The literary quarter of old Madrid, named after the vegetable gardens that once covered this slope between the Royal Palace and the Prado. In the 17th century, Lope de Vega and Cervantes both lived within a few blocks of each other here — their rivalry was famously bitter — and the neighbourhood has traded on its literary associations ever since. Today it is dense with bars, cervecerías, and the kind of classic Madrid nightlife that carries on well past midnight.
Calle de las Huertas runs from the Paseo del Prado up to the Ateneo de Madrid, passing Plaza de Jesús and the back streets around Plaza de Santa Ana, where you can sit in the terrace bars and look up at the names of Spanish writers inscribed along the façade of the Teatro Español. Casa Alberto, in business since 1827, is the oldest bar in the neighbourhood and the most reliably good place to eat. Metro: Antón Martín or Sevilla.