Best of Spain Tour-Madrid

Posted by JS (Southport, NC) on 01/13/24 01:10 PM

Hi all,
for those of you who have been to Madrid or on the BOS tour:

What does the tour cover/not cover? What are the most important sights in Madrid? What do you wish you had seen?

We're trying to plan our post-tour days and feel like Madrid deserves more time than the tour gives. The tour account gives advice for pre-tour planning in Barcelona but doesn't say much about free time/post-tour time in Madrid. The tour goes to Segovia, visits the Prado, Royal Palace, and has a walking tour. We are planning to visit Cordoba post-tour, so don't need information about that. Looking specifically for information about Madrid.

Thank you!

Posted by LIZinPA 🧳

SE Pennsylvania

01/13/24 01:24 PM

2664 posts

If you don't have the tour book yet, you could check the AT A GLANCE list here to see what Madrid sites interest you:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/madrid

Posted by jaimeelsabio

Mid-Atlantic area

01/13/24 01:43 PM

7165 posts

Some additional Madrid sights probably not visited on a walking tour. Most are walk-by or short visits.
Reina Sofía museum
Naval Museum
Galería de las Colecciones Reales - the newest museum in the city
Retiro Park and the Crystal Palace
Plaza de Cibeles
Fuente de Neptuno
Botero’s Mujer con espejo (Lady with Mirror) statue
Rana de la Fortuna (Luxky Frog) sculpture
Alcalá gate
Toledo gate and bridge
Plaza de España (statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza)
Temple of Debod
Chapel of San Antonio de la Florida. Is the burial location, and has frescos by, Francisco Goya
El Corte Inglés Callao, floor G, free. Nice views of the city
Mercado San Antón
Casa de las Siete Chimeneas. It’s supposedly haunted and apparitions can supposedly be seen walking between the chimneys.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

01/13/24 05:43 PM

28113 posts

This website has a page for each of the RS tours. Here's the one for Best of Spain in 14 days:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain/best-spain-tour

Click on "Itinerary" for the day-to-day tour plan and on "What's Included" for a list of specific sightseeing activities. For Madrid the list includes the Prado, the Royal Palace, a walking tour and a side trip to Segovia. If you anticipate wanting to spend extra time at the Prado or the Royal Palace, you might want to check with the tour office by phone to see whether the timing will make it easy for you to simply remain at the sight when the tour's visit ends, rather than making a separate visit requiring a second ticket.

I assume any significant change to those plans would be communicated to tour members directly.