Travel Guide to Madrid

Travel Guide to Madrid

Our Trip to Madrid, Spain

It’s been a month since we left for our trip and like any trip, here is my travel guide to Madrid, Spain. I’ll break down where we stayed, where we ate, what we saw, and our day by day itinerary. We stayed for a total of 5 days and 4 nights. We did have a 6th day but that was 15 days after our last day of our Madrid trip. Sound confusing? Basically, we booked a round trip from Chicago to Madrid (nonstop) for our entire Spain & Portugal Trip. After we left Porto, we flew back to Madrid so that the following day we could fly back from Madrid to Chicago. It happened to be more cost effective that way. That final final Madrid day, we didn’t explore but stayed at a hotel near the airport.

Madrid is so beautiful! You can tell that this city has so much history and charm. The streets are narrow, and overall it is a compact city. You can see many of the well-known and popular sites easily.

So in this travel guide to Madrid, I will go over places we visited, where we ate, and where we stayed.

Things to Know

Before getting into the nitty gritty of the travel guide to Madrid, there are some things to know. For instance, I highly encourage you to learn some basic Spanish. Obviously if you know more, that is awesome, but overall knowing some Spanish will help you out tremendously. During our time there, we encountered several people that did not know English very well. Luckily, Tre and I were good in Spanish (back in the day) so it forced us to refresh our memory. And fortunately for me, a lot of the Tagalog is similar to Spain’s Spanish.
Tipping is not usually required. If so, in restaurants it should be 10% . For cafes and cab rides, just round it to the next Euro.

Unlike the United States, their dinner starts very late. An early dinner is around 8pm, but most people don’t have dinner until 10pm. We are so used to having early dinners, so waiting until 8pm for us was a bit of a struggle haha! Fortunately, going around that time means barely any crowds!

Spain takes part in siesta. If you are not familiar with siesta, it is an afternoon break. A lot of stores, shops, and restaurants are closed during siesta (they re-open during dinner time). Several cafes though are open. This is the time you are supposed to just relax. A lot of Spaniards use this time to sit at cafes and have their afternoon cocktails and tapas.

Speaking of tapas, in Madrid, it is a tradition to serve a complimentary tapas if you order a drink. The tapas are already pre-selected. By the way, the drinks are so ridiculously affordable! A glass of wine (good quality too) is about 2-3 euros! A cocktail is maybe 3-5 euros. Naturally, we couldn’t resist ordering a drink with our meals every time haha.

Foods to Try

Eating is such a big part for us when we travel. What kind of travel guide to Madrid would it be if I didn’t include a list of foods (and drinks) we ate??

• Bocadillos
• Pan con Tomate
• Tortilla
• Paella
• Tapas (any! patatas bravas and croquettes are the most well-known)
• Jamon Iberico
• Sangria
• Bollerias / Pastries
• Cafe Bombon
• Churros con Chocolate (make sure you only go to places that specialize in them. Otherwise, when you see it on the menu, it is most likely the frozen one vs fresh)

Travel Guide to Madrid

Places to Stay

We stayed at the Only You Boutique Hotel, and oh my am I obsessed. During our entire Spain & Portugal trip, this was our favorite hotel. The room was a decent size, we loved the amenities, and the decor & ambiance was gorgeous. Every detail was so cute! Let’s just say everywhere you look is so Instagram-worthy!

The staff was also amazing. So accommodating and nice! If you want more hotel options, below were other places we considered. Also, the location was perfect. We were able to walk to a lot of the sites. It is in the Salesas neighborhood which is known to be very trendy.

Below are other hotels we were considering:

• TOTEM Madrid
• Hotel Sardinero Madrid
• Me Madrid by Melia

During our final final day we stayed at Ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas. This hotel is 5 minutes away from the airport which is why we selected it on our way back home. On the 15th day, we didn’t have time to explore Madrid since we arrived in the evening and our flight was early morning the following day.

We loved it because it was modern and has a decent restaurant and they have free shuttles to pick you up from the airport. The shuttle runs ever 30 minutes. You can also use the shuttle going to the airport as well. On our way to go to the airport, the shuttle ended up being too full for us. The hotel staff was extremely apologetic and apologized several times for the inconvenience. To our surprise, they called a cab and paid for our fare. We did not expect it and honestly, we did not mind getting the cab since we imagined the fare would be relatively affordable due to the short distance. So they get an A+ from us!

