MadridSquare
Staying around Puerta del Sol: metro, mapped bars and hotels
The short answer
Base yourself around Puerta del Sol if short walks matter most: the Carretas entrance to Sol metro station, 37 m away, and all 30 nearest mapped hotel entries lie within a 5-minute walk. It suits short city breaks and evenings out; light sleepers should skip it. The catch: OpenStreetMap lists 31 bars, pubs and nightclubs within 250 m, and no ring sample maps fewer than 21.
Quick facts
- Night-noise risk
- High
- 31 bars, pubs and clubs within 250 m
- Climb
- 36 m
- 644 to 680 m across 9 points
- Metro walk
- 1 min
- to Carretas
- Hotels mapped
- 30
- within 500 m in OpenStreetMap
Who it suits, who should skip it
Good for
- First-time visitors who want the Carretas entrance to Sol metro station, 37 m away
- Short breaks where all 30 listed hotel entries are within a 5-minute walk
- Night owls who want 31 mapped bars, pubs and nightclubs within 250 m
Skip it if
- Light sleepers unable to choose a room by street side
- Anyone wanting few mapped bars: no ring sample maps under 21
- Travellers needing confirmed step-free routes rather than sampled elevations
Which side of Puerta del Sol to choose
This guide lists the 30 nearest hotel entries mapped in OpenStreetMap, from Hotel Europa at 79 m to Hotel Francisco I at 303 m. Most lie north of the mapped centre, with addresses on Calle de la Montera, Calle del Carmen and Plaza del Carmen; the northern ring samples map 32 to 37 venues within 250 m.
West of the square, Hotel Moderno at 83 m and Petit Palace Puerta del Sol at 104 m have Calle del Arenal addresses; the west sample maps 39 venues. UMusic Hotel Madrid lies 164 m south, towards the south sample, the lowest count at 21. Hostal Prieto and Madrisol sit towards the south-east sample, the highest at 66.
Metro and walking times from the square
The nearest mapped metro access is the Carretas entrance to Sol metro station, 37 m away and about a 1-minute walk, found in a search that ran to 1200 m. The mapped entrance lists no lines; look up Sol station on the operator's network map for the lines it serves.
Walking times are estimates from the square, not routed journeys: each straight-line distance is multiplied by 1.3 and walked at 80 m a minute. On that basis Kilómetro Cero, at 27 m, and Tio Pepe, at 42 m, are 1 minute away, and every listed hotel falls within 5 minutes. Hotel-to-metro times are not calculated.
Noise at night: what the map counts
Within 250 m of the square, OpenStreetMap lists 17 bars, 9 pubs and 5 nightclubs, 31 venues in all, which counts as high on this guide's mapped-venue scale. That is a proxy, not a sound reading: it holds no opening hours and misses traffic, deliveries and venues absent from the map.
Around the ring, the south sample maps 21 venues within 250 m, the lowest, and the south-east maps 66, the highest. North-west reads 32, north and east 34, north-east 37, and west and south-west 39 each. Only the south sample reads below the centre's 31, so ask the hotel which way a room faces.
Hills and walking around the square
Elevation is sampled, not surveyed. The square's mapped centre sits at 666 m and the ring samples range from 644 m to 680 m, a 36 m spread. The west sample is lowest and the south-west reads 653 m, while the north and north-east read 678 m and the east 680 m.
These readings compare points, not the climb of any street or stairs between them. For the Carretas entrance to Sol metro station, 37 m away, the model gives 652 m against 666 m at the centre, a 14 m difference, not a measured slope. If step-free access matters, confirm it with the hotel and the metro operator.
Hotels mapped nearby
30 hotels are tagged in OpenStreetMap within 500 m of Puerta del Sol; the nearest 12 are shown. Names, stars and addresses are exactly as tagged, nearest first.
