Planning a tour to Madrid? Luckily for you, Madrid has a bit of everything for everyone. Do you like football? Here, the Real Madrid stadium. Love art? More than 30 museums are waiting for you. You’ve got markets, squares, parks, Egyptian temples, everything. In today’s post, we’ll provide you with plenty of recommendations to choose from for your perfect trip and show you a Madrid you may not yet be familiar with. Here are the best attractions Madrid has to offer.
Mercado de San Miguel
Madrid’s market
Food, wine, socialising – that’s Spain for you in a nutshell. To get a feel of the southern vibe, be sure to head to the market. The Mercado de San Miguel is the only food market still remaining at the heart of Madrid. It’s located in a hall over a century old at this point, built in 1906 on the site of a demolished church of the same name. It’s also one beautiful example of iron architecture in Madrid.
What can you find there? Everything! The best Iberian ham, the freshest seafood straight from Galicia, unique cheeses from Castile or the Basque Country. We recommend trying a variety of tapas, little tiny one-bite sandwiches. And be sure to top it with some Spanish wine!
Standard opening hours of the hall:
Sunday to Thursday from 12:00 noon to 10:00pm
Friday and Saturday from 12:00 noon to 11:00pm.
You can get there by foot from the Sol and Opera metro stations or from the Plaza Mayor.
Santiago Bernabeu
What to see in Madrid?
You know, we cover many temples on Belsole, though we rarely get an opportunity to talk about a sports temple – yet, look, here’s one. Built in 1947, the Santiago Bernabeu is the stadium of Real Madrid, one of the two most prominent football teams in the world – and also one of the biggest budgets for their players. It currently holds 81 044 seats and is the second largest stadium in Spain. Of course, the best time to see it is during a real match, especially when Real’s playing Athletico or Barcelona – though tickets can cost €100-200.
Gran Via in Madrid
What to visit in Madrid?
The Gran Via street used to be a place full of theatres, today much of it has been replaced by shopping facilities. Still, the street remains quite a sight and leads from Calle de Alcala to Plaza de España. Apart from shops, Gran Via is home to many of Madrid’s popular landmarks and attractions. The most popular would be the Edificio Metrópolis built in 1911, with the Goddess of Victory on its rooftop. The Edificio Grassy and the headquarters of Telefónica are also important places on Gran Via – another well-known place is the Plaza del Callao, a square where you can find 6 theatres and cinemas.
Plaza Mayor in Madrid
Madrid’s squares
Plaza Mayor used to be the main square of old Madrid, formerly known as Plaza del Arrabal. It was actually built in 1619, during the reign of Philip III. Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, architecturally uniform and measuring 129 by 94 metres. You can find restaurants, bars and shops under the arcades surrounding the square – in the middle, you can find the statue of Philip III.
El Rastro
Madrid’s Flea Market
Every Sunday, Madrid’s El Astro, the city’s largest flea market, stands open to all. The market’s been standing for over 400 years, and now has over 3500 vendors offering goods. The name El Rastro actually comes from the word ‘trail’ or ‘road’. This ‘road’ is actually the trail of blood of animals led to the nearby tanneries or slaughterhouses. Nowadays, as you can imagine, you can find anything there – products of any kind, cafes, cheeses, wines, furniture, jewellery, clothing and much more. Do watch out for wallets, handbags and mobile phones. You can read about security and pickpockets in Madrid here.
Park Retiro
Madrid’s gorgeous parks
Retiro Park is one of the most beautiful in Europe. It was created in the 17th century by. Philip IV, so that the royal court would have somewhere to play around in. It covers an area of 130 hectares. What can you do there? First of all, stroll along the alleys under the shade of old trees, have a picnic, go boating on the lake or visit the exhibitions that usually take place in either of the two crystal palaces. Also be on the lookout for the beautiful fountains, such as Los Galápagos (The Turtles), El Ángel Caído (The Fallen Angel) or La Alcachofa (The Artichoke). Though quiet throughout the week, the park comes alive on Sundays when crowds of madrileños stroll through.
You can reach the park from Atocha station.
Prado Museum
Madrid’s most famous museum
This is probably one of the most famous and appreciated museums in the world. Over 5,000 works of art, 100 rooms, 3 floors – what more can we say? I guess we can add that inside you can find works of art by painters such as Titian, Raphael, Rubens, Bosch, El Greco, goya, Velazquez and many, many others. Do keep in mind that you may need, like, a day to go through the place without rushing.
Entry costs €15 and can be bought online from the Prado website. The museum is also very close to the Retiro park.
Estacion de Atocha
Madrid’s charming train station
Even if you don’t need to get anywhere by train, we still recommend you pay a visit to the Atocha train station. It’s the first railway station in Madrid, opened in 1851. A distinctive feature is the station’s roof, apparently 152 metres long and 27 metres high, as calculated by the French engineer, Henri de Saint-James. Inside is a botanical garden with roughly 7,000 plants from 400 species. Though it seems like they may be gone by this point, there were even small ponds with turtles bathing inside for a while.
Templo de Debod
Madrid’s Egyptian temple
An Egyptian temple in Madrid? Oh yes. The Egyptian government donated it to Spain in gratitude for its help in saving other temples in Nubia. The site was in danger of flooding after the water level rose too high at the Nile dam. Originally, the complex consisted of a main building and three gates, two of which still survive today. The temple was dedicated to the gods Amon and Isis. It’s best viewed in the evening, as it is beautifully illuminated.
You can find the Templo de Debod in the Parque de la Montaña park.
Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun)
Ergo where you’ll find the bear statue!
What else is worth seeing in Madrid? The Puerta del Sol square with a bear eating fruit from the strawberry tree. It is one of the most characteristic places in Madrid. The plan is elongated and the streets diverge radially from it. There are cafés, bars, souvenir shops and plenty of historic townhouses and palaces all around. The square is also a ‘kilometre zero point’ from which distance from Madrid to any other Spanish city is measured.
Additionally, there is a Sol metro station on the square.
Plaza de Santa Ana
A charming square in Madrid
Among the many squares that Madrid has, perhaps the most atmospheric one is the Plaza de Santa Ana. It was built around the same time as the Atocha train station and immediately became a favourite of Madrid’s bohemians. There are several interesting buildings around the square: the oldest theatre in the city (the Teatro Español), the ME Madrid Reina Victoria hotel where famous bullfighters used to stay, and the Cervecería Alemana bar, where Ernest Hemingway used to go for a pint.
La Latina, Madrid
See how the locals live
Considered one of the most ‘Madrid’ of neighbourhoods. Want to feel like a local for a moment? If so, then you must wander around the narrow and colourful streets, stop for a coffee and churros or a glass of wine and tapas.
Chocolateria San Gines
Speaking of churros
When in Madrid, it’s practically not an option not to visit the city’s most famous chocolaterie. Chocolateria San Gines has been serving traditional hot chocolate with churros since 1894. On top of that, it is open 24 hours a day. It immediately gained mass popularity when it first opened, initially frequented by theatre-goers. Churros can be eaten inside or ordered as take away at a window. We recommend the latter, as the queues waiting for a table can get quite huge.
6 churros with chocolate will cost you €4.5. San Gines is located west of Puerta del Sol, near the San Ginés church.
What else is worth seeing in Madrid?
Madrid is a city full of attractions and monuments – even a week in this beautiful city is not enough to truly see Madrid. Apart from those mentioned, Madrid Almudena Cathedral, the Palacio Real, Puerta de Alcalá, Teatro Real or the ‘modern four towers’ are also worth seeing. Hope you’ll have a great time in Madrid!
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