Two cities, one very short list.
Exceptional dining, VIP events, hidden addresses and the nights worth changing your plans for — reported from the room in Paris and Madrid.
MaMA 2026: three nights of Pigalle, one pass, 150 artists
The 17th edition runs the Pigalle and Montmartre rooms for three nights, with the daytime convention on two days only, 14 and 15 October. Take the Thursday.
October 14–16, 2026 · La Cigale
- Where
- La Cigale and other Pigalle rooms
- Tickets
- Pass Music one night or three; Pass Pro adds daytime
- Ask for
- The three-night pass, not the single
La Zarzuela: racing that ends in time for lunch
The autumn meeting opens on Thursday 10 September with an evening card, gates 18.00 and first race 19.00, before settling into Sunday mornings at 11.30. The Gran Premio de La Hispanidad, 11 October.
September 10 – November 29, 2026 · Hipódromo de la Zarzuela
- Where
- Avenida Padre Huidobro s/n, A-6 km 8, Moncloa-Aravaca; free shuttle from Moncloa
- Tickets
- €16 adults, €10.50 children; passes €50/€30
- Ask for
- The premium terrace, in the south-stand boxes facing the finish line, with catering and open bar
The Index
Estampa: come Thursday, before the red dots
The 34th edition puts more than fifty galleries in Pavilion 5, with Esther Ferrer as invited artist and a piece made for the fair.
September 24–27, 2026 · IFEMA MADRID, Pabellón 5
Thursday 11.00–20.00 · Fri–Sun 12.00–20.00
Pitchfork Paris: one pass, seven rooms around Bastille
The Avant-Garde nights turn Badaboum, Supersonic, Café de la Danse and four more into a single walkable circuit for €28.25 a night. Collect the wristband first.
November 2–8, 2026 · POPUP!
Wristbands at Place de la Bastille, 18:00–22:30, DICE
Bar De Vie: eleven seats in a cellar, and no ice in the house
Alex Francis and Barney O'Kane took the 2026 sustainable bar award and No.34 in Europe with a limestone basement where sub-zero drinks arrive without a cube.
22-24 rue Saint-Sauveur, 75002
Walk-in at the bar · reservations upstairs only
Bar Nouveau: the best bar in France is two flights of stairs
The Art Nouveau room co-founded by Rémy Savage, Sara and Hadrien Moudoulaud and Marc Puzzuoli took the French title and No.5 at Europe's 50 Best Bars. A diminutive space; no reservations upstairs, set menu on OpenTable.
5 rue des Haudriettes, 75003
Walk-in · busier from early evening, especially weekends
L'Étrange Festival closes in Salle 500 with Na Hong-jin
Twelve days of genre cinema under Les Halles, ending Saturday at 20:00 with the avant-première of Hope and the prize list read out in the same room.
September 1–12, 2026 · Forum des images
Buy online · box office daily from 13:30
MADRING: Madrid races a track nobody knows yet
A 5.4 km semi-urban circuit wrapped around the IFEMA grounds, three days of running, and a Saturday qualifying hour on tarmac no driver has read.
September 11–13, 2026 · MADRING
Ticket zones split North and South · check yours
Festival de Cine de Madrid–PNR: a €3.50 double bill
Thirty-fifth edition of the new-directors festival: an opening gala at the Teatro Círculo de Bellas Artes, then competition screenings at Cineteca Madrid and Sala Berlanga.
September 14–20, 2026 · Cineteca Madrid
Berlanga sessions €3.50 · box office and entradas.com
Shakira: twelve nights in a stadium built for her
A temporary stadium in Villaverde, twelve dates between September and October, an Es Latina programme curated by Shakira — and Metro San Cristóbal or Villaverde Alto (L3) at hand.
September 18 – October 11, 2026 · Estadio Shakira, Iberdrola Music
Doors open before the 20:30 start · Metro L3
Manon Lescaut opens the Real after a century away
Puccini returns to the Teatro Real in a new Carlos Wagner staging, Luisotti in the pit and Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role — thirteen nights, seats from €19.
September 23 – October 11, 2026 · Teatro Real
Curtain 19:30 · 18:00 on 11 October
Space at the Cinémathèque, introduced by the people who go
Three weeks of space cinema on rue de Bercy, from Méliès to Nolan, with sessions presented by an astronaut, a debris researcher and two astrophysicists.
September 30 – October 19, 2026 · La Cinémathèque française
Standard ticketing · rooms reopened after summer works
The Arc: two days at Longchamp, and Saturday is the one
A full card of Group races in the Bois de Boulogne, themed Festival des Nations — with a Saturday card that includes the Qatar Prix du Cadran and the Qatar Prix de Royallieu, both Group 1.
October 3–4, 2026 · Hippodrome ParisLongchamp
From €15 for the Arc Village, €20 general entry · the Winning Post Gold Stand and the Sunday Prestige Auberge are sold out
Belmondo at the Cinémathèque: 35 films and one ticket
Five years after his death, an exhibition and a parallel retrospective built as a career in 35 films — Godard to Verneuil, Becker to Melville.
October 7 – January 31, 2027 · La Cinémathèque française
Take the combined screening-plus-exhibition ticket
Jazz sur Seine: the clubs open the season on rue des Lombards
Two weeks, some 200 concerts and 450 musicians across the Paris jazz clubs — with one showcase night on rue des Lombards where the door costs nothing.
