Buy a guidebook either Time Out or Rough Guide there is a mini version at £5.99, a good cheap map can be bought at El Corte Ingles Department Store at Puerta del Sol (books, tapes etc. not in the main building)
Do be careful with handbags crime usually non-violent like bag snatching or picking pockets is common never carry more than you need not much it’s cheap and it’s much better with no handbag at night just using pockets.
An excellent site for information on accommdation and loads of other things is www.madridman.com
Things to see:-
Madrid’s appeal is partly in just walking around the centre, from the Palace to the Prado Gallery only takes 30 minutes to walk. The main attractions are the Art Galleries, The Prado, Reina Sofia (Modern) & The Thyssen Collection (Superb Works & Building) one ticket does all three. Other sights Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Plaza de la Villa and Retiro Park. The Rastro market on Sunday shouldn’t be missed.The oldest part of the city around the Plaza de Paja off C/Segovia is a lovely area to wander around.
There are loads of hotel s and lots of new boutique type ones such as the Room Mate Group & High Tech Hotels however an alternative is an apartment and Spain Select have some fantastic apartments, www.spain-select.com. some are available for short lets one called Almendro is beautiful and in a great area as is the one called Plaza de la Paja which is ideal for four people. The staff are very helpful and the space you get for the price is fantastic.
Hotel Persal, Plaza del Angel 12 Tel 369 46 43 Very central, all mod cons (Air-con, TV etc.) family owned very simple accommodation, very good facilities for the price, friendly & helpful €Hotel Nacional Paseo de Prado 48 Tel 429 66 29 Luxury hotel which sometimes does special weekend room rates on Friday, Saturday & Sunday check NH hotels website www.nh-hotels-spain.com €€
The bars and restaurants of Madrid are fantastic set 3 course lunches usually including wine are a bargain, this means that at night you can join the locals and wander from bar to bar eating Tapas.
There are dozens of bars in this area and perhaps surprisingly given how touristy it is many good ones seem to be opening
Casa Labra, CTetuan just beside El Cotre Ingles one of the oldest bars in Madrid does great salt cod croquettes and deep fried pieces an insitution
En Busca del Tiempo , C/Barcelona 4
Malaspina , C/Cadiz 9 smart modern bar good wines
La Fragua de Vulcano C/Alvarez Gato 9 basic bar open late doing cheap tapas, mussles, prawns etc, very good value
Museo del Vino C/Nunez de Arce 4 new smart wine bar doing a variety of tapas
Fatigas del Querer C/de La Cruz 17 looks like at lot of others but good staff and free good tapas
Casa Camu, C/Nunez del Arce 11, has a couple of branches in Madrid, does a variety of different tapas/raciones especially toasted bread with topping & egg dishes god value
Las Bravas C/Alvarez Gato 3 & C/Espoz y Mina 13 reputedly the best patatas bravas in town
Circulo De Bellas Artes, C/Alcala is an arts venue with a beautiful bar and restaurant and also now a roof top with amzing views over the city. There is a small entrance fee but worth it.
Cervejaria Santa Ana, Plaza Santa Anna one of the original bars in the square
Casa Alberto, C/de la Huertas 18 lovely old fashioned zinc bar
La Trucha, C/Manuel Fernadez y Gonzalez 3 Good Bar & Restaurant
Viva Madrid, C/Manuel Fernadez y Gonzalez Tiled Bar very trendy at night
Meson Cinco Jotas, Plaza Santa Ana part od a chian bit very smart and free tapas (not just olives)
Lateral, Plaza Santa Ana is a very smart new bar which does excellent food.
The famous Palace Hotel just by the parliament is worth while checking out but beware the price of the drinks will frighten you !
