Madrid Area
Madrid is a beautiful city with its well-preserved buildings, expansive parks, and enchanting plazas tucked between winding cobblestone streets. While it is a big city, most of the major museums, parks, and other sites are within reasonable walking distance. During the day, it is a relaxing place to stroll around, but it is at night when Madrid truly comes alive. Scores of tapas bars offer tantalizing bites to eat and offer visitors a way to mix with the locals at all hours of the day or night. When visiting Spain, Madrid and the surrounding area requires at least 3-4 days, to truly enjoy and experience all that it has to offer.
Highlights of Madrid
- Museo del Prado
- Palacio Real
- Plaza Mayor
- El Escorial
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reino Sofia
Historical Sites
Plaza Mayor
Madrid's Plaza Mayor or "main plaza" dates back to 1619, and in the past, was primarily used for town gatherings to censor heretics or burn people at the stake. Fortunately, these days it is just a great spot to sit and enjoy lunch or a "café con leche" (latte) at one of its many restaurants.
El Escorial
A 40 minute drive outside of Madrid is an enchanting town called San Lorenzo de El Escorial. If you are planning any trip outside of Madrid, this should be at the top of your list. San Lorenzo de El Escorial is nestled at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama Mountains and the town is a charming place to walk around and get away from some of the bustle of the big city. The highlight of the town is the actual "El Escorial". This old monastery was the former residence of the pious King Phillip II and was built from 1563-1584. Its austere style is in sharp contrast to that of the Royal Palace in Madrid, but there is beauty in its simplicity. Make sure that you pay a visit to the library which houses thousands of priceless ancient manuscripts. You will also be able to visit the burial chamber which houses the majority of Spain's kings and queens who died over the last five centuries. There are organized bus tours to El Escorial, or you can just take the train.
Palacio Real
The Palacio Real or Royal Palace of Madrid is the present King's "official" residence, although the family does not actually reside there. It is known as the largest palace in Western Europe, and is richly decorated with priceless works of art, including the world's only complete Stradivarius string quartet as well as weapons from the Royal Armoury that date back to the 13th century. While the site of the palace was used as early as the 10th century, the palace itself was not constructed until 1738, which continued until 1755. A visit to the Palacio Real is excellent way to get a taste of how rich Spain was in its heyday. Even though the Palace has around 2800 rooms, only 50 are open to visitors! Please visit the following link for more information: www.patrimonionacional.es.
Activities
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
For those interested in a glimpse of some of Spain's modern art, spanning from the 20th century up until the 1980's, The Reina Sofia museum is a must. Picasso's famous Guernica is housed here, as well as works by Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Vassily Kandinsky. Additional information may be found at: www.museoreinasofia.mcu.es. ISE Cardholders will receive 50% off of the price of admission when they present their card.
El Rastro
If you find yourself in Madrid on a Sunday morning, you might want to venture over to the Rastro flea market, primarily located on Calle de la Ribera de Curtidos. There is a lot of Spanish junk to be had, but as they say, one person's trash is another person's treasure. Since many tourists like to visit this area, pickpockets like to hang-out here as well. Make sure that you don't carry too much cash and pay close attention to your belongings or you might end-up losing more than you save by shopping here!
Museo del Prado
One of Madrid's most visited museums, the Museo del Prado or "The Prado" has an extensive collection of 17th and 18th century Spanish paintings, as well as a smattering of Italian and Flemish works. Since the museum possesses so many works of art (over 7000), fewer than half of the total collection is ever on display at any given time. The museum's hours are from 9am-7pm Tuesday-Sunday.
Museo Arqueológico Nacional
Founded in 1867, this is a wonderful museum which contains a variety of prehistory artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Mudéjar Spain.
Hours are Tue-Sat 9:30am-8:30pm, and Sun. from 9:30am-2:30pm. The museum's website is http://www.man.es.
Parque del Buen Retiro
Conveniently located near the center of Madrid, Retiro Park is a great place get away. There is an artificial lake inside where you can rent a small boat and enjoy a picnic lunch. The park also has a few cafes and is full of buskers and other entertainers, which makes it a pleasant place to spend a few hours.
