A sort of smaller literary Rastro, this collection of wooden bookstalls and kioskos climbs the slope from the Atocha end of the Paseo del Prado -- alongside the railings of the Botanical Gardens -- right up to the southwestern corner of the Retiro Park. Practically all the books are secondhand and in Spanish, but whether you read Castilian or not it's great fun to wander, browse, and simply absorb the scene, unchanged over many decades and one of the great traditional sights of outdoor Madrid. Most stalls are open daily from 10am to 7pm; Sunday mornings are the liveliest time.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Madrid, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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