La Dolores, Plaza de Jesus 4 Behind the Palace Hotel lovely tiled bar good tapas
Los Gabrieles, C/Echegeray 17 Best Tiled Bar in Madrid again trendy at night
La Fabrica , C/Jesus 2 upmarket tapas bar across from Los Dolores
Los Gatos , C/Jesús 2 next door to La Fabrica, very local bar
La Plateria, C/Moratin 49just round the corner from the above great friendly bar excellent wines and tapas
The area round the ones above makes a good area to do a tapas crawl then heading up through Huertas to Santa Ana stopping at
El Hecho C/Huertas 56 gets busy late at night but worth an wearly evening visit, good wines, cocktails and tapas
Miranda C/Huertas 29 café/bar again less frantic than some of the young bars in the area
La Fidula C/Huertas 57 lovely old bar with an older crowd and live jazz
La Cueva, C/Santa Maria 33 great local bar a real find in this area very friendly owner and local customers
For lunch or dinner La Finca de Susana C/Arlaban 4 near Metro Sevilla very popular, no bookings you have to queue but it is worth it, stylish place, good variety menu and cheap but the service can be erratic €
They have another place near Gran Via ‘La Gloria de Montera’ Caballero de Gracia 10. highly recommended again get there early or be prepared to queue €
Unfortunately most of the bars in the square are very touristy, and overpriced
There are a number of smart wine bars doing very good food nearby in Calle Santiago also on the way out of Plaza Mayor going towards La Latina is Bodegas Ricla C/Cuchilleros a family run old fashioned and very cheap bar
Excellent area and lots of variety C/Cava Baja & C/Cava Alta are packed with restaurants & bars with new ones opening up on a regular basis
Txirimiri, C/Humilladero 6, a fairly new bar but it won the second prize in the Madrid Culinary Fair for its Tapas, hard to imagine what came first. The hot to order tapas are fabulous as is the cold selection very friendly staff update food still as great as ever very popular get there early ! Getting pricier but portions are large.
Orixe, C/Cava Baja 17 is another recent arrival and is a Galician bar/restaurant which has got a good reputation, very smart and modern design service can be a bit slow
La Camarilla, C/Cava Baja 21 yet another new bar/restaurant in the area again seems to be getting a good reputation
Taberna Txacolina - Tapas/Pinxto Bar at C/Cava Baja 26 has some excellent things to try, not sure whether choosing what to eat or getting into the bar is the most difficult - unusually it is pay on service not at the end.
Casa Lucas , C/Cava Baja Excellent wine bar one of the first in the street it has some unusual tapas which are it's siganture dishes - try and get a table and order some and the raciones.
Almendro 13, C/del Almendro 13 Good food, fino sherry very popular
La Taberna de Zapatero, C/de Almendro 22
El Tempranillo, C/Cava Baja 38 - excellent wines and cold meats and cheeses
Vinos Gerrado, C/Calatrava 21 Good tapas, wines & cava
Los Caracoles /Casa Amadeo, Plaz de Cascorro 18 A must if you go to the Rastro
Taverna Antonio Sanchez , C/Meson de Paredes 13 Old fashioned bar
La Tapa del Mundo, C/Magdalena excellent for breakfast get an outside table
After all your tapas go to Giangrossi, C/Cava Baja 40 it must be the most upmarket ice cream shop ever
There are lots of new late night places one, not sure of teh name, in Plaza del Humilladero 6 is Moroccan/Jungle theme doing amzing cocktails and drinks - very popular.