Places to See

• Plaza Mayor
  This is one of the most famous plazas in Madrid. It is a beautiful spot. We went earlier in the day since we heard it gets super crowded. Good thing we did. It was crowded, but nothing compared to how it was in the early afternoon when we walked past on our 4th day. They have restaurants and shops in this plaza.
• Retiro Park (Parque del Buen Retiro)
  Retiro Park is Spain’s version of New York’s Central Park. It is a gorgeous park and it is huge. People can row their boats, and there are so many different gardens. It is so beautiful that we had to go here twice. The vibe is so happy there. This is Tre’s favorite site in Madrid.
• Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal del Retiro)
  This is a famous greenhouse and it is located in Retiro Park. It is a pretty structure and its surroundings have a pretty nature feel to it. There is a pond right by it, where you can see black swans, ducks, and baby turtles!
• Almudena Cathedral (Catedral de Santa Maria la Rea de la Almudena)
  I love going to cathedrals. They always have something unique to offer. This is a large cathedral right by the Royal Palace.
• Alcalá Gate (Puerta de Alcala)
  This is the most well-known monument in Madrid and it is right outside of Retiro Park. It is the famous 3-arch structure.
  
• Royal Palace (Palacio Real)
  Another famous building which was home to the Kings of Spain. We didn’t go inside, but I heard it is beautiful and you can be there for an entire day. I also heard that if you want to go inside to get your tickets in advance. I concur because when we were there, we saw an EXTREMLY long line for the tickets. People who bought their tickets online were able to walk right in.
• Sabatini Garden (Jardines de Sabatini)
  Instead of going inside the Royal Palace we decided to explore Sabatini Garden. It is right by the Royal Palace and it is one of the prettiest botanical gardens I’ve been to. It has a wonderful ambiance and accordion players were performing and it created such a beautiful scenery. The accordion performer happened to play Despacito and it was awesome!
  
• San Miguel Market (Mercado de San Miguel)
  This is the famous market in Madrid. It was amazing, but definitely crowded. Tre and I wished we went earlier in the day. We went early afternoon. There are several vendors, all primarily tapas and bocadillos. We loved everything we ate there.
• Gran Via
  Famous street for shopping. A lot of the high end stores are located along this street, but so are so many popular European stores that I am now OBSESSED with. It does get very crowded.
• Puerta Del Sol
  Another famous plaza that is similar to Plaza Mayor. This is where you can find the famous ‘Bear and the Strawberry Tree’ statue. You can also find shops and restaurants in this plaza.
  
• Mercado San Anton
  Another market similar to Mercado de San Miguel, but all indoors. This one is close to our hotel and there are less tourists in this mercado. It does get crowded as well, but every vendor we went to also had delicious tapas. I think in general I just love Spanish food.
• Plaza del Rey
  This is a small plaza and we stumbled upon it when we were walking back to our hotel one day. It is cute and has some restaurants in it. I also loved that it is surrounded by a pink building. If you can’t tell, I love pink 🙂
  

Places to Eat/Drink/Snack

• Rocafria
  This is small cafe that is available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s very diner style, no frills, but so authentic. They have a large selection of bollerias and traditional spanish pastries, and tapas. It’s also kitty corner from our hotel.
• Cafes around Retiro Park (Parque del Buen Retiro)
  There are several cafes and restaurants inside Retiro Park. They seem a little touristy, but it’s a great way to just sit and relax and enjoy the park’s scenery. They also serve drinks! So of course we ordered a pitcher of Sangria.
• YOUnique Restaurant
  This is the restaurant in our hotel. It has an incredible ambiance. It reminds me of a restaurant in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. They serve traditional Spanish food and tapas with a modern twist.
• Celicioso
  This is a gluten-free cafe/bakery. They have a couple locations, but we went to the one right by our hotel. We were impressed with the food. We went here a few times for merienda (snack) during siesta.
• Gran Clavel
  This place has an old Hollywood feel about it, and I love it! We went here for breakfast and it is where I had my first Spanish tortilla and from there is where I knew I loved Spanish tortillas haha.
  
• Cafe del Art
  This is located inside the Mercado San Miguel. They elevate your traditional latte. For instance, I ordered a mint flavored espresso art. My espresso had layers of green. It was a pretty sight! And their sangria was really good!
• Mozzarella Bar
  This is also located in Mercado San Miguel. Instead of its own stand, it is on a cart. And I was intrigued by their selection of mozzarella and burratas. It was a very generous helping and it was oh so so good!
• San Gines
  This is the place to go for churros!! So you definitely have to go!! It was so worth the hype. The churros were seriously perfect and the chocolate dipping sauce was delicious!
• Taberna La Espanola
  This is a diner that serves traditional Spanish food. We went here for breakfast, and of course, I ordered a tortilla and had my first pan con tomate. Who knew a grilled bread with smeared tomato and olive oil would be so good! They spoke very little English here, but as long as you can communicate by showing what you want, you should be good.
  