Places to Stay
Hostels
There are a wide variety of hostels in Madrid.. To search for hostels online with full descriptions, photos and availability features, please click here. The $2 reservation fee will be waived when booking through this site.
Places to Eat
There are plenty of great places to eat while in Madrid. The most economical option for lunch is to look for restaurants with a white sign in front with Menu del Dia (Menu of the Day) written on them. Usually the price is also listed, and you can eat like a King for around 8-10 Euros (more like 10-12 Euros in touristy areas). The price includes your choice of a first course, second course, a beverage, and dessert! Usually the Menu option is only available on weekdays (it is primarily for Spaniards who want to grab a cheap bite to eat during their lunch break).
Of course, Spain is also full of Tapas bars, and those who want to try a variety of typical Spanish sandwiches, omelets, or other fare, might prefer this option. The tapas are usually sitting on top of the bar and you simply tell the bartender how many, and what tapa you would like. When you are done eating, you can tell him what you ordered and he will tally-up your bill. It's common to go to one bar for 2-3 tapas, and then move onto a different bar to see what they have to offer. Locals may hit 3-4 bars before they decide they've had enough. This is a nice option if you are not starving and are in the mood to socialize.
Eating out at night can be a bit expensive in Madrid, but if you are willing to pay a little for a nice meal, you won't be disappointed. There are some great restaurants located in the Chueca area of Madrid, as well as near the Plaza Mayor. Check your travel books to see which ones sound the most appealing to you-there are simply too many to recommend! As for tipping, usually it is not necessary to leave a tip in Spain, but if the service is exceptional, 10-15% is more than adequate.
Getting Around
Walking
Madrid is a wonderful city for walking around. Each turn can lead you to a hidden treasure, such as an intimate plaza or a charming street. One can easily walk from the Royal Palace through the Plaza Mayor and on to the Prado in one afternoon. As long as you have a map, you shouldn't have any difficulty navigating your way through the city center.
Car
Having a car can be nice if you plan on taking some trips outside of Madrid and don't want to go with an organized tour. Roads in Spain are excellent, however, be aware that Spanish drivers are aggressive (to say the least) and won't hesitate to cut you off or honk at you if they don't think you're moving fast enough. There are also quite a few round-a-bouts which, unless you know how to navigate them, can appear to be an unorganized mess of cars converging together in one spot. Therefore, unless you are a confident driver, can parallel park in the tiniest of spaces, or plan to venture outside of the city, we don't recommend using a car.
Bus
Madrid buses are clean and convenient and will take you just about anywhere you need to go. A nice touristy option is the Madrid Vision, which is a double decker hop-on, hop-off bus which will take you past all of the major attractions. It might be worth taking the Madrid Vision in the morning to get a sense of what looks interesting and then walk or use the bus to get to those places that you think you might want to take a closer look at.
Train
Madrid has a very efficient Metro system with a wide variety of stations dotted throughout the city. This is a good option when your feet start to get tired.
Taxi
Usually it's necessary to call ahead for a taxi or to go to a taxi stand. Spanish taxis are well regulated and are fairly inexpensive (by European standards).
Air
Madrid's main international airport is Barajas. You can find flights into Madrid from virtually anywhere in the world.
Moving On
Bus
Madrid has eight bus stations, each of which service different parts of the country, as well as other parts of Europe and Morocco. They are clean and efficient.
Train
For national train service, head over to Madrid's beautiful Atocha train station. Chamartín station services the international routes. While traveling by train is a nice option, it is not that cheap and can actually be just as expensive as flying in some cases.
Air
As Spain's capital city, Madrid is serviced by most all international airlines and it's possible to find flights to just about anywhere. Barajas Airport is about 13km (8 miles) outside of the city, and is best reached by taking the metro from the Nuevos Ministerios station The final stop is at the airport.
Car
The highways in Spain are excellent and driving around Spain is not difficult in the least. In addition, now that there are no border crossing controls within the European Union, driving across to Portugal or France is a breeze.
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