Hello and welcome to Kailyn Travels! I have not shared a new blog post for quite some time, and am excited to start sharing again!
I went on this trip to Spain in the middle of February this year (2020) and by the time I came home and thought about writing up this post, we were in the middle of a pandemic. Europe, and especially Spain, were some of the hardest hit countries, and it just didn’t feel right to be posting about vacations in Spain, when many of the residents of Spain couldn’t even leave their homes.
Now that the world has started to cautiously open up, I hope you will enjoy this post about Madrid and consider traveling to Spain sometime in the (hopefully) near future!
Madrid is one of my favorite European capital cities that I’ve been to (and the only one I have visited twice.) It has everything you could want for a city getaway: amazing food, a great drinking culture, a huge sports franchise, beautiful architecture, and wonderful museums. In this post I will share how to get the most out of 4 full days in Madrid!
Day 1
Get Your Bearings
Madrid is an extremely walkable city, and on top of that, has a reliable and efficient Metro system. I suggest taking a brief self guided walking tour when you first arrive to familiarize yourself with the city and some of its most popular tourist sites.
I suggest walking from the Palacio Real, through Plaza Mayor, pictured below, to Puerta del Sol. From there, head past the Prado Art Museum and into Retiro Park. If you still have energy left, take a walk down Gran Via, one of Madrid’s largest and most beautiful streets.
Reina Sofia Museum
Madrid’s modern art museum is a must see on your visit. It houses most of the famous Dalí’s and Picasso’s. Tickets to the museum start at 10 Euro, or you can pay more if you want an audioguide or a guided tour.
If you don’t mind waiting in a line or being in the museum with a large crowd, you can get into the museum for free the last two hours the museum is open for the day. The Reina Sofia is closed on Tuesdays.
Make sure not to miss the gorgeous courtyard in the center of the museum. You can sit and enjoy the architecture and sculptures.
Tapas in Las Latinas Neighborhood
For your first night in Spain, head to the neighborhood of Las Latinas, or more specifically Calle de Cava Baja. There are so many tapas bars to choose from, including traditional and modern styles.
I recommend ordering about one or two tapas per couple per bar, before moving onto the next. Enjoy a glass or two of Spanish wine at each location, and try to sample from all the wine regions in Spain. If beer is more your style, simply order “una caña” which is a small glass of ice cold draft beer, never costing more than 2 Euro.
The photos above are from Taberna Tita Pepa. The restaurant was a bit touristy, but it was enjoyable overall. They even had a man slicing jamón Ibérico to order, which was interesting to watch!
We also enjoyed Casa Lucas, and were completely stuffed after sharing two menu items. The portions were huge! Casa Lucas is also one of the many tapas bars in Spain that gives out free bar snacks when you order a drink.
Day 2
Tour of Palacio Real de Madrid
Taking a tour of Madrid’s Royal Palace is a must! The palace was constructed in the mid 18th century and was occupied by the Spanish monarchy until the early 20th century.
I booked a guided tour, and while a little pricey at $32 USD, I think it was worth it. I booked on headout.com, which was my first time using the site and I didn’t have any issues. We got to skip the ticket line, and were actually the first group of the day to tour the palace. It was really cool being the only group in most of the rooms and avoiding large crowds. The tour lasted around 90 minutes.
If you want to tour the palace on a budget, you can opt for a self guided tour for 13 Euro, however you may have to wait in a long line. The Palacio Real is open everyday for visitors, excluding major holidays.
Explore Salamanca & Malasaña
Salamanca and Malasaña are two neighborhoods just north of the center of or “Centro” neighborhood of Madrid. These neighborhoods are definitely worth your time to explore and find a bite to eat outside of the main tourist attractions of Madrid. Both neighborhoods have many Metro stops, but are also within walking distance of many hotels and other attractions, such as Retiro Paark.
Try out one of Madrid’s many markets, like the Mercado de San Ildefonso in Malasaña. Food markets are a very popular place to eat and shop for food in Madrid and throughout Spain. Many markets have both grocery stalls and restaurant stalls, but this one only has restaurants.
We opted for the famous Spanish Tortilla (made with potatoes and eggs) with chorizo. While delicious, I felt terrible after I ate it because they are cooked in ungodly amounts of olive oil!
Go to a Real Madrid Game
If Real Madrid has a home game during your stay in Madrid, splurge and buy those tickets! Being from the US, I have never been a huge soccer fan, but I really enjoyed going to a game and seeing how excited all the fans were. The stadium, called Santiago Bernabéu, is huge and holds over 80,000 fans.
The stadium is a couple miles north of the Centro, but is easily reached by Metro. I suggest picking up a sandwich before the game, as nearly everyone brings one to snack on during half time.
Day 3
Day Trip To Toledo
If you have four or more days in Madrid, I recommend getting out of the city to explore one of the small medieval cities surrounding Madrid, such as Toledo, Ávila, or Segovia. We chose to explore Toledo for the day!
There are many guided bus tours from Madrid to Toledo, but we chose to take the train and explore on our own. We paid $25 USD per person for round trip train tickets from Madrid’s Atocha train station. We actually missed our first train and had to purchase new tickets, but luckily trains leave approximately every hour and the trip takes less than an hour.
It’s about a mile walk uphill from the Toledo train station into the historic walled city. There are taxis available, but if you walk up you get this gorgeous view and photo op of the city!
There are several museums to explore, including El Greco Museum. El Greco is one of Spain’s most famous painters, and spent most of his life in Toledo. The museum is closed on Mondays, which is the day we visited Toledo so we did not get to visit the museum, but luckily saw many of his most famous paintings in the Prado, back in Madrid.
My favorite museum I explored in Toledo is the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. It has a beautiful interior, but I loved the peaceful courtyard the most. Admission was 3 Euro. There were several other museums, including an old synagogue that each costs 3 Euro, or you can buy a 10 Euro pass for them all. If you only plan to visit 1-3 museums, just pay separately, but if you’re a huge history buff, buy the pass and visit them all!
As the ancient walled part of Toledo is mainly for tourists, expect to pay higher prices for food. However, there are many great restaurants tucked away in Toledo’s many alleys. For lunch I had fish fried in squid ink batter!
Tapas on Calle de Ponzano
Calle de Ponzano is a couple miles north of the center of Madrid in the Chamberí neighborhood, but it is easily accessible by the Metro. There are so many bars and tapas restaurants to choose from, all within a few city blocks! We did this Airbnb Experience which included a brief history and tour of the area, and tapas and drinks at 5 different stops. While you could certainly check out the street on your own, I really enjoyed meeting and talking with other travelers on the experience.
One of my favorite stops on the tour was the Chamberí neighborhood market called La Chispería. The front of the market is full of produce stalls but the back is a large food hall where you can eat, drink and hang out! Be sure not to miss La Chispería, as it is actually a couple blocks off of Calle de Ponzano, while all of the other bars we visited are on the main street.
Day 4
Retiro Park
Retiro Park is a must visit on any trip to Madrid! You can choose to spend anywhere from an hour to an entire afternoon in the park. There is a pond, walking paths, and free museum exhibits. There is also a botanical garden, although it has an entrance fee.
Prado Museum
The Prado Museum is the historical counterpart to The Reina Sofia. It is one of the best collections of European paintings in the world and has works by Goya, Velázquez and El Greco.
The museum is open every day and cost 7.5 Euros, however entrance is free the last two hours the museum is open each day. We chose to partake in the free entry! If you choose to do the same, be prepared to wait in a very long line, or be sure to get in line at least 30 minutes before the free entry starts, to ensure you get the full 2 hours in the museum.
Other Tips & Information
Metro Pass
On our first morning in Madrid, we purchased the 3 Day Tourist ticket for the Metro. It cost about $25 USD and had unlimited uses. We hopped on and off the Metro quite frequently as it was super user friendly and we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a train. I would recommend purchasing the pass, especially if you want to explore outside of the touristy Centro neighborhood.
Dining Times
I’m sure everyone has heard of the famous Spanish siesta, and while not every Spaniard really goes home to nap every afternoon, mosts restaurants do close for several hours. Be sure to eat a large breakfast, as some restaurants don’t open until after 1:00pm for lunch. They then close around 4, and don’t open back up for dinner until 7 or 8pm.
Thanks for reading, and I hope your future trip to Spain is as wonderful as mine was!
If you are interested in expanding your Spain trip beyond Madrid, be sure to check out my post on the Top 10 Things To Do In Sevilla!
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18 Comments
Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
I have always wanted to go to Madrid! I’ve been to Spain before and used their metro system like you have, but I need to go back and be a proper tourist! I’m not too far away so you’ve inspired me!
Oh my goodness all that food looks fantastic! I flipping love Spanish food!
I have been to Madrid, but it was for work, so I didn’t really get to see anything. I would loooove to go back and experience all this. I especially love the look of Toledo – wowza!
I loved Madrid when I visited a few years ago. This is such a great representation of the city – thanks for sharing!
All the tapas look so fresh and delicious! And that ceiling in the Palacio Real is insane! Was the entire palace that fancy?
We were in Madrid last Christmas and the city was absolutely magical then – brimming with decorations and festive cheer! Plaza Mayor was our favourite destination, especially since it was full of little market stalls at that time. We missed out on visiting Toledo though – hopefully, next time!
There is so much to see and do in Madrid. The Palacio Real grabbed my attention immediately with its grandeur. So lovely. This is a perfect itinerary to cover the best of Madrid.
Thank you for making some really good itinerary suggestions!
I live in the UK and whilst I’ ve been to Spain a couple of times, I’ve never made it to Madrid although I would love too. I love eating Tapas in Spain and think it’s so perfect for someone like me who gets food envy!
The museums buildings look so beautiful! never mind all the amazing stuff on the inside.
Madrid looks like an amazing city with so much to see. The food is also a real draw, I love it when you get free bar snacks with drinks 🙂 hehe! The tapas food tour also sounds like fun, it can be such a great way to meet other people. Madrid is definitely on my list even more now!
How bizarre returning home from this fantastic trip just before the pandemic hit! Looks like you had a great time though which is good. Lovely photos and great tips too, thanks! But the food pics are making me so hungry ha ha 😉
I have never been to Madrid but since I love photographing architectural beauties, I would love to visit this place. This itinerary is simply awesome.
I did a very similar trip, but sadly got food poisoning after I came back to Madrid from a wonderful day in Toledo. Did you know, the ERs in Spain are free – all paid by the tax payers. Luckily, I did not miss too much of my Spain trip.
I have spent 3 days in Madrid and have been to all the places you mentioned. Next time – I will do the trip to Toledo 🙂
That’s a great itinerary! And you just made us want to go back to Spain to eat tapas! haha… Also, if we may add: if one had more time, then definitely stay a night in Toledo! We spent 3 days in Toledo a few years ago, and it was so lovely at nighttime when all the day trippers went back to Madrid.
That is a great suggestion! If only my trip was longer… oh well, next time!
Do you know if there are any free walking tours in Madrid? We attended one in Malaga last year and it was so great! Self-walking tours are ok, but you learn so much from a local! Things you would never find out by yourself 🙂
Hi Juliet! I did look into a couple, but as this was my second time in Madrid, I chose not to do one. Instead I attempted to give my boyfriend, who I was traveling with, the best free walking tour I possibly could! Probably not as insightful as it could have been:)
All of the food looks amazing- and I love that Toledo is a day trip because Toledo has been on our Spain bucket list too!