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Great Things to See and Do in Madrid

Plaza Mayor and surrounding streets

A good place to start soaking up the atmosphere of historic Madrid is in its glorious Plaza Mayor, which continues to be the meeting place of foreigners and Madrileños alike, right in the very centre of Madrid. Expect to pay substantially more for a coffee enjoyed on one of its terraces than in the bars in its side streets (where a café con leche, the Spanish version of a cappuccino, will cost you the unbeatable price of around 1.25 euros), but you may wish to treat yourself once!

Opera and Palacio Real

From the Plaza Mayor, wander through the narrow side streets in the general direction of Opera, and you will find the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace), which is well worth a visit: The King and Queen of Spain do not actually live here but reside in a palace not open to the public outside of the city. The Palacio Real is used for official ceremonies and also hosts temporary exhibitions to showcase items from the vast art collection of the Spanish “Patrimonio Nacional” as well as other assorted items, such as the world’s largest collection of string instruments built by Stradivarius.

Museums, museums, museums

The three that are an absolute “must” are located within walking distance from the don Quijote school. The Grand Old Lady of Spanish Museums is still the Prado, which has recently undergone a massive expansion/renovation, which was completed in 2007.

Museo Thyssen (just opposite the Prado) has a much shorter history and houses the magnificent collection of the Baron Thyssen and his Spanish-born wife the Baroness Thyssen, a flamboyant ex-Miss Spain, who convinced her now deceased husband to bring the family art collection to Spain. Lady Thyssen put her own personal stamp on the museum (“I want the walls to be salmon-pink!”) and got her way. The life-size portraits of the King and Queen of Spain flanked by equally life-sized portraits of the Baron and Baroness Thyssen in the entrance hall give a good indication of the egos of the personalities involved in the establishment of this shrine to mainly non-Spanish art throughout the ages. The Baroness continues to speak up: she was recently unhappy about the Madrid mayor’s plans to cut down trees in front of the museum and threatened to chain herself to the endangered trees and move her collection if plans were not changed. She called for a demonstration and climbed, duly outfitted in Chanel suit, bag and matching high-heels, onto a speaker’s platform to address the assorted crowd and speak her mind… this got the mayor on the phone within hours…street remodelling is being reviewed! Classy and colourful, not to be missed!

Reina Sofia Museum of 20th Century Art, housed partly in a jazzed-up former hospital and partly in a spectacular new extension by Pritzker Prize winning French architect Jean Nouvel. Its collection is dominated by Picasso´s “Guernica”, but don’t overlook its excellent collection of other groundbreaking 20th century Spanish painters such as Dalí, Miró and Tàpies.

When the going gets tough, the tough go … Shopping

Spanish people shop with abandon! And it shows in the number of shops to be found in the centre of Madrid. One of the city’s attractions is the large number of relatively small stores that can still be found it its centre. The ZARA brand is Spain’s contribution to the world of 21st century retail clothing. MANGO is a similar but somewhat smaller competing version and their shops can be found throughout the city. We recommend a leisurely stroll through Calle Fuencarral, right through the Chueca neighbourhood, just 5 minutes away from the don Quijote school, which has a good mix of mainstream and funky stores, both local and international, with a heavy focus on clothes and shoes.

And more shopping

For more up-scale/exclusive/snobbish/ pick-any-adjective you like clothes and shoes, but still relatively affordable fashion-with-an-edge, make your way to the calle Almirante (on the edge of the Chueca neighbourhood). Here, you will find lots of small independent shops, many selling up-and-coming Spanish designers. If you are into electronics, the nearby calle Barquillo has all the electronics shops you need (audio, video, photography, PCs)

And more shopping!

In the definitely bourgeois/upscale neighbourhood called “Barrio Salamanca”, you can find the Serious Shoppers (i.e. David Beckham and, even more frequently, his shopaholic wife Victoria Posh Spice) in streets such as calle Ortega y Gasset with all the major international brands you find in any major city. Check out the area and visit the design shop called Vincon for excellent house furnishings, kitchenware, lamps, presents etc., located in a prize-winning reconverted industrial building. Entrance Calle Castelló 18.

Take the bus

Jump on bus line number 27, which runs all along the avenue Paseo de la Castellana, the north-south axis that cuts right through the city. Buy a ten-trip “metrobus” ticket in any metro station for around 6.5 euros, or a one way ticket on the bus for around 1.30 euros and you have the cheapest sight seeing tour for a quick overview of the architectural styles to be found in the city: it passes by all the major museums, but also takes in the business district with its sky-scrapers, in the north, and the Bernabeu Stadium, sacred grounds of Real Madrid.

Day Trip to Toledo

Make a day trip to the very picturesque city of Toledo. If Madrid’s traffic, cars, pollution and noise get on your nerves, consider a day or afternoon trip to Toledo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is nowadays connected to the capital by a high speed “AVE” train. AVE trains leave from the Atocha Railway Station, and take around 25 minutes to reach Toledo.