Madrid is an urban escape with a surprising amount to offer tourists. While the city may not have the same glamorous reputation as Spain’s coast, islands, or Southern countryside, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a visit. You’ll leave Madrid reminiscing about the delicious tapas, beautiful parks, and various museums.
Tapas at Casa Lucas
Where to Eat
Tapas, tapas, tapas. While Madrid is a contemporary urban city with cuisines from all around the world, the tapas are truly the highlight. For a great night on the town, couple up, grab some friends, and order a handful of plates and bottles of wine to share. Make sure you remember that dinner in Spain starts late, so nothing really opens before 8:00pm. Below are some of our favorite places to eat in the city.
Calle de la Cava Baja: Why suggest one tapas restaurant when we can suggest an entire street of them? Calle de la Cava Baja is lined with delicious tapas restaurants, and no visit to this road is complete without getting a plate from at least three stops. Our highlights from this street include Casa Lucas (amazing tostas), Casa Victor (beef and caramelized onion toast), and Lamiak (everything is amazing).
Croquettes and tomato salad at Casa Julio
Casa Julio: For some of the best croquettes in the city, make your way to Casa Julio. They have a wide variety of fillings, but our favorite was the traditional ham croquette.
Casa Toni: One more tapas restaurant worth mentioning is Casa Toni, which is close to but just off of the main tapas street. The service here is terrific, and you absolutely must try the patatas bravas served with fried eggs and bits of ham. It takes the traditional comfort food to another level of greasy excellence.
Chocolate and churros at San Ginés
Chocolatería San Ginés: This traditional chocolate and churro café will hit the spot at any time of day – it is open 24/7. Spanish hot chocolate is much thicker and not great for drinking, but that just makes it all the better for dipping churros. If you’re especially hungry, order the porras, which are really just massive churros. De-licious.
Palacio de Cristal at El Retiro Park
What to Do
El Retiro Park: We absolutely loved this park. It is beautiful on a sunny day and has a number of photo-worthy spots. We especially recommend stopping by the Palacio de Cristal and doing a lap around the lake for views of the Estanque Grande del Retiro. If you bring some snacks you can also feed the many, many fish in the pond.
Café Central: This bar offers live jazz music every night of the week in an upscale, laid back setting. If you plan on getting tickets for the nightly show, make sure you arrive early in the evening. We made the mistake of thinking the music ran all night, but it really ended around 11:00pm shortly after we arrived.
Museo Nacional del Prado: This art museum is MASSIVE. If you truly want to see everything, expect to spend almost a full day wandering the gallery. We typically tap out after three hours in a museum, so we prioritized the “masterpieces” highlighted in the museum’s welcome brochure. In order to save yourself some time and avoid long lines, make sure you buy your tickets before arriving. We also recommend taking advantage of the audio guide included with your ticket.
View of the Royal Palace of Madrid from the Sabatini Gardens
Royal Palace of Madrid: If you want to tour the interior of this palace, which functions as a history museum, expect to wait in some long lines. We were pretty museum-ed out after the Prado, so we instead decided to appreciate the exterior of the palace from the adjacent Sabatini Gardens. The park itself is beautiful, and you will get a great photo looking up at the palace.
Free Walking Tours Madrid: As always, we recommend starting your stay in a city with a free walking tour. It is a great way to get your bearings, see some of the main sights, learn some history, and get local tips from the guides. This tour didn’t stand out as much as the one we did in Barcelona, but it still made us appreciate Madrid that much more.
Rooftop drinks at sunset: Madrid is home to many rooftops that offer spectacular views of the city. Most of the well-known spots are packed, but we recommend the Aloft hotel’s rooftop bar for sunset. It was much less crowded, has very friendly service, and offers a great view of the Royal Palace.
Other Tips & Tricks
Sobrino de Botín: Madrid is home to the world’s oldest restaurant that is supposed to offer decadent suckling pig. We didn’t make a reservation in time to eat here, so plan ahead if you’d like to say you dined at this historic restaurant.
Toledo Day Trip: As a central destination in Spain, Madrid offers visitors the opportunity to take a number of great day trips. We decided to take one day to tour the neighboring city of Toledo, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For more information about Toledo, you can refer to our post about the city!
Aloft Madrid Gran Via: We stayed at the Aloft during our time in Madrid, and we loved it. We already commented on the rooftop bar with great views and service, but the breakfast is nothing to scoff at either. If you’re looking for a nice hotel in a central location that won’t break your budget, you should seriously consider the Aloft.