Madrid in a Day - Looking for Touring Advice

These are Rick Steves' recommendations for Madrid. You can pick what interests you from this list and create your own itinerary.

▲▲▲ Royal Palace Spain's sumptuous, lavishly furnished national palace.

▲▲▲ Prado Museum One of the world's great museums, loaded with masterpieces by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, El Greco, Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, and more.

▲▲▲ Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Modern-art museum featuring Picasso's epic masterpiece Guernica.

▲▲▲ Paseo Evening stroll among the Madrileños.

▲▲ Puerta del Sol Madrid's lively central square.

▲▲ Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum** A great complement to the Prado, with lesser-known yet still impressive works and an especially good Impressionist collection.

▲▲ National Archaeological Museum Traces the history of Iberia through artifacts.

▲▲ Flamenco Captivating music and dance performances, at various venues throughout the city.

▲▲ Plaza Mayor Historic cobbled square.

▲▲ Sorolla Museum Delightful, intimate collection of portraits and landscapes by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla.

▲ Bullfight Spain's controversial pastime.

▲ Retiro Park Festive green escape from the city, with rental rowboats and great people-watching.

▲ Royal Botanical Garden A relaxing museum of plants, with specimens from around the world.

▲ Naval Museum Seafaring history of a country famous for its Armada.

▲ Museum of the Americas Pre-Columbian and colonial artifacts from the New World.

▲ Clothing Museum A clothes look at the 18th–21st centuries.

▲ Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida Church with Goya's tomb, plus frescoes by the artist.

▲ El Rastro Europe's biggest flea market, filled with bargains and pickpockets.

▲ Zarzuela Madrid's delightful light opera.

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/madrid

From your hotel, a main shopping area is between the Callao metro stop (three blocks from your hotel) and the Puerta Del Sol. One can get a nice view of the city from El Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience very near the metro stop. It’s on an upper floor. The Plaza Mayor is only a couple minutes walk from the Puerta Del Sol. Beware of pickpockets in the plaza and anyplace it’s crowded. In that area is Mercado San Miguel for tapas/lunch. It’s always busy.

From the Plaza Mayor one can go over to the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena, then by the Royal Palace and Sabatini gardens. Near it is the Debod temple and near it is the Plaza de España with the sculptures of Don Quixote and Sanch Panza. From that plaza you can walk along the Gran Vía back to the hotel.

One evening you could take advantage of the free hours (2 hours) to visit either the Prado or Reina Sofía museum. While there and if it’s still light, you could take a walk through Retiro Park.

If the walking gets to be too much for the one individual, he/she could take a taxi back to the hotel. If going by metro, the closest station to your hotel is the Gran Vía, followed by the Callao station.

If you eat a decent breakfast, look into the one offered by the hotel. When we stayed at a different Petit Palace hotel, it had a very nice breakfast buffet. That would save some time, and walking, by not having to go find a place to eat.

Mary,
Thank you for your response. I have read these suggestions. It's really just the planning aspect in terms of transportation and all that fun stuff that is kind of stressing me out.

Jamielsabio,
Thank you for your response. I really appreciate these details; I will be printing this and using it as a guide. Thank you for the thoroughness.