Ultimate Guide to Madrid | 10 Must Do

On our recent visit to Spain, we ventured to Madrid, the capital city of Spain and the largest city in the country. Thanks to this 3-day trip, we’ve put together the Ultimate Guide to Madrid where we highlight all the places we visited and recommendation on where to stay. Visiting Spain during Autumn was a surprise as the weather was much warmer than anticipated and could be mistaken for summer.

Madrid is a city with over 3 million residents and is the third-largest city in Europe with a diverse culture and is renovated for its rich art repositories. We had an amazing time exploring the elegant streets of the city as well as its impressive monuments like the Cibeles. In the Ultimate Guide to Madrid, we’ve compiled a list of must-visit places in the city including a couple of day trips you can take.

But before we share the ultimate guide to Madrid, we thought we shared how to travel to and around the city. Madrid is the central city of Spain and is very well connected when it comes to public transport. You have an option of public transport, private taxis like Uber or you can hire a car to explore more of the city and its surrounding areas.

Ultimate Guide To Madrid| Transportation

Depending on how you arrive in the city, there are many options that you choose from to reach either your accommodation or popular destinations. We arrived into Madrid via plane from London and trying to get to the city centre from Madrid airport to the city centre you can take the 24-hour airport express bus {O’Donnell, Cibeles, and Atocha}. From any of these stations, you can take the metro to your destinations,

From Cibeles you can walk to other popular destinations like the Plaza Mayor, from there you can walk to the Palace and many more places. The metro is the most convenient way to travel once in the city as Madrid has a lot of traffic. It costs €8 per day for a tourist pass and you can use it on all public transportation within the city limits. Instead of the bus, it is possible to take the 12-minute metro ride from the airport to Nuevos Ministerios.

Where To Stay in Madrid

Madrid is an expensive city but there are several options to met every budget but I opted to stay outside the city. I have found that in most expensive European cities like Barcelona, I found it pays to stay outside the city limits provided there is good transportation. The only exception is when I am in London, I prefer to stay close to the airport, Hilton hotels are often my first choice of accommodation.

Hotel Nuevo Madrid located north of Madrid near the IFEMA Convention Center is where I stayed. It is a beautiful 4* hotel that is a perfect location for those wishing to visit the stadium or have come for a convention. There are several great budget hostels and AirBnB that I recommend checking out.

The Ultimate Guide to Madrid

During our visit to Madrid, we spent 3 days and 3 nights, we allocated a day to exploring the city, a day to relax and another day to enjoy day trips outside of Madrid {Toledo and Segovia}. I highly recommendation taking a day trip of two if you have more than 2 days in the city. Both Toledo and Segovia were absolutely beautiful cities that we recommend you visit.

As a frequent traveller, I am always looking for various ways to maximise my time wherever I am and Madrid was no different. I recommend either booking a free walking tour of the city or a tour bus, this way you get to visit more of the city than without. In Madrid, I booked a bus tour and I was able to visit more locations and spend more time in those locations than usual.

The places mentioned in this post as those that I was able to visit during my 3-days in the city. I would recommend spending the first day getting familiar with the city and its culture, then the 2-day truly exploring all the popular and unknown city gems. Then on the third day if your bus or flight is later in the evening then use this time to explore nearby cities

The Ten {10} Must Visit Places in Madrid

Whether you’re spending a day in the city or a week, below we’ve highlighted the places you must visit when in Madrid. I am someone who loves to explore both popular tourist destinations and then wander off and visit unknown places too.

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor is the main square located in the heart of Madrid, it is a popular destination for tourists, filled with countless restaurants and cafes. I recommend visiting the main square early in the morning to take architectural pictures without a flock of tourists and in the even when it truly becomes alive. At the main square you can enjoy free entertainment from street performers, musicians and dancers.

The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is the official residence of the royal family of Spain and whilst they do not actually live in, it is use for official functions. It is the largest palace in Western Europe and it has more than 3,000 rooms. It is easy to walk from Plaza Mayor to the palace, to enter the palace and admire the art gallery and interior you have to pay. But the gardens on the west side are free to enter where you can enjoy spectacular views of the palace.

Plaza de Cibeles

Sitting north of Retiro Park and at the at the intersection of Calle de Alcalá, Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado, Cibeles is a symbol of Madrid. The Belle Epoque style palace is one of the most visited sites in Madrid, it was designed and built by Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi as a post office headquarters. Today it houses the offices of the Madrid city council and is a city landmark.

Puerto del Sol

Puerto del Sol is the most central square in Spain also known as kilometre zero the starting point for all major radial roads in Spain. The square has a famous clock which is popular with the residents and tourists, at the end of the year, people gather and eat 12 lucky grapes to the twelve chimes of midnight struck by this clock.

Retiro Park

Retiro Park is a stunning park that sits on 123 hectares of land and was once a royal garden, strolling across the park you will find the monument to Alfonso XII. The park is considered a green oasis or the lungs of the heart of the city, when the weather is warm, the park is filled with various street performers and entertainers. It is a great place for relaxing or even exercising but we chose to relax and enjoy the weather.

Plaza de Espana

At the time of my visit to Madrid {October 2019} parts of the square was undergoing refurbishment but that did not stop us wanting to admire the monument of Cervantes. Plaza de Espana is located at the intersection of Gran Vía and Princesa streets and is surrounded by one of the tallest buildings in Madrid.

Neptune Fountain

The Neptune Fountain, built between 1780 and 1784 is a white marble neo-classical fountain situated in the centre of Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo. Along with Cibeles Fountain, Neptune Fountain is one of the most magnificent fountains in Madrid.

Toledo

Toledo is the former capital city located 1.5hours away from Madrid and is city built by the Muslims, Jews and Christians. They all lived along side each other and each has contributed to the architectural site of the current Toledo. There is so much to see within the city walls both the old and new parts of the city, this museum city is also a UNESCO world heritage site.

Segovia

Segovia is a famous historical city of Spain situated Northwest of Madrid about half an hour drive from the capital. It is another UNESCO World Heritage site and a must visit when in central Spain. The aqueduct is the most famous site in the city of Segovia, previously used to transport water across the city and was over 17 meters long.

Museums

When it comes to museums, I am a sucker for national history museums and modern art. It is a shame I did not get to visit Prado de museum but it is one that I highly recommend alongside Cerralbo but if you want to kill three birds with one stone then the golden triage is ideal.

Madrid is one of the most beautiful Spanish cities I have ever visited, I would even go as far as saying it’s so much better than Barcelona. There are plenty of flights from London {Ryanair – Stansted, Iberia – Heathrow} that gets you to this city within 2.5 hours. We hope the Ultimate Guide to Madrid had been insightful and if you want to include day trips then I highly recommend booking tours with getyourguide.com.

Have you ever been to Madrid? If not, where would you like to start first? I would recommend Plaza de Cibeles or Plaza Mayor, both are incredibly beautiful locations. If you’re travelling from the UK and looking for somewhere to leave your car then may I recommend Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 4.