Hotel Europa
★★★Stars as tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle del Carmen 4 28013 Madrid
79 m away, about 2 min on foot
Hotel Moderno
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle del Arenal 2 28013
83 m away, about 2 min on foot
Petit Palace Puerta del Sol
★★★Stars as tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle del Arenal 4 28013 Madrid
104 m away, about 2 min on foot
Apartamentos en Sol
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Plaza de la Puerta del Sol 3 28013 Madrid
117 m away, about 2 min on foot
El Mirador
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de la Montera 6 28013 Madrid
122 m away, about 2 min on foot
B&B Puerta del Sol
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de la Montera 10-12 28013 Madrid
136 m away, about 3 min on foot
Petit Palace Preciados
★★★Stars as tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de Galdo 2 28013 Madrid
152 m away, about 3 min on foot
UMusic Hotel Madrid
★★★★★Stars as tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de la Paz 11 28012 Madrid
164 m away, about 3 min on foot
Hostal Patria
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle Mayor 10 Madrid
186 m away, about 4 min on foot
Hotel Victoria 4
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de la Victoria 4 28012 Madrid
194 m away, about 4 min on foot
Ateneo
No stars tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de la Montera 22 28013 Madrid
198 m away, about 4 min on foot
Hotel Liabeny
★★★★Stars as tagged in OpenStreetMap
Calle de la Salud 3 28013 Madrid
209 m away, about 4 min on foot
Where it is
The area this guide covers: Streets within 500 m of the mapped centre of Puerta del Sol, read through 8 compass ring samples 400 m out and hotel addresses on Calle del Arenal, Calle de la Montera and Calle de la Cruz. An editorial outline, not an official district line.
Nearby
Sights on foot
- Carlos III
- Kilómetro Cero
- Puerta del Sol
- Tio Pepe
- Presidencia de la Comunidad de Madrid
- Amador Cuesta Barrientos "Amador"
- Hans Christian Andersen
- Venancio Ortells Menéndez
More street guides nearby
- Plaza de Santa Ana
- Plaza de Santa Ana
- Gran Vía
- Plaza de la Cebada
- Plaza de Oriente
- Palacio Real de Madrid
Compare and read on
How these numbers were measured
| Sampled point | Venues within 250 m | Elevation |
|---|---|---|
| Puerta del SolThe anchor: distances on this page start here | 3117 bars, 9 pubs, 5 nightclubs | 666 m |
| North ring sample | 34 | 678 m |
| North-east ring sample | 37 | 678 m |
| East ring sample | 34 | 680 m |
| South-east ring sample | 66 | 661 m |
| South ring sample | 21 | 666 m |
| South-west ring sample | 39 | 653 m |
| West ring sample | 39 | 644 m |
| North-west ring sample | 32 | 671 m |
- Night-noise risk counts places tagged as bars, pubs and nightclubs in OpenStreetMap within 250 m: low under 8, medium from 8 or with any nightclub, high from 25 or with 3 nightclubs. It counts mapped venues; it does not measure sound.
- Walking times take the straight-line distance, add 30% for the street network and assume 80 m a minute, rounded up. They are estimates, not routes.
- Climb is the spread between the highest and the lowest sampled point in Copernicus DEM GLO-90 via the Open-Meteo Elevation API. Terrain models average the ground into cells, so a few metres either way are within their error.
- Searched on 13 Oct 2026: the metro within 1.2 km, hotels within 500 m. A place missing from OpenStreetMap is missing here too.
Questions and answers
How far is the metro from Puerta del Sol?
The nearest mapped metro access is the Carretas entrance to Sol metro station, 37 m away, about a 1-minute walk from the square's mapped centre. The mapped entrance lists no lines; look up Sol station on the operator's network map for the lines it serves.
Is Puerta del Sol noisy at night?
OpenStreetMap lists 31 bars, pubs and nightclubs within 250 m, which is high on this guide's mapped-venue scale. That counts venues, not sound. The south ring sample maps 21 venues and the south-east sample 66.
Which mapped hotels are closest to Puerta del Sol?
Hotel Europa is 79 m away, Hotel Moderno 83 m and Petit Palace Puerta del Sol 104 m, each about a 2-minute walk. Names and addresses are as tagged in OpenStreetMap and unverified.
Is the area around Puerta del Sol hilly?
The sampled points range from 644 m to 680 m, a 36 m spread, with the west lowest and the east highest. They are point readings, not route climbs or step-free guidance.