We will arrive in Madrid around 11:00 am October 21 (Sunday) at Atocha. Our hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the Rios Rosas Metro Station. We'll be in Madrid all day and night the 22nd, make a day trip to Toledo the 23rd, and depart Madrid by train around 8:00 on the 24th. We'd like to visit the Palacio Real the afternoon of the 21st. We plan to visit the Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia museums the 22nd and weather permitting have a picnic dinner in the park. Sometime during our stay we want to see la Castelliana (the "modern" Madrid). is there a 2 day transportation pass for Madrid that would include bus and metro? We'd like to move about the city as much as reasonably possible the 21st and 22nd, including during the evening. The 23rd and 24 we'll only be going between the hotel and Atocha. Thanks for any thoughts.
Posted by
Washington DC
28090 posts
If you're arriving on Oct. 21 after an overnight flight, I wouldn't count on wanting to see the Palacio Real that day. I'm always a zombie on arrival day. The usual suggestion is to walk around outside and try to stay awake until after dinner. You might only want to get downtown (or make this your time to see Castellana) and back to your hotel that day (so just two trips by Metro).
I also think seeing the three art museums in one day is super challenging; the Prado is huge. However, they are rather close together; you can walk from the Thyssen to the Reina Sofia (right past tne Prado) in about 15 minutes. Retiro Park is near the museums, but I don't know how far you'll have to go to find your picnic food if you want something fancier than can be obtained from the food stands at Atocha Station. It's possible you might use public transportation only twice that day, just going to and from your hotel.
My point is that it's not clear to me that there would be a financial benefit from a 2-day transportation card, assuming one exists. Your interest in seeing three museums and a large palace during your one full day plus some hours in Madrid (sleep-deprived and jetlagged??) is going to keep you very busy indoors and leave little opportunity for riding buses and the Metro. I've never taken a bus in Madrid, other than from the airport, but buying individual Metro tickets was very easy.
Posted by
OP
Cincinnati, OH, USA
768 posts
Acraven:
We arrive by train (at Atocha) from Zaragoza, so no jetlag, but your point is taken about most of our trips will be point to point. We'll pass on a travel card and just pay for the metro/bus trips one by one. We were thinking we might take a few bus rides an evening or two just for the ride, but maybe not. Thanks for the heads up on "picnic" stuff. I suppose October is a bit late in the season to just pick something up near the park.
Jon
Posted by
Washington DC
28090 posts
It's great that you're just traveling from Zaragoza. That means you may be able to fit everything in.
My jetlag day was in Madrid, and I spent some time at the botanical garden near Atocha and Retiro Park. That's as close as I got to RP, so I have no idea what you'll find there, food-wise. Atocha is huge and should offer decent options along the sandwich line. Probably salads are available somewhere at Atocha, too, but in my experience most salads in Spain are nothing to get excited about. My theory is that they just offer them because tourists expect them. You've probably got a decent chance of finding cups of cut-up fruit.