Visit the capital of Spain with the help of this complete city guide. Stroll through its streets, its districts and its squares, enjoy your holidays at its fullest and discover the most charming and hidden places of this wonderful city.
This elegant city is worth a visit for everybody who loves to explore monuments and historical buildings, to stroll through its gardens, to taste the best traditional mediterranean dishes or who loves to enjoy the most beautiful boutiques.
Madrid is a great destination to visit with a family. The possibilities to enjoy with your little children are endless. Besides the typical tourism attractions in the city, there are many activities especially for families. Here are some of these places where you can fully enjoy your holidays in Madrid together.
Paseo de Recoletos, 41, 28004 Madrid
Have you ever visited the Madame Tussaud’s museum in Amsterdam? Well, then you will definitely love to visit the Museo de Cera in Madrid. Here you will find representations of all kinds of different famous people such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Spider man. Bring your camera because it’s time to make hundreds of selfies!
Av. de Concha Espina, 1, 28036 Madrid
Do your kids love soccer? Then they do not want to miss a visit to the Real Madrid stadium! There are several tours to choose from, the cheapest tickets cost 18€. You can see the changing rooms, the press room, the tunnel, the benches, the pitch… It’s a stadium worth seeing.
M-506, 28330 San Martín de la Vega, Madrid
Of course, we cannot forget this amusement park, one of the best known in the country. The entire family can enjoy a wonderful day in this park with attractions that have many different themes. In addition, in summer you will also be able to enjoy its water park full of huge slides and fun swings. You can buy tickets from 26€.
Walking through Madrid is discovering something new at every step. Overflowing art in all its streets and hundreds of places in the capital that deserve your visit. We have selected some of the most symbolic points in order to plan your trip to Madrid.
This enormous and busy street is the best-known street of the city. Here you will find the most relevant cinemas and theatres. It starts in Calle de Alcalá and it stops at Plaza de España. Besides, many different shops are located in this famous street.
We are sure you already decided to visit this place. It is one of the best-known squares of the city where you can find Kilometer Zero. Most Spaniards visited the Puerta del Sol once in their lives to eat grapes during New Year’s Eve. Sounds as a plan for this year, right?
In the centre of Madrid, very close to the Puerta del Sol and the Royal Palace; you will find the main square of the city. It is one of the oldest in Spain, built by Juan Gómez de Mora and Juan de Herrera in the sixteenth century.
Did you know that, in theory, this is the official residence of the Royal family of Spain? Although everyone knows, that the Head of State and his family live in the Zarzuela, the small palace located on the outskirts of the city. This baroque classicist style palace, built between 1738-1764, is used today for state receptions and ceremonial events.
As a fact, it is worth mentioning that it’s the largest palace in Western Europe, before Buckingham (London) and Versailles (Paris). Visiting the palace is a unique experience. It contains works of the greatest artists such as Velazquez, Goya and Caravaggio. Each of the noble rooms are decorated with great detail and luxury and, in addition, you can visit exhibitions such as the royal armoury, the porcelains and collection clocks.
With more than 2200 years of existence, it has a beautiful history: it is a building of ancient Egypt. It was a gift from the African country to Spain in 1968, in gratitude for the help received when Unesco came to try to save the temples of Nubia, in danger for the construction of the dam of Aswan. Egypt donated four of the temples they saved: Dendur to the United States, Ellesiya to Italy, Taffa to the Netherlands and Debod to Spain. It is located west of the Plaza de España, next to Paseo del Pintor Rosales.
Also known as Parque del Buen Retiro or, simply, El Retiro. It is a historic garden and the most famous park of the city. Within its walls you can discover the Monument Alfonso XII, the Gate of Felipe IV, the Royal Astronomical Observatory, the Cristal Palace, the Estanque Grande, the Parterre, the fountain of the Artichoke and the Romanesque hermitage of San Pelayo and San Isidoro. Enough to spend a whole day here!
If you certainly follow “the foodie trends”, you are going to love Madrid. The possibilities of tasting varied dishes are endless, for all taste buds. Some of their typical dishes are “cocido madrileño”, “los callos” or “el besugo”, however you are going to discover recipes from all around the world. In this city there are more than 3,000 restaurants!
In Madrid you can always have great dinners. Its restaurants have always been a reference to a traditional and careful cuisine in which the product is the most important. Among all the classics, in this guide we want to highlight some of the restaurants that have survived trends, crises and various storms.
This Basque steakhouse has been bringing the Basque cuisine to the tables of Madrid for more than 30 years. The best “txuletones of the north”, lamb chops, “cogollos de Tudela” (romaine lettuce), stuffed peppers… all served with the professionalism of the old restaurants, on large and well-decorated tables.
This nineteenth-century tavern serves typical dishes from the old-fashioned region. The stew is one of the restaurant’s main dishes that it served daily during two meal shifts, at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
This might be one of the most famous restaurants of Madrid. It is founded in 1839 by a Frenchman, with a little bit the style and refinement of the old Parisian restaurants. Also specialists in stew, they have a small shop at street level where they sell a whole selection of delicacies to take home.
