I knew I needed to go to Madrid when I started planning my trip to Spain, but Madrid has exceeded all of my expectations. I spent 4 days in Madrid and felt that was the perfect amount of time for my first time there. If you plan on venturing outside of the city, then I would probably add a day to your trip so that you can fully experience Madrid.
El Retiro Park
I could easily spend an entire day hanging out at El Retiro Park. The park was always on my list, but I did not realize how much I was going to enjoy my time there and there is surprisingly so much to do there.
El Retiro Park has now been made a UNESCO World Heritage site and it covers over 125 hectares of land. In the park there is tons to do including: visiting monuments, fountains, gardens, restaurants, boat hire, bike hire and a picnic area, just to name a few things. At the very least I recommend spending a half day at the park – you will not be disappointed.
Royal Palace of Madrid
The Royal Palace of Madrid is one of the largest palaces in the world. The palace stretches 135,000 square meters with 3,418 rooms. Check out the palace and learn about centuries of Spanish history. Admission into the palace is fairly cheap (12€) and I recommend paying a little bit extra for the audio guide or the guided tour. Make sure to book your tickets in advance so that you can pick the most convenient time.
Cathedral de la Almudena
The Cathedral de la Almudena is a catholic cathedral that was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993 and was built on the site of a medieval mosque destroyed in 1083. The Cathedral is stunning and definitely worth checking out and there is no cost to visit the cathedral. If you would like to attend a mass you can do so on a Sunday, but the mass is in Spanish.
Gran Via
Gran Via stretches approximately 1.36km and is THE street for shopping in Madrid. Not only is it the place for shopping but it is also great for people watching. Gran Via is super packed so if large crowds aren’t your thing or you don’t care too much about shopping than you can probably skip this street. Shopping and people watching is two of my favourite things to do so I was right in my element on Gran Via. There is also restaurants that you can stop in to take a break from shopping or cool off if you are there during the summer month.
Churros at Chocolateria San Gines
If you are going to get churros at any point in your trip and I highly recommend that you do, this is the place to get them. They have been making churros since 1894 and they were definitely the best I have ever had.
I got an order of the hot chocolate with 6 churros, which were super delicious. The melted chocolate literally comes in a teacup and was thick and rich. Each order is quite large so you can certainly share an order with another person, or you can eat them all to yourself! My order only came to 4€ and was certainly worth it.
When you arrive, you will place your order and be given a receipt. After getting your receipt, find a table inside or outside. It will be pretty busy so it is possible you may have to wait for a table to open up. Once you are seated at your table one of the waiters will come over for your receipt so they can begin getting your order ready.
Royal Basilica of Saint Francis the Great
The church consists of a large dome, main chapel and six surrounding chapels. There is artwork from several Spanish artists, as well as important sculptures in white marble. You can choose to check out this church with a guided tour (highly recommend) or you can attend during one of the worship times. I always recommend a guided tour if it is available as you always learn so much information that you wouldn’t normally learn by exploring on your own or that may not even be easily accessible online.
Temple of Debod
The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in the center of Madrid as part of the International campaign to save the monuments of Nubia. There is no cost to see the temple and I would recommend going at dusk or evening as lights turn on around the temple to aluminate it.
Plaza Mayor
Plaza Mayor is a major public space located in the centre of Old Madrid. Unfortunately, when I was there the space was under major construction, so I did not spend much time there as it was super crowded and there was a ton of construction detours.
Plaza Mayor is very well known and I’m sure you will recognize it when you are there. The bright red walls display photos from real life bull fights, which is pretty cool but can be pretty gory.
Puerta de Alcala
This gate used to be the gate of the former Walls of Philip IV and is located near the city center. The gate is stunning and certainly worth stopping by if you are in the area.
There is an infinite number of things to do in Madrid and these were just some of my favourites that made me fall in love with Madrid. Everything in Madrid is so beautiful so I really hope you take the time to explore and enjoy every place you visit.
