Madrid - Cadiz - Sevilla

Posted by Plectrude on 04/24/26 05:30 PM

Madrid: One night
Avlo to Sevilla
Sevilla: Four nights
Media Distancia to Cadiz
Cadiz: Three Nights
Alvia to Madrid
Madrid: Four nights

This was a trip with my brother just to see some art, tennis, Spanish cities, and eat some good food. I'm just writing this to provide helpful information for fellow visitors to Spain, not to provide a linear or exhaustive blow-by-blow breakdown of our trip. If you have any questions, fire away.

Flight to Spain

This was economy class on Iberia Airlines from Chicago. I'm going to avoid Iberia in the future, horrendous food, no power to charge phones/tablet at my seat.

Transit in Madrid

We deplaned onto buses and went through the new EES system using automated terminals at the passport control area. Pretty quickly we got a notification that our EES processing at the terminals hadn't worked and we had to proceed to get our fingerprints taken at normal passport control booths. There was no real wait and the whole process took 5 minutes or so. We took a Cabify from T4 to our hotel (€23). Cabify has a designated pickup area in the third floor of a parking structure, T4 Módulo D, outside the main exit.

The flight was wheels down at 7:36 am. We were at Módulo D hopping in our Cabify at 8:27 am. We arrived at our hotel, SLEEP'N Atocha, at 8:54 am. 1 hour and 18 minutes from landing to dropping off our bags at our hotel.That felt really efficient and easy for a passport control, and ground transportation experience.

Transit to Sevilla

We took a pretty standard high speed rail trip to Sevilla. Perhaps the only notable aspect was that we booked well in advance on an Avlo train (budget high speed rail offered by Renfe) so it was a cheap trip (€7 each)

Accommodations

We stayed at the SLEEP'N Atocha in Madrid. It’s centrally located with a nice breakfast buffet, small rooms, no major frills, and reasonable prices. In Sevilla we stayed in the Santa Cruz neighborhood at the Numa Jondo. It was a fairly antiseptic aparthotel, no complaints really and you can't beat the location. In Cadiz we stayed at the similar Plaza minas suites aparthotel. The standout was the roof-deck with a beautiful view of Cadiz.

Food in Madrid

I’m just going to list restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. to which I can give a strong recommendation, with recommended dishes/items if I feel like it.

Bardero, Spanish/Asian fusion, star dishes: Taco de anguila, Katsu Sando, 9.7/10 https://imgur.com/a/bardero-KAbtdj3
Taberna & Media, Spanish, patatas bravas, basil risotto 8.8/10 https://imgur.com/a/taberna-y-media-L76oWCh
Restaurante Her, Italian, tuna cones, pizza, ragout 9.2/10 https://imgur.com/a/her-VALIoIL
Motteau Pasteleria, bakery/coffee shop, pistachio strawberry cake, 8.9/10
Cervecería Oldenburg, beer bar, beer, 8.9/10
Mesón de las Delicias, venezuelan chinese, costillitas, good value for money, 9.0/10

Food in Sevilla

Bodeguita Romero, Spanish, star dishes: Pringa, 9.3/10. https://imgur.com/a/bodeguita-romero-mEUvupX
Bodega Mateo Ruiz, Spanish, fried cod, classic/rustic but amazing, 9.1/10 https://imgur.com/a/mateo-ruiz-reJhz4n
Lama la uva, wine bar, wine, 9.2/10
El Embarcadero, bar with beautiful river view, good value for money, 9.3/10 https://imgur.com/a/embarcadero-gurdNqv
Cannibal Burger Asuncion, burgers, 8.9/10
Ming Chinese, chinese, nice view of Setas, 8.9/10

Food in Cadiz

Mesón Cumbres Mayores, meat focused Spanish, pork, 8.6/10 https://imgur.com/a/cumbres-vheQpc8
La Cruzada Rosado, Spanish, albondigas, tarta Cruzada, rabo del toro, good value for money, 9.4/10 https://imgur.com/a/cruzada-LDWnJi8
Bar restaurante Ancá Lidia, seafood, 8.6/10
Bar El Veedor, tapas, rabo del toro, 8.5/10

Continued on next post...

Posted by Plectrude OP

04/24/26 05:35 PM

284 posts

Sightseeing in Madrid

Obviously, the Prado is amazing. We had the Spain Annual State Museum Passes so we used the “tour groups, passes” line at the ticket office at the Prado. This meant we arrived 10 minutes before the Prado opened and were among the first people inside. I have the floor plan pretty well committed to memory so the first thing we did was book it to Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, the most commonly mobbed artwork in the museum. We got to stand there alone for 5 minutes taking it all in, which was nice.

If you’re a tennis fan, going to the Madrid Open was fantastic. The tickets are reasonably priced, and much of the whole campus of the Caja Magica is air conditioned and shaded so you’re not baking in the sun the whole time. I particularly recommend getting tickets for the Arancha Sanchez Vicario stadium court and buying way early if possible. Front row seats for the first round were €26.

This was probably one of the better tennis tournaments I’ve been to.
https://imgur.com/a/lJSJXLp

Sightseeing in Cadiz

We took the catamaran from Cadiz to El Puerto de Santa Maria and back. The price was very reasonable and it gave you a nice view over the bay, taking around half an hour each way. The town itself has a castle that was a bit over-renovated but was still impressive and worth a visit. Sailings are limited on the weekend. Booking tickets is simple, you just head to the Cadiz port and ask for your preferred travel times for leaving and returning. I also walked down the Playa de Victoria south of the historic old town and it was a nice scenic walk along the beach.

Sightseeing in Sevilla

Hot take, Parque de Maria Luisa might be nicer than the Plaza de España. I also really enjoyed some of the palace/grand homes you can visit around the city. The Palacio Marqueses de la Algaba is free and includes a small museum. Palacio de las Dueñas was beautiful and had nice gardens but some of the interior design/architecture verged on cloying.