For 2 active middle aged adults, who love museums, history, good food , what is the best neighborhoods to stay in when choosing a hotel? We have never been to Madrid. And what are must- see sites/activities? We are definitely doing the Prado.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7160 posts
Must see is dependent on what you like to do. Check out sites like TripAdvisor to get an idea of what all there is to see. There are a number of nice museums (e.g., Reina Sofia), Mercado San Miguel, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza de Espana, Royal Palace, Puerta de Alcala, Puerta de Toledo, Puente de Toledo, Retiro Park and rowing a boat in its lake, Frog Statue, Fuente de Neptune, Plaza de Cibeles, Cathedral Santa Maria la Real, Royal Chapel of San Antonio de la Florida with frescos by, and the tomb of, Francisco Goya, Temple of Debod, and others that I can’t recall at this moment. for churros and chocolate I enjoy Chocolateria San Gines near the Puerta del Sol. On our last to visits we stayed at hotel Europa right at the Puerta del Sol.
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
894 posts
H-10 Villa de la Reina has a wonderful central location, nice bar and lounge, large bathrooms and reasonable prices.
Posted by
Clarksville, TN, USA
959 posts
We just got back from Madrid on Monday. We got an Airbnb that was about a 5-8 min walk from Puerta del Sol. If you are active, and you stay central, you will find that most sights are easily within walking distance. We only took public transport when we were going to a soccer game and then the bull fight. The rest of the sights were within about 20 min of the apartment. It was great.
If you love good food, you may love the Devour Tapas, Wine, and History tour as much as we did. It was a walking tour with stops at different spots where you got drinks and foods (including Jamon Iberian ham!). It was a group of 10 of us. We had a BLAST. The company has a few other tours, too. I was glad I did it, because I tried some drinks and foods I wouldn't have otherwise tried.
You're going to love Madrid!
Posted by
3442 posts
Last October, we loved our stay at the Hotel Artrip in the Lavapies neighborhood - an easy walk to the "Big 3" museums and the Atocha train station. The hotel's website indicates that it is "not secure", so I didn't put a link here. I booked our room online with no problems.
The Naval Museum is very close to the Prado, costs a suggested donation of 2 Euros, and has the first known map of the "new world".
Posted by
New York
95 posts
We stayed at a terrific AirBnB in the Barrio de las Letras (right off Calle de Jesus). We love it. It was maybe 7 minutes to the Prado and 10 minutes to the Reina Sofia and Atocha Station. Our longest walk was to the Palace and it was such a nice day that we thoroughly enjoyed it. Calle de Jesus is loaded with restaurants and tapas bars that can get lively (and fun) later at night.
November in Spain is lovely. Good weather and low crowds. I am a former art curator so seeing art in Madrid was my goal. I got the Paseo del Arte which allowed me to skip the lines. I loved the Prado and Reina Sofia and thought the Thyssen was ok. (The peach wall color was nauseating, and it was hard for me to get past that. I found it as distraction.)
I really liked Madrid. It reminded me a lot of Paris, which makes sense since many of the kings were Bourbon.