A prison with an ironic inscription, an auto-da-fé that lasted from dawn to dusk, a minister beheaded, the balcony of a king's mistress, a secretary who let himself down into a church, a King of France who may never have slept in the tower, a duke arrested on Maundy Thursday, a servant snatched from the scaffold, and the murder and the bombing at the far end of the Calle Mayor, each story with its own degree of certainty.
In Habsburg Madrid, people were locked up, tried in public and made things up. You start in front of the Court Prison and follow the condemned on their way to the Plaza Mayor: what an auto-da-fé really was and where the fires did not burn, how Rodrigo Calderón fell in the very square he used to ride across, and how much truth there is in La Calderona's balcony. Through the little streets of Codo and Pasa you reach the escape of Antonio Pérez, who let himself down through a church gallery and got away with his wife's help; then the tower where tradition locks up the King of France, and the Casa de la Villa, where the great Duke of Osuna was arrested. On the Calle Mayor, in front of the Cañete Palace, you'll hear the case of 1654 that sounds like a legend and almost all happened: a servant snatched from the scaffold by a group of clerics, put back on it a week later, the real culprit's late confession, and ghosts that people were already talking about that same year. And at the far end of the Calle Mayor, where in 1906 a bouquet of flowers fell with a bomb inside, and where, three centuries earlier, the murder began that brought Pérez down.
An outline of the walk. The full stories are in the app.
Open a marker to see its page. Use two fingers to move the map on mobile.
Walking directions are based on mapped pedestrian routes. Check local access and signs; the route is not an accessibility guarantee. Times are approximate.
Madrid makes sense square by square. Leave room for a terrace, an unexpected slope and a proper break when the sunshine gets strong.
You start beside the Bear and the Strawberry Tree and find out how a crossroads worth less than the Plaza Mayor became the point from which Spain's roads are measured: a clock that replaced a bell, a post office with a guardroom where the staircase should have been, the afternoon of the Mamelukes in 1808 and the Kilometre Zero plaque.
In just a few blocks, the most famous writers in the Spanish language lived, loathed each other and were buried.
A hundred paces from Sol, streets almost nobody looks at twice.
An app for self-guided audio walks. Choose a city and a route, then listen to the stories behind its streets. You decide when to start and when to stop.
Podtour is coming to iOS and Android. There is no confirmed launch date yet. Join the waitlist and we will let you know when it is ready.
No. Street walks and monument audio tours do not include admission tickets, transport or a guide accompanying you.
Download the audio in the app before heading out, then listen offline. Loading the online base map and calculating a new route from your location require a connection.
Every route includes Spanish and British English. The English version is adapted for English-speaking travellers, rather than translated word for word.
Join the waitlist, choose a city and confirm your email address. When the app launches, we will email you with access details. No card is required. You can also try one free route in every city.
Yes. Your own access is included and you can choose 0–5 guests: up to 6 people including you. Each guest saves up to €0.50 on a walk, €1 on a pack or €2 on a whole city compared with buying separately. The counter shows the total before you confirm one payment.
After paying, share your purchase’s invitation link. Each guest opens it in Podtour and accepts their place on their own iPhone or Android phone. They must redeem it within 30 days of purchase. Unclaimed places then expire and cannot be recovered or renewed. Access accepted in time is kept. Opening the link does not use a place; one account takes just one place, and no more people can join once all places are taken.
No. Choose all your guests before confirming the first purchase. Afterwards you can share the places you paid for, but you cannot increase their number or restart the 30-day deadline.
Join the waitlist. When we launch, your chosen city is yours to explore.
Join the waitlist and get one whole city free when Podtour launches. You choose where.
Podtour manages your launch request with your consent. You can withdraw it and exercise your rights as explained in our privacy policy. Privacy details.
One city per person. All its Podtour routes in Spanish and English. Available at launch. Offer details.
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