The terrace view
The Gran Vía rooftops, the dome of the Metrópolis building and the run of Alcalá towards Cibeles, from a height that keeps you in touch with the street instead of flattening it into a map.
Luis García (Zaqarbal) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Joaquín Sorolla / Bernardo Rico — Public domain · Javier Perez Montes — CC BY-SA 4.0 · HMUHH — CC BY-SA 4.0
It depends what you want. The El Corte Inglés terrace at Callao is free to walk up to with nothing to buy, though it gets crowded, and the Riu hotel rooftop at Plaza de España is much higher and costs more. What you pay for here is position — mid-Alcalá, with Gran Vía and Cibeles in the same frame.
Banco de España and Sevilla, both on Line 2, are each a few minutes' walk, and Gran Vía (Lines 1 and 5) is roughly seven minutes away. The address is Calle de Alcalá 42, and the visit combines easily on foot with Cibeles and the Puerta de Alcalá.
Normally you buy at the ground-floor desk or online and take the lift up, but queues build before sunset in summer and at weekends. Check the official site first, since ticketing arrangements and opening hours change and the terrace can close for private events or bad weather.
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A heavy 1920s block on Calle de Alcalá, designed by Antonio Palacios for a private arts society that still runs it, though the halls, cinema and ground-floor café are open to anyone. Most visitors come only for the roof. It overlooks central Madrid from a moderate height: the Gran Vía rooftops, the Metrópolis dome, the run of Alcalá towards Cibeles, and the mountains on a clear day. It is not high, which is the point: you stay close enough to recognise the streets below. The roof has its own ticket, normally bought at the ground-floor desk or online, then a lift up. The fee is small but it is not free, and Madrid has terraces that charge nothing, such as the El Corte Inglés rooftop at Callao, which is free to walk up to. What you pay for is the angle: Alcalá and Gran Vía in one view. Half an hour is enough. It is busiest in the hour before sunset, and the terrace can close for weather or private events, so confirm prices and hours on the official site. It does not justify a separate trip, but it sits on the walk from Gran Vía down to Cibeles, the Puerta de Alcalá a little beyond.
The Gran Vía rooftops, the dome of the Metrópolis building and the run of Alcalá towards Cibeles, from a height that keeps you in touch with the street instead of flattening it into a map.
La Pecera, the high-ceilinged ground-floor café, is a destination in its own right and needs no rooftop ticket.
Exhibitions, film screenings and talks rotate constantly and the quality varies, so check what is on before you choose which ticket to buy.
Calle de Alcalá 42, 28014 Madrid