Four days in Madrid Spain

Introduction

We went to Spain in summer of 2018.  We were worried it’d be too hot, but it wasn’t too bad – maybe 80’s mid day and a cool breeze at night.  I think 3 full days in Madrid is about right; we spent 4 which was 1 too many.  Besides the museums, Royal Palace, and a day trip to Toledo, I don’t think there’s much left of Madrid to see/do.

 

Where to stay

I think most points people stay at the Westin Madrid.  It’s a great location because it’s in the same square as the Prado museum.  Review will come later for the hotel.  I didn’t stay anywhere else so can’t tell you if this is the PERFECT location or not, but I was happy with it.

 

Getting around

I believe there is Uber in Madrid when we went, but we just walked around and took the subway.  Just a note about the subway – you buy a rechargeable card the first time you use