Madrid Itinerary critique please

I spent the better part of a day at the Prado. 2 years later, I again spent the better part of a day there. It is huge and the layout is a bit confusing if you are looking for specific works in specific rooms, it can take time to find them and to get from one to another - and you are likely to be distracted by all the other excellent paintings along the way. The last 2-3 hours that it's open are usually free entry, which means that it gets really crowded then.

How much time you want to spend at the Thyssen depends on what temporary exhibit is on and what you are interested in. I easily spent 2-3 hours there, twice. I can't imagine trying to see both in one day, unless there are only a few paintings that you are interested in.

I haven't been to the Reina Sofia as I am much more interested in the periods shown in the other two.

I'm confused by your Day 1 - arrive in evening and after a couple of other things, tour the Palace? Are you sure there are evening hours?

Book the train trip to Toledo ahead of time, consider getting a preferente ticket if the price seems reasonable to you. If you don't book ahead, you'll be standing in a subway-style car in the middle of the train with a lot of daytrippers and commuters.

For a traditional Castilian lunch in Toledo, consider Los Cobertizos. Others might say old-fashioned rather than traditional.
For a contemporary lunch in Toledo, take a look at Asador Palencia de Lara. If you go, don't act like a tourist (or at least not like an American daytripper. This is a spot that I'm hesitant to share on English-speaking message boards).

You'd usually get pointed to the Plaza Mayor and the Plaza d'Espana in Madrid for dining, with the Calle Cava Baja area mentioned as the cool alternative, but the actually cool alternative is still around Lavapies. Just don't carry or wear a lot of valuables. Honestly, there are more petty thieves at the main plazas, since that's where the quarry congregates, but Lavapies has a rough look. Tapas dinner there will be less than half the price and not quite twice as loud. Two glasses of rioja, each of which comes with a tapa (maybe more if you bat your eyelashes at the bartender) and one racion or two half raciones will make for a tipsy dinner for less than 15E.

I am confused also. If you arrive evening of Day 1 then you only have 2 days at your disposal.
The Royal Palace closes at 8pm in summer and 6pm in winter. http://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/real-sitio/palacios/8280 Unless of course you have an invite for a private after hours tour.
With only 2 days I would forget Toledo and concentrate on the museums etc.

It's a brave person who could try this in one day (as long as it's not a Tuesday) ...
1000 Royal Palace
1200 Walk from Palace - Plaza Mayor - Puerta del Sol - Gran Via - Cibeles
1300 Thyssen Bornemisza Museum
1500 Prado
1800 Stroll thru Retiro
1900 Reina Sofia

Royal Palace
Daily 1000 – 1800 (Winter)
Daily 1000 – 2000 (Summer)
Thyssen
Monday 1200-1600
Tuesday – Sunday 1000 – 1900
Prado
Monday to Saturday: 10am – 8pm.
Sundays and holidays: 10am - 7pm.
Reina Sofia
Monday 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday Closed, including holidays
Wednesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m

The Thyssen is nice but doing 3 art museums in one day, especially if one of them is the Prado, is far too much. The Thyssen can be left out this time. I like modern art a lot but limiting your time in the Reina Sofia to see just Guernica (worth the admission price alone) and some of the Dalis and Miros is wise to concentrate most of your time visiting with the Old Masters in the Prado for the majority of the day.

I agree with the poster about Lavapies. It's a great lively area with not only tapas bars, but Indo/Pak and Middle Eastern food if you're sick of jamon (it's really quite easy to get sick of it.) Calle Cava Baja and the surrounding La Latina neighborhood is my favorite area for evening tapas, although a couple of outlying areas (Chueca and Malasana) are very nice too. I like La Colchoneria de la Camarilla on Calle Cava Baja because they have good craft beers instead of just the light lager served in most of the rest of Spain.

I enjoyed the Army Museum in Toledo. It's not quite the information extravaganza the Deutches Historiches Museum in Berlin is (possibly the best history museum in Europe!) but still worthy none the less. Very telling to see they are unlike Germany in the fact they still can't talk about their not-so-recent past matter-of-factly.