The Guinness Book of Records say that it is the oldest establishment in the world dedicated to the hotel trade. In 1725, it opened as a tavern and wood oven to give shelter to travelers. It still is a tavern and currently also a good restaurant where you can taste the most traditional Castilian dishes: suckling pig, suckling lamb, Castilian soup or desserts such as pestiños, bartolillos or egg custard .
Despite the fact that the nearest beach is 350 km from Madrid, they say that this city has one of the best fish markets in the world. In the Galician seafood restaurant O’Pazo they have brought the best products of the Galician coast to Madrid, all with a know-how that has been in the restaurant for generations.
You do? Great! This means you should visit Bodega la Ardosa and order tapas such as fried ears, potato omelette and seafood. Also you might like Casa del Abuelo, they are specialized in gambas and prawns since 1906. Andy Warhol ate here, so what else can we say?. El Anciano Rey de los Vinos is another place you will love, next to the Royal Palace and the Almudena Cathedral, they serve delicious tapas.
Clarita, in Malasaña, is your restaurant. Cozy place and very friendly waiters, its clients recommend the scallops with ajada dressing and truffle, the ceviche, the tuna with cherry chutney and the octopus. On the other hand, the restaurant Ay mi madre! has a full lunch menu for 8.90€ and on Wednesdays the pizza pieces only cost 1€. Changing the line a bit, if you like real Mexican food (nothing Tex-Mex), one of the best restaurants is Tacos Chapultepec in the Bilbao district. They serve delicious tacos for 1.50€ each and the best micheladas and margaritas, all in a festive and noisy atmosphere. How it’s supposed to be.
If you like the quality and you want to have a good time, you will like the La Blanca Paloma (Meléndez Valdes and Espíritu Santo) chain, it’s a brewery frequented by students and young people who like to drink a beer. Something similar is El Tigre (Chueca district), popular among tourists and students because you get tapas when ordering a beer.
Madrid is a city that stands never still, it’s dynamic and creative. It is a constantly moving environment, with more strength every time, resulting in new and innovative restaurants. The Larrumba Group highlights a restaurants that became its flagship recently: Habanera. This local exotic decor is conspicuous by its Latin American-European fusion cuisine, for its cocktails and pre festive weekend. If you are more of “good hamburgers”, you will like Goiko. This burger chain founded by a Basque-Venezuelan family has managed to be a benchmark in Madrid and is in full expansion to other cities. In the Malasaña district we find another of the most fashionable restaurants: 80 grados (degrees). They offer a menu of dishes – almost all to share – inspired by the most avant-garde cuisine but democratising its access to all pockets; a world of sensations that will make your dinner an experience.
DiverXO, by chef David Muñoz, has three stars and eating here is literally a unique experience. Santceloni also raises the market to the highest level and has two stars, located in Paseo de la Castellana. The Allard Club, captained by María Marte, has two stars and it is a very careful aesthetic. On the other hand there is Kabuki Wellington, created the union between Ricardo Sanz and Wellington and is one of the best Japanese restaurants in Madrid, with one star.
Other restaurants in and around Madrid crowned with stars are La Terraza del Casino, Ramón Freixa Madrid, DSTAgE and Coque (with two) and Álbora, La Cabra, Punto MX, Lúa, A’Barra and Gaytán, Casa José, Chirón, Montia and El Invernadero (with one). There are so many!
Then you must try Pizzie & Dixie in Calle San Vicente Ferrer, as well as B13, both located in the vibrant Malasaña district. The first one is specialised in vegetarian and vegan pizzas and the second prepares a potato omelette without egg that is just delicious. In Calle Lope de Vega, in the las Letras area, you will find the Rayén Vegano, where only organic products are used.
We have not forgotten about our furry friends! In Madrid there are a lot of places where you can go with your pet, from restaurants to bookstores, hairdressers and markets. These are some pet-friendly places in the capital of Spain.
The owner, Carlos Fontaneda tells us that you can have breakfast, a snack or dinner with the dogs. You will feel at home thanks to the cozy character of the place.
Sergi Arola’s restaurant where dogs are welcome, well if they are educated and clean, yes. The same owner says that pet admissions should be expanded to all restaurants in the city.
Although they do not have a menu for dogs, they are invited. It is a restored house of the Callejón de Puigcerdà, in the centre of Jorge Juan. From their delicious dishes of market cuisine you can ask for whole or average portions, depending on the win they have at that time.
This Motor Market always takes place the second weekend of each month in the Railway Museum. If you go with your dog he will be able to stay with the caretakers while you go exploring. This dog care service is free.
Ingrid and Lilo are two sisters who provide exhibitions and very entertaining talks in their bookstore (where you will find many, many books). The best? Your big hairy friend can come with you.
A huge green place where you can walk with them, ride a bike or skate. It has a very large fenced enclosure so your dog can enjoy the freedom and you can stretch your legs as well. It also has agility obstacles and benches.