Couple photoshoot in Madrid

Madrid does not need a monument in the background to say where a picture was taken, which makes it a good city for a couple photoshoot that is about the two of you rather than the trip. The walk we use most runs downhill through the Barrio de las Letras, where Calle de las Huertas is pedestrian and has lines by Cervantes, Quevedo and Lope de Vega set in bronze into the paving, then crosses the Paseo del Prado into the Retiro. The order is deliberate. The narrow streets come first, while the sun is still too high to reach the pavement between the façades and the light inside them is even; the park comes last, when the sun is low enough to come in sideways under the trees. From November to February that whole route fits into the afternoon before a sunset between a quarter to six and half past six. In July the same walk starts after eight in the evening, or at seven in the morning.

When to book in Madrid

November to March is the season, and inside it the hour is almost yours to choose: the sun never climbs high enough to flatten a face, and the afternoon closes with a sunset that moves from a quarter to six in early December to about half past seven just before the clocks go forward at the end of March. April, May and October are still good, busier, and the useful light shifts to the two hours before sunset, which after the clock change falls well after eight. July and August leave one honest slot, from sunrise, at around seven, until nine. Two crowds are worth steering round: Sunday late morning in the Retiro and weekend evenings in Malasaña. A Tuesday afternoon in February has neither.