Don’t you just love the word “mooch”? Not only does it sound great, but the meaning is also pretty fab. Who doesn’t love to wander aimlessly around in a new place, absorbing the culture and sights? That’s exactly what we spent our long weekend doing in Madrid, drinking Sangria, eating tapas and seeing the sights. Fue perfecto!
If you google “top European cities to visit,” you’ll find that Madrid usually crops up midway down the list. And if I’m honest, I didn’t fall in love with the city as quickly as I did with Rome and Venice, but when I trip came to an end, I really didn’t want to go home. I’m here to share with you all of the things that I loved about Madrid – from streets lined with tapas bars to huge galleries you’re bound to get lost inside.
Where to stay
Pestana Plaza Mayor
I didn’t realise this when I booked it, but the hotel we stayed in was in a perfect location – right in the heart of the city. The Plaza Mayor is one of the biggest and most bustling squares in Madrid, and we were staying right on it! Not only that, but the hotel itself was beautiful. It was modern and bright with lots of interesting features such as exposed-brick walls and dark paint colours. There was a rooftop pool and bar and for relaxing, a spa and a gym in the basement. The restaurant where you eat breakfast is a sunny courtyard covered in greenery. I couldn’t fault our stay there.
Getting around
The metro is the perfect way to get around Madrid. Like the London Underground, the lines have names and colours – not numbers or letters (which I always find more confusing for some reason!). You can buy a metro card before you get on and you just need to keep it topped up with enough money for your trips, which you can do at most stations.
Getting the actual train – the one that runs across the country – is a little more confusing. When buying a ticket the machines will ask you for lots of your details such as your full name, the ID you have with you and your tax number (we put our national insurance numbers). And you do have to fill out these details to proceed. The tickets have names printed on them, you see – probably so they can’t be traded. We spent ages trying to figure this out, assuming it wasn’t something we’d have to do. But you do. Always allow plenty of time before your train is due to leave to avoid any stress.
Sights
Royal Palace of Madrid
This iconic building is a must-see when in Madrid – even if only from the outside. Tempted by the beautiful exterior, we decided to go and have a look around inside and bought an audio guide to help us understand what’s what. This was actually super helpful, especially for learning about what each room in the palace was used for when the Spanish royal family were living there. In some of the rooms – my favourite ones – the walls and ceilings were covered with ornate ceramic flowers. Having just finished a course in pottery, I found this especially impressive. Not to mention they were simply stunning. If you want to spend a few hours surrounded by lavishness and learning about royalty in Spain, this attraction is a must.
The Retiro Park Lake
Before we arrived in Madrid, Jake said he was keen take a rowing boat out on the lake in Retiro Park. We got to the park early on a Saturday morning to avoid long queues, and we only ended up waiting for around 20 mins or so. There are lots of boats and you’re allowed up to 45 minutes on the water. This costs around €8 euros in total at the weekend and is even cheaper during the week. When you’re on the lake you get a great view of the Monument to Alfonso XII. It was a lovely, relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning! I’d say this is a must when visiting Spain’s capital.
Flamenco
Can you even go to Madrid without seeing Flamenco? We didn’t think so. We booked to see the performance by Cardamomo, which often ranks near the top when you search for the best-rated performances in the city. Now, given that I haven’t seen any other Flamenco shows, I’m probably not the best person to say whether this was good or not. But we were both thoroughly entertained and thought the singing and dancing were impressive and powerful. Tickets are around €40 per person, and you can add to your experience by ordering wine and a board of cured meats and cheeses. Or you could do what we did, which was to sit in the nearby Plaza de Santa Ana and grab some drinks and nibbles before the show. This is much better value for money, in my opinion.
Galleries & Museums
If you’re an art lover, you’ll be spoilt for choice in Madrid. Head to the area nicknamed The Golden Triangle of Art to immerse yourself in culture.
Prado Museum
Adam and Eve, 1932, Rosario de Valesco
If you wanted to, you could easily spend a whole day in this grand gallery. Inside you’ll find works by the likes of Raffaelle, Rubens, Rembrandt and Goya. Explore room after room of impressive art dating right back to the 12th to the 20th century. If you’ve only got time to do one gallery during your visits, this would be a great choice. But if you’re looking for art that’s a little more modern then the next gallery would be the one for you…
Museo Reina Sofía
This gallery is also huge. We felt you’d need at least a couple of days to see everything. But if you don’t have that long then there are some main pieces to track down. La Guernica is probably the main one. This is a modernist piece critiquing the Spanish Civil War and was banned in Spain for a long period of time. You know you’ll have found it when you see a large group of people standing in a long line taking in a huge, dark painting. There are so many different parts to this painting, and I’ll be honest: to me, they all seemed a little random.
