Itinerary Madrid--finalizing. Tips?

Hi Suzanne

My Madrid In Two Days
(if you want to do all 3 Museums)

Day 1
10am...City Walk

Temple of Debod
Plaza de Espana
Plaza de Oriente (start here if time poor)
Plaza Mayor (morning coffee)
Puerta del Sol
Metropolis Bldg
Plaza de Cibeles
Puerta del Alcala

1pm...Lunch in the Salamanca district
2.30pm...Stroll thru Retiro Park
4pm...Prado Museum (closes 8pm)

Day 2
10am...Thyssen Bornemisza
1pm...Lunch on Plaza Santa Ana
3pm...Royal Palace
6pm...Reina Sofia Museum (closes 9pm)

I didn't know there was a tourist information office inside El Corte Ingles. Are you sure it will be open as late as you're planning to be there? I tried to find info online to verify this but came up empty.

There's tons to see in Toledo, so I'd hope to spend a full day there, but Spaniards eat dinner very late, typically after 10 PM, and the last train departs Toledo at 9:30 PM. (See renfe.com) There may be later buses, but I'd plan on dinner back in Madrid.

Rick suggests getting the return ticket when you buy the outbound leg, because the last transportation back to Madrid sometimes sells out. It is an extremely popular day-trip. Incidentally, Atocha is sort of confusing, with different ticket areas and different ticket machines for different types of trips. Don't plan to walk in and have a ticket in your hands within 5 minutes.

Thank you for the input! I will consider some of your itinerary suggestions, David. I don't think I am as interested in the Salamanca district, but like some of your other ideas.

Acraven, I mis-spoke: in RS Spain 2017, it indicated that El Corte Ingles offers free city maps, hosts 2 travel agencies (they sell train tix too)--in the tallest building. Officially it's not a TI, but might suffice if one just needs the above.

Thanks again!

Here are my comments. We just returned from a trip in August.

Day 1 (Wed. 10/4)

• Tapas crawl along Calle de Jesus (near the Prado)
-- we actually found this to be less than stellar. But we did go at lunch and didn't really want to stand while we were eating. We went to one place and they actually moved us out to their neighbor spot which was not as good. We couldn't figure out why, maybe we were Americans? It was very interesting.

Day 2 (Thurs.10/5)
• Morning: Thyssen-Bornermisaz museum (redeem Paseo del Arte--pass @Thyssen. Purchased.)
-- definitely enjoyed the Thyssen. worth going

Day 4 (Sat.10/07)
• Morning: Riena Sofia museum (Paseo del Arte pass). Lunch at Reina’ café or in the area. Recommendations?
-- there is the cafe outside the museum and we didn't eat there because it was pricey, but the food looked very inventive.
-- you are doing quite a few museums in one day. At the Reina Sofia, there is so much to see. We should have just paid for the special exhibit pass for the Picasso/Guernica. We spent our entire time there and then were too exhausted to visit the rest, except for the sculpture garden. Not sure if Picasso exhibit is still there though.•

Retiro Park to relax (good people-watching and other activities going on there on Saturday)
-- there was a great performance artist there that was quite entertaining. He was one of the statues but he also had an act and the kids loved him. I did too!
• Prado (Paseo del Arte pass). Open till 8:00
• Dinner (on Plaza Santa Ana somewhere?)
-- you must eat at Lateral on Plaza Santa. The food was delicious. We also ate lunch one day at Vinoteca on the other corner. We ate inside because it was less expensive than sitting outside.

Have fun!

Rizzell, thank you so much for your input! It is helpful to know your additional details! I will check out if the Picasso exhibit is still there so that we can conserve our energy for what is needed:)

Maybe we'll do the Reina Sofia and Thyssen on the same day (thursday) since Prado is such a huge undertaking, and leave that for Saturday on its own. But gotta squeezing in the Royal palace too. Maybe put that at the end of the day on thursday--maybe it isn't as "demanding" energy-wise as museum perusing??

Thank you too for the restaurant recs--REALLY appreciate knowing what is good ahead of time when I can. It is so disappointing to spend $$ to eat somewhere and have it not be good! And there weren't many recs in RS's book for the Santa Ana area.

Thank you again!

We're just taking a short break during Day 2 at Madrid (stayed in Toledo two nights before Madrid) so can share.

We went to the Prado at noon today (Saturday). I purchased the tickets on-line, went through the Jeronimo entrance and walked right in - no line!! Lovely museum; reminded us of the Louvre. We stayed for 3 hours until eyes were glazing over.

Yesterday we went through the Royal Palace. I purchased tickets ahead on-line. No one in our pre-purchased line; other line was probably 20-30 minutes. We were there 2 hours. Definitely enjoyed it.

We both liked walking through the Mercado de San Miguel indoor market and selecting tapas and desserts.

Our hotel receptionist recommends Cava Baja and Alta streets for great tapas.

We've enjoyed walking between the Opera House and Puerta Del Sol in the evenings and also Plaza Mayor.

We really enjoyed Toledo and we're glad we stayed overnight. I'm not sure staying an extra hour or two will make a difference, though, for your benefit.

Thank you for taking time to respond, Jean! We leave in 2 hours.....:)

The San Miguel market is a great place to graze on tapas and drinks for lunch or dinner, though I don't know how late they are open. It's hard to overstate how enormous the Prado is. The audio guide is quite good, plan ahead and choose what you want to see. Allow A LOT OF TIME. I did not do this. On my first visit, I decided to limit my visit to the top 50 pieces in the museum (there was a handy brochure that listed them). I managed to see almost all of them (except for several that were "on vacation" somewhere else) but it took me a good 6-7 hours. The problems are two-fold: first, the museum is a bit of a maze, with some rooms accessible only by walking through others, then retracing your steps; and second, there are so many other enticing works that catch your eye along the way. I haven't got to the Reina Sofia yet. The Thyssen is a 2-3 hour visit unless there is a special exhibition. The last two hours at the Prado are usually free, so the galleries get pretty crowded - take that into account - better to start early than later.

It's best to book tickets for Toledo a few days in advance. Tickets do sell out often. On Saturdays and Sundays, there are no early trains. Apparently they are used mainly by commuters so they only run on workdays.

We stopped at the Marcado Miguel on our way back from dinner. It was still full of people after 11pm.

Thank you for the tips! I'm sure the Prato will overwhelm but I'll mentally prepare😊 On plane to Paris now!