I have recommendations for Granada too if you'd like. Have fun!
Emily

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions. As much as it hurts, I am going to cut out the day trip to Toledo in order to focus on the real reason why I decided to spend two full days in Madrid, and that is to visit the museums. I arrive in Madrid in the very early evening, around 5:30, so, for me, there is plenty more time on the day of arrival to explore. To be honest, not sure there will be enough energy in me to do this any other way but to cut out Toledo. I will try to book ahead whatever I can, and to start early in the day.

My arrival day will be left as is, with the caveat that if I don’t have enough time or energy for a late dinner after the Royal Palace, I will do it on the second or third night. Traveling solo gives me the opportunity to go on the fly to some extent.

1st Full day in Madrid (Monday): Tour Prado early, enjoy lunch-perhaps near the Garden Botanica, then tour the Reina Sofia (I am most interested in Guernica); back to hotel for little siesta; late dinner and Spanish nightlife.

2nd Full day in Madrid (Tuesday): Tour Thyssen museum and various plazas nearby – hang out. Early tapas dinner. Train/bus next day to Granada will be early (still have to book) - heard the train tracks may be under construction.

I appreciate, so much, all the recommendations for restaurants too. Do you think this itinerary is more do-able?

Linda

I am still advising against Royal Palace on your arrival day - you need approx 2 hours for this. If you arrive at 530pm (at Atocha station I guess) then by the time you get to your hotel, checkin, freshen up and to the Palace it's going to be about 7pm, giving you only one hour.

Day 1 (Monday)
1000 Royal Palace
1200 Almudena Cathedral
1300 Walk from Palace - Plaza Mayor (lunch) - Puerta del Sol - Gran Via - Cibeles - Puerta Alcala
1500 Reina Sofia

Day 2 (Tuesday)
1000 Thyssen Bornemisza Museum
1200 Stroll thru Retiro
1300 Lunch
1400 Prado

If you do have a spare hour and are centrally located then consider the Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales.
Check times first. http://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/real-sitio/monasterios/8291

I love museums and we spent 3 days doing this in Madrid last year -- we wish we had had two days for the Prado. I would lose the Thyssen in such a short trip. It is a good museum but it is not a museum with things unique to Madrid -- The Prado has such great collections of the great Spanish artists. I didn't think the Thyssen was more interesting say than the Art Institute of Chicago, also a great eclectic institution. The Thyssen is well worth a visit - but not jammed into a day with the Prado and possibly the Reine Sophia. I personally found the Reina Sophia very underwhelming except for the Guernica and it is worth a short visit for that alone.

Okay, I am convinced there won't be enough time to give the Royal Palace it's due on the first day in Madrid. Brisbane, I like the itinerary you suggested and will try to see the Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales. My hotel is not far from there.

Jane: I wouldn't say I love museums but find the value of the visits to be high. I do like to mix up the activities in any given day. Oh and I thought the Art Institute was fabulous.

Thanks once again everyone for your ideas and I appreciate the time and effort you put into responding. I will soon post questions on my Andalucia visit, as well as, Portugal questions.

Happy travels, treks, tramps, trips.....

Linda

Emily: thanks for the confirmation on the Lavapies neighborhood and restaurant recommendations. I will be sure to check some out.

Linda

Mercado San Miguel (not far from Plaza Mayor) is great for tapas and food purchases.
http://www.mercadodesanmiguel.es/en/

See I loved the Thyssen because they were such great collectors.
Hung chronologically every painting was a masterpiece of the artist/ period represented.
In two hours you get the best lesson in western art history.
I guess in Australia we don't have access to such concentration of fine works, except when exhibitions tour.

Hi Linda,
I just spent the day trying to edit down the many things I want to do in Madrid since I want to visit the "Big 3 Museums" as my husband and I love art. The Toledo day trip is still up in the air. We have also 3.5 days in Madrid just like you and wished we had at least one day more. We are traveling to Spain next week (Barcelona to Granada to Madrid) and would be happy to give you our tips/opinions/feedback after we return, although everyone has such different tastes and interests (we are in our late 30s to mid 40s, also living in Seattle, WA). If I can remember, I will definitely contact you through here if you still need suggestions.
Cheers,
Jennifer

Jennifer, I would do this ...

