1734, and Charles III was the first king to live in it. With more than 3,000 rooms it is one of the largest palaces in Europe; it is still the official residence of the Spanish king, though today it is used mainly for state ceremonies.
Photo: Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0 2Almudena Cathedral
Madrid's cathedral took more than a century to finish: its foundation stone was laid in 1883, and Pope John Paul II consecrated it in 1993. Its grey-and-white neoclassical exterior matches the Royal Palace opposite, while the interior is neo-Gothic. The future King Felipe VI married Letizia Ortiz here in 2004.
Photo: Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0 3Mercado de San Miguel
This iron-and-glass market hall opened in 1916, just a few steps from Plaza Mayor. Restored and reopened in 2009 as a gourmet food market, it is now the place to taste tapas, cured ham, oysters and Spanish wines at the counters.
Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0 4Plaza Mayor
Madrid's grand arcaded square was completed in 1619 under Philip III, to designs by Juan Gómez de Mora. It hosted markets, bullfights, royal celebrations and even trials of the Inquisition; after a fire in 1790 it was rebuilt by Juan de Villanueva. In the middle stands the equestrian statue of Philip III.
Photo: Matt Joseph, CC BY-SA 4.0 5Puerta del Sol
Named after a city gate that once stood here, the square is the heart of Madrid — and of Spain: a plaque in the pavement marks Kilometre Zero, the starting point of the country's radial roads. On New Year's Eve the whole nation watches the clock of the Real Casa de Correos and eats twelve grapes to its twelve chimes. Nearby stands the statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree, the symbol of Madrid.
Photo: Felipe Gabaldón, CC BY 2.0 6Gran Vía
Work on this grand avenue began in 1910, cutting through the old streets to link the centre with the newer districts. Lined with early 20th-century buildings, cinemas and theatres, it is often called Madrid's Broadway; the domed Metrópolis Building stands at its start, and the Telefónica Building of 1929 was one of the first skyscrapers in Europe.
Photo: Miguel Diaz, CC BY-SA 2.0 7Plaza de Cibeles
At the centre of the square the goddess Cybele rides a chariot drawn by two lions; the fountain was designed by Ventura Rodríguez and built under Charles III in the late 18th century. Behind it rises the white Palacio de Cibeles, the former main post office, which now houses Madrid City Hall. Real Madrid fans gather at the fountain to celebrate their victories.
Photo: Fernando Pascullo, CC BY-SA 4.0 8Puerta de Alcalá
This neoclassical triumphal gate was commissioned by Charles III, designed by Francesco Sabatini and completed in 1778. It once marked the entrance to the city on the road from Alcalá de Henares; today it stands in the middle of the Plaza de la Independencia, next to Retiro Park.
Photo: Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada, CC BY-SA 2.0 9Prado Museum
One of the world's great art museums, the Prado opened in 1819 in a neoclassical building designed by Juan de Villanueva. Its collection of Spanish masters is unrivalled — Velázquez's Las Meninas, Goya's Black Paintings, El Greco — and it is also home to Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights.
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain 10Reina Sofía Museum
Spain's national museum of 20th-century and contemporary art occupies a former 18th-century hospital, extended with glass lift towers and a modern wing. Its most famous work is Picasso's Guernica (1937), and it also holds major works by Dalí and Miró.
Photo: Max Alexander / PromoMadrid, CC BY-SA 2.0 11Retiro Park
The park began as the gardens of the Buen Retiro Palace, built for King Philip IV in the 1630s, and has been open to the public since 1868. You can row a boat on the large pond beneath the monument to Alfonso XII, or visit the Crystal Palace, a glass-and-iron pavilion built in 1887.
Photo: Matt Joseph, CC BY-SA 4.0 12Temple of Debod
A genuine ancient Egyptian temple from the 2nd century BC, given by Egypt to Spain in 1968 in thanks for Spanish help in saving the Nubian monuments threatened by the Aswan High Dam. Rebuilt stone by stone in the Parque del Oeste, it opened in 1972 and is one of the best places in Madrid to watch the sunset.
Day trips from Madrid
Toledo, Segovia with its Roman aqueduct, and the royal monastery of El Escorial are all easy day trips from Madrid. The app works there too, and on a road trip it narrates the towns you pass if you turn on GPS auto mode before you drive.
More about road tripsFrequently asked questions
Is there a Madrid audio guide in my language?
AI TourMate narrates Madrid in 14 languages, including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Japanese and Chinese. Everyone in a group can listen in their own language on their own phone.
Is it a ticket for the Prado or the Royal Palace?
No. The app tells you the story of the places around you as you walk. For the Prado, the Royal Palace and other sites with an entrance, you still need a ticket from the site.
Does it work inside buildings?
The app follows your location by GPS, so it works best outdoors — around the sites and in the streets. Inside large buildings, GPS can be inaccurate.
How much does it cost?
The app is free to download and your first story is free. After that you pay only for what you listen to, with credit packs — there is no subscription.
Explore Madrid at your own pace
Free to download · first story free · no subscription