October 9–24, 2026 · Paris Jazz Club
Ticket per concert or 3-concert pass at 40 euros · Jazz Marathon night open access
Another Way: six days of climate documentary in Madrid
The twelfth edition runs 20 to 25 October in Madrid, in person and online across Spain, with a programme devoted to sustainable development and the environment; venues for 2026 are not yet announced.
October 20–25, 2026 · Madrid
Programme and tickets not yet published
Art Basel Paris: the card comes from your dealer
Fifth edition under the glass of the Grand Palais, 211 exhibitors from 41 countries, Preview Days on October 21 and 22, a public Vernissage on October 22, and an invitation-only Avant-Première on October 20.
October 23–25, 2026 · Grand Palais
Day ticket €47 · previews by VIP card or gallery invite
Club Metrópolis: a real door under Madrid's most famous dome
More than 6,000 m² inside the Edificio Metrópolis opened as a members' club on 21 January 2026, with a hotel, restaurants, a dress code, and no images taken or shared without prior authorisation.
Calle de Alcalá 39, 28014
Membership by application · calls only in the designated areas
Hôtel Particulier Montmartre: the gate off avenue Junot
Five suites, a garden billed as the largest of any Paris hotel, and Le Très Particulier, downstairs in the winter garden — still one of Time Out's hidden bars.
23 avenue Junot, Pavillon D, 75018
Le Très Particulier cocktail bar: Tuesday to Saturday, 6pm to 2am
Jack's Club: a piano bar in a vanished church
Under the Thompson on Plaza del Carmen, a British-minded speakeasy built into the remains of San Luis Obispo, where the cocktail list is written as chapters.
Plaza del Carmen s/n, 28013
In the hotel basement · from 7:00 PM · no photos or videos
Mercer Madrid: twelve seats in a 1905 sugar palace
Mercer's first house in Madrid — the group's ninth establishment — opened in April behind the Prado, in the former headquarters of the Sociedad General Azucarera: Eneko Atxa in the kitchen, Javier de las Muelas at the bar.
Calle de Ruiz de Alarcón, 5, 28014
Rooftop with pool, solarium and panoramic terrace open to the public · 24-hour gym for guests only
Nobu Madrid: eight seats on the third level
Nobu Hospitality's first Madrid house opened on 1 September, fifty keys above a restaurant spread over three levels. The counter seats eight. The rooftop looks down Alcalá.
Calle de Alcalá 26, 28014
Book direct · rooftop DJ sets Wednesday to Saturday
Saint James Paris: lunch is for members, dinner is for you
A château behind a gate in the 16th, run as hotel and private club. Bellefeuille holds a star in the 2026 guide and a Michelin green star for the restaurant.
43 avenue Bugeaud, 75116
Book dinner, not lunch, unless you are a member
The Palace: a circular bar under the 1912 dome
Twenty-two months of work and €90 million later, the Westin name is gone and the 27 Club pours cocktails inspired by notable historical figures, across from the Congreso.
Plaza de las Cortes 7, 28014
27 Club 6PM–2AM Mon–Thu, 5PM–2AM Fri–Sun · brunch Sun 13:30–4PM, not in summer
Silencio: the door only opens after midnight
David Lynch's members' club under the old presses of L'Aurore — gold-leaf walls, a 24-seat cinema, and one hour of the night when the public gets in.
142 rue Montmartre, 75002
Members before midnight · Tue–Sat until 6am
Caviar Kaspia
A first-floor dining room above the shop, where the baked potato with caviar has outlived every trend on the Madeleine.
17 place de la Madeleine, 75008
Late service · jacket advised
Le Clarence
Prince Robert of Luxembourg's hôtel particulier off the Champs-Élysées: two Michelin stars, and a cellar built around Château Haut-Brion.
31 avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, 75008
Two Michelin stars · book weeks ahead
Amazónico, and the jazz club hidden beneath it
Sandro Silva's tropical room on Jorge Juan is the see-and-be-seen table of Barrio de Salamanca. The real move is downstairs: the Jungle Jazz Club plays live every night of the week.
Calle de Jorge Juan 20, 28001
Jungle Jazz Club live nightly
Hôtel Costes
The courtyard that trained a generation of Paris nightlife. Still the most watched terrace on rue Saint-Honoré.
239 rue Saint-Honoré, 75001
Bar open to non-residents
Salmon Guru
Diego Cabrera's green-ceilinged cocktail den behind Huertas — speakeasy back room, mezcal list, and Madrid's best-known bar crowd.
Calle de Echegaray 21, 28014
No reservations for the front bar
Ten con Ten
The Paraguas Group's Salamanca canteen: long lunches that drift into cocktails, and the room where deals get done at 3pm.
Calle de Ayala 6, 28001
Lunch from 2pm · terrace in season
DiverXO
Dabiz Muñoz's three-star theatre of a restaurant — the hardest table in Spain, released in monthly drops.
Calle de Padre Damián 23, 28036
Three Michelin stars · online release only
Nothing here yet — the first stories land in the next issue.
The Ranking
Five tables we would return to on a Tuesday · Paris & Madrid
Judged on the room, the welcome and whether we would go back on a Tuesday. No submissions, no sponsorship.
For curious minds with a taste for the exceptional
One dispatch a week from Paris and Madrid: where to go, when to be there, what not to miss.