CaixaForum Madrid
We asked the concierge in our hotel for recommendations to help us narrow down where to go, and that’s how we heard about this lesser-known gallery. He said their current exhibition was on comic books, and with that, Jake’s ears pricked right up. We headed to the exhibition, learning about the different drawing techniques and various more historical comics as well as the Marvel ones. The likelihood is this exhibition won’t be on when you visit Madrid, but it’s worth checking out what the gallery has to offer when you’re there. It’s a really cool building, and location-wise, it’s just down the road from the other big museums.
Museum of Illusions
Situated just off the Plaza de Jacinto Benavente, this museum is very central – hence why we stumbled across it by accident. Intrigued, we decided to go right in – and I’m so glad we did. It’s jam-packed full of fun, interactive optical illusions to make you giggle. It’s a great opportunity to get some hilarious photos as well!
Eating
Mercado de San Miguel
Tucked around the corner from the Playa Mayor is this bustling food market. Inside, not only will you find a warm and inviting atmosphere, but a selection of tapas, bao buns, churros, cheese, sangria and much more. We did three laps before deciding to tuck into a small selection of tapas, plopping by a sunny spot in the window. If you’re looking for a quick mid-explore lunch on the go, this is a great place to visit. It can get very busy, though.
Calle De Cava Baja
This street is nicknamed ‘Madrid’s Tapas Street,’ and when you walk down, it’s not hard to see why. It’s lined with so many authentic little tapas bars that you’ll be spoilt for choice. We decided to do what many locals and tourists do: work our way along the street, ordering a couple of tapas dishes and drinks in the bars that most took our fancy. We started in Taberna LA CONCHA, which, by the way, is slang for vagina in some Spanish-speaking countries. We then moved on to La Tita Pepa, Taberna Los Castizos and, by far our favourite, Lamiak Cava Baja. That last place had a warm, cosy vibe and delicious tapas that was also great value for money. It’s right at the end of the street so make sure you save room for a couple of dishes – depending on which end of the street you start, of course.
Chocolateria San Gines
And now for dessert. No matter what time you visit, this little eatery is bound to have a queue outside the door. It’s renowned for its churros and warm, rich, thick chocolate dipping sauce served in a mug. Since this dish is the cafe’s speciality, you’ll find that it’s what most people order, and there’s something comforting about sitting in a restaurant enjoying the same dish as everyone around you. It’s a shared experience – and a yummy one at that. Just across the small alleyway, you’ll find the ice cream parlour. Again, I’d say this is well worth a try – it won’t disappoint.
Toledo
One of the main recommendations you’ll hear when you visit Madrid is to take a day trip to Toledo. Toledo is an ancient city that lies just south of Madrid – or in train times, one hour. The city, which used to be Spain’s capital many moons ago, is on a hill. You can either climb to the top as we did, or as we found out on the way down, there are handy escalators which can take you right up into the main square.
Once you see past the modern McDonald’s in the piazza, you’ll find a maze of cobbled alleyways lined with ancient Christian, Jewish and Arab monuments. Streets are lined with shops selling swords and magnets and there are plenty of little eateries. Must-see attractions include the Catedral Primada, Iglesia de Santo Tome and the San Martin Bridge. The museum of manchego cheese would be something I’d do if I were to go back again.
Having some time to kill before getting our train back to Madrid, we also decided to venture into the museum of witchcraft, the Leonardo da Vinci expo and the museum of catapults and siege machines. Each takes about 30 minutes or so to look around, and they’re all connected, so it’s cheaper to buy tickets to multiple museums. History buffs, the latter two will be right up your street. And if you like anything weird and wonderful, take a peek inside the witchcraft museum. It was full of strange, taxidermied creatures, body parts in jars and real-life spellbooks from history.
We went to Toledo for the day, and to be honest, I don’t really think you need more than that to see it. The city is quite small so you can cover most of it on foot in a few hours – this includes stopping for a spot of lunch in one of the tavernas lining the cobbled streets and grabbing an ice cream to enjoy on foot.
One thing I’d love to do if we were to go back would be to go the zip wire over the river. The attraction is called Fly Toledo and would give you great views of the valley to the southeast of the city – even if just for a few seconds!
If you’re looking for a city break with history and culture, nice food and weather and a fun, friendly vibe, Madrid is a great place to visit. I hope my recommendations are helpful!
Thanks for reading xo
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