• Mercado San Anton
  This is another mercado very similar to the San Miguel one, just smaller. But it does not disappoint. It is two floors with several different vendors and the top floor is a restaurant. We just went around each vendor and had tapas. I would name each vendor, but we went to so many! You can’t go wrong there.
• El 26
  Another great place for traditional Spanish food! We ordered a platter for their iberico jamon and pan con tomate and paella. Definitely enjoyed it!
• Cafe Madrid
  This is a cafe by Plaza Mayor. Such a great spot. It was really cute inside. Very shabby chic!
• Vait
  This is a bakery on the way to Retiro Park. They have a large selection of pastries and bocadillos. One of the days we went to Retiro (we went twice), we decided to grab some food from Vait and then decided to sit and eat at one of the benches in the park.
• Taberna La Carmencita
  This tavern is the oldest tavern in Madrid. If you want to have dinner here, definitely make reservations. It is a beautiful tavern that serves traditional Spanish food (no modern twist, just rustic style). And the restaurant has Spanish tiles all over the walls. It was really pretty. The owner spoke very little English.
• Casa Alberto
  This is a very authentic tapas place. It has a very rustic feel to it and it was recommended by my friend Kit. She knows her food, so when she told me it was her favorite place I knew I had to check it out. The owner/chef came out and greeted us. Actually, he waited our table! The tapas were amazingly good!
  

Shopping

After I was raving about the amazing shopping experiences, a lot of you requested that I include my favorite stores in the travel guide to Madrid. As promised, below is the list of my favorites. A lot of these stores are well-known across Europe. I was amazed by the price (even when I converted to dollars) and quality. If I knew, I would have budgeted more than just souvenirs haha.

• Bershka (My linen pants are from here. Some of their pieces are sold at Asos)
• Oysho - This is my all time favorite!! So chic. Their stuff reminds me of Sezane but much more affordable. Unfortunately, they don’t ship to the U.S.)
• Pull & Bear (Some of their pieces are sold at Asos)
• Stradivirus (Some of their pieces are sold at Asos)
• Arbol - local boutique in Madrid. It is in the Salesas neighborhood close to Only You Boutique Hotel
• Natura - kind of reminds me of Anthropologie
• Pasos Arte Sanales - this is where you can get handmade espadrilles that are actually made in Spain. The options are endless! They are also scattered throughout Madrid. I went to the one by the Royal Palace.
  

This set of stores is well-known in the U.S., but omg it is so much better there! So many more options. And these stores are like Starbucks - on every corner! Even the airport has them - which by the way makes waiting in the airport so much more tolerable!

• Zara
• H&M
• Mango

A Quick Recap of Our Madrid Itinerary

Day One

• Arrived first thing in the morning. Took a long nap because I wasn’t feeling well. Didn’t explore until 2pm.
• Walked around the Salesas neighborhood. The neighborhood our hotel is in. It is noted as one of the trendiest hotels.
• Had tapas and pastries (bollerias) at Rocafria
• Alcalá Gate (Puerta de Alcala)
• Retiro Park (Parque del Buen Retiro) and also visited the Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal del Retiro)
• Dinner/Tapas at YOUnique Restaurant (Only You Boutique Hotel’s restaurant)
• Dessert at Celicioso
  

Day Two

• Breakfast at Gran Clavel
• Went to Almudena Cathedral (Catedral de Santa Maria la Rea de la Almudena)
• Royal Palace (Palacio Real)
• Sabatini Garden (Jardines de Sabatini)
• Bought espadrilles at Pasos Arte Sanales
• San Miguel Market (Mercado de San Miguel)
• Plaza Mayor
• San Gines for Churros con Chocolate
• Walk through Gran Via
• Dinner/Tapas at Casa Alberto

Day Three

• Breakfast at Taberna La Espanola
• Puerta Del Sol
• Gran Via (obviously, I had to go shopping again haha)
• Tapas at Mercado San Anton
• Celicioso for siesta (we got detox drinks instead haha)
• Dinner at El 26
  

Day Four

• Breakfast at Cafe Madrid
• Walk around Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace (Palacio Real), Puerta Del Sol and the surrounding areas
• Pastries and snack at Vait
• Plaza del Rey
• Retiro Park (Parque del Buen Retiro)
• Dinner at Taberna La Carmencita

Day Five

• Went to the airport- heading to Barcelona…

Hope you all find this travel guide to Madrid to be very helpful!

xo RD