There are lots of good bars some to mention are
Taberna Angel Sierra on Plaza Chueca
El Bocaito, C/Libertad 6 very smart busy slightly pricey tapas bar must be visited
La Bardemecilla ,C/Augusto Figuera 47 very popular, trendy tapas bar
Near Gran Via Two Cocktail Bars - El Cock, C/de la Reina 16 behind Museo Chicote & Del Diego,C/de la Reina 12 wonderfully old fashioned
4 de Tapas, C/De Barbieri 4 is a smart new tapas bar also does a Menu Del Dia
There are loads of restaurants to try and many do excellent value Menu Del Dia's at lunch time El Original C/De Las Infantas 44 does a set menu and an inexpensive a la carte
Bazaar, Calle Libertad 21 Restaurant with the same owners as La Finca de Susanna & Gloria de Montera good, very reasonable menu again service variable € to €€
Smart shopping area with very smart Tapas bars. Many in C/de Serrano and nearby side streets. Heading up C/de Serano from Serrano Metro turn right at El Corte Ingles into Calle de Ayala on the left Bar Zurucha which has dozens of different Canape type Tapas
.Txirimira (see La Latina) have another branch C/General Diaz Porlier No 91 if it is anything like it’s other branch it will be worth seeking out
Gorki C/Maldonado 7, a new addition in Madrid, started in Malaga and is a very smart upmarket bar and restaurant which does some very different tapas give it a try
Fast Good, C/Juan Bravo 3 the new healthy fast food restaurant started by Ferran Adria of world famous El Bulli fame. Self service, bright and modern and great chicken dishes, fabulous burgers and panninis and salads its fun and good
In this area round Metro Goya there is also very good shopping and some excellent bars/restaurants try Santa Barbara C/Goya & C/Alcala
Comarca de Aliste, C/Duque de Sesto 54, a very smart bar and restaurant with great value fish and seafood go for lots of different dishes be amazed by the bill and be even more amazed by the complimentary drinks/sweets afterwards
There are also more local areas around Metros Bilbao, Iglesias, Anton Martinez, Café Commercial at Metro Bilbao is a Madrid institution, and there are many bars around C/ del Cardenal Cisneros and C/Hartzenbusch and nearby square Plaza de Olavides.
A great area is round Metro Iglesia between it and Metro Alonso Cano there is a huge selection of bars with tapas of all sorts in C/Ponzaon including Fide & El Doble and in C/Esponceda including Sylkar O’Antoxo C/Garcia de Paredes 35 is Galician and has very good seafood although they can be a bit pushy
Between Metro Iglesia & Metro Quevodo is Restaurant Sagaretxe C/Eloy Gonzalo 26, has a fabulous selection of tapas/pinxtos, also nearby ant Metro Quevodo is Bar/Taberna Nueva a lovely old fashioned bar
Another good area is Malansana & Conde Duque where the Museum of Contemporary Art is. Around that building and in the streets off are some excellent bars, some in C/de la Palma, C/San Andres & C/Manuela Malasana (a great street for restaurants try Albur No 15) this is a good area at night and round Plaza Manuela Malansana see below for some recommendations but you can't go wrong there is a great selection of all types of places
Lateral C.Fuencarral 43 - Try the platter of pinxtos
Bodega De La Ardosa, C/De Colon 13
Casa do Companeiro, C/Vincente Ferrer 44 - Old fashioned Galician Bar
Bodegas Rivas, C/Palma another old fashioned local bar
Between Attocha & Plaza Lavapies, C/Argumosa has some trendy & quirky bars very lively at night
After a late night out go to late night bar/café Choclateria San Gines behind Joy Estava it doesn’t open till 1.00 a.m.
Madrid’s appeal is partly in just walking around the centre, from the Palace to the Prado Gallery only takes 30 minutes to walk. The main attractions are the Art Galleries, The Prado, Reina Sofia (Modern) & The Thyssen Collection (Superb Works & Building) one ticket does all three.
If you can’t face a huge gallery try Museo Sorolla, C/General Martinez Campos 37, this is a collection of the Valencian painters works showing in what was his house and studio and has a wonderful Anadalucian Garden
Other sights include the Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Plaza de la Villa and Retiro Park. The Rastro market on Sunday shouldn’t be missed.The oldest part of the city around the Plaza de Paja off C/Segovia is a lovely area to wander around
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Places worth visiting outside Madrid but in easy reach include Segovia, Toledo and Aranquez.
Shopping
In Chueca there is one street with fabulous shoe shops - C/de Augusto Figuera
The Salamanca Area is the main upmarket shopping area - C/de Serano is the main street if you head up from Serrano Metro turn right at El Corte Ingles - C de Ayala has some good shoe shops