Day 1
1000 Royal Palace
1200 Almudena Cathedral
1300 Walk from Palace - Plaza Mayor (lunch) - Puerta del Sol - Gran Via - Cibeles - Puerta Alcala
1500 Reina Sofia

Day 2
1000 Thyssen Bornemisza Museum
1200 Stroll thru Retiro
1300 Lunch
1400 Prado

Day 3
Toledo

Half Day
Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales
Sorolla Museum

djp_syd, thank you for the suggestions - I've saved them and will use them as handy reference for our trip (leaving for Spain tomorrow).

Jennifer, here's hoping you have a fabulous trip and, yes, I will plan on reading about your tips and tricks when you come back to Seattle.

Linda

Your'e welcome. Have a great time.

Hi Linda, we had 3.5 days in Madrid. On our first (half) day we took advantage of the free Prado early evening visit - it was a holiday so only one hour but not crowded. This helped us to save time for the Prado next day. Also Reina Sofia for their free evening - it took us 2 hours for just the 2nd floor of one building. Next day, breakfast at Matilda Cafe which became our regular spot due to its close proximity to the museums, simple yet delicious limited menu items like croissants, Spanish tortilla, and chorizo toasts, fantastic service, it was also one of the few places opened around 8 am on weekdays, and we liked it was a mostly locals casual spot. We started at Prado at 10 but made the mistake of not buying tickets online so we were in line from about 9:45 to 10:20 am just to get tickets. We were at the Prado for 3.5 hours and didn't see a lot but saw what we planned in advance. Also left sooner than anticipated because it was unbearably crowded with at least a dozen school children on field trips and tour groups. Perhaps avoid Friday. We ate lunch at Prado cafe to save time. After lunch, we saw almost everything at the Thyssen in 4 hours at a decently comfortable pace (Monday would be a great day to go to Thyssen for their free day). Although the Prado in my opinion had the best artwork, the Thyssen didn't have many people on Friday afternoon that it was such a nice change to be able to view artwork peacefully. We also visited Caixa Forum that day. On Saturday, we wanted to venture outside the tourist zone so explored the Malasana and Chueca neighborhoods, which we absolutely loved with their funky shops and artistic energy and loved the coffee shop Toma Cafe. Also La Latina neighborhood - we had fantastic churro con chocolate at Chocoleteria San Gines which is deserving of its popularity and Mercado San Miguel was a busy, fun food hall (really liked the olive vendor). We returned to Reina Sofia which took us another three hours, partly because we took some time to sit in the courtyard and the rooftop area. Sunday at the last minute we decided to go to Toledo - here's why: All the locals we spoke with told us that even with our limited time, we should definitely not miss Toledo. So we listened to the locals' advice. Our apartment host even suggest a half day if pressed for time. So on Sunday morning at the last minute we bought our train tickets online for a 10:30 am departure, printed it at the kiosk at the train station, and were in Toledo at 11 am. It was such a fast, easy experience. To save time, we caught a cab from the train station to the main square - about 5 Euro - once at the main square, walked into the tiny tourist office where they gave us a free map and circled the must see attractions and even zoomed in for us the ones we should go to first since we were limited on time. This was very helpful. With their advice, in 6 hours we saw: A mosque, the synagogue, the church which houses the famous El Greco painting, El Greco museum (free because it was a Sunday) and the monastery (highly recommend). The Cathedral was closed for a private service so we only saw the outside, but still spectacular viewing from outside. We had delicious marzipan from the famous shop (can't recall name now). Sunday, many thing were starting to close around 3 pm. If you go, book your train reservations online. We returned to Madrid on the 5:30 pm ride. After Toledo, we went to Retiro Park and the Crystal Palace. It really reminded us of Central Park and we really liked seeing the local families picnicking. Nice way to end the trip. Just our experience. Hope this helps.

Just came back from Spain and these are my thoughts (that and $5 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks):
I felt like Plaza Mayor was a bit of a let down (one big eating place full of restaurants).
3 museums might be overwhelming. I spent 2 hours at El Prado just looking at the work of Spanish artists.
Buses to Toledo leave every hour from Madrid and they are comfortable. Direct trip is only 1 hour long. Book the round trip ticket to guarantee your return seat.
One day in Toledo is good. You can see the Alcazar and walk through town leisurely.
Enjoy your trip!