The shopping in Madrid is extensive and if you do not know where to head for it often feels like a minefield.

A favourite area for shopping in Madrid City is Salamanca. Full of upmarket boutiques selling exquisite dresses, chic hats, shoes, and bags perfect for Wimbledon, Ascot, and this summers weddings.

Another good shopping area in Madrid is Alonso Martinez, it quite similar to Salamanca in terms of style and what is available.

There are an abundance of Markets in Madrid. All of which are great for shopping. The majority of Madrid markets focus is selling food, however the Rastro market sells antiques and clothes, and the Marques de Viana Market Madrid sells crafts. My favourite is the Conde de Barajas Market selling paintings.

The best way to travel around Madrid when shopping is by the Metro. This is Madrids equivalent to the London underground and it is a cheap and fast way to travel.

Madrids equivalent to Bond Street is the famous Gran Via. Gran Via is another good place for a bit of shopping. Apart from shops there are many hotels, restaurants, and sights nearby.

On any shopping trip in Spain it is worth popping into El Corte Ingles. El Corte Ingles is a large upmarket department store although be careful there are more than six El Corte Ingles in Madrid. On each floor there is a different department. Women wears, mens wear, children wear, and toys, home furnishings, there is even a floor with gardening tools, DIY tools, and garden furniture. There is often a restaurant or two in each El Corte Ingles. Books, music, films, cosmetics, the list is endless. The most important thing for me is that you can buy a bikini (for example) for 10 or for 300 and this applies to almost everything in the El Corte Ingles department stores. When they supply something they supply every shape size and label. Brilliant for Christmas shopping, you can buy the whole familys presents in one hit, heading back to the car park (onsite) whenever your hands are full. El Corte Ingles is like the John Lewis of Spain and highly recommended on your shopping trip in Madrid.

There are several shopping centres in Madrid that have a fine array of retails fashion shops, with all the basic spanish high street stores such as Mango and Zara. Here are the top six shopping centres in Madrid:

Burgocentro Shopping Centre

El Centro de la Moraleja Shopping Centre

Equinocio Park Shopping Centre

Heron City Shopping Centre

Loranca Shopping Centre

Los Valles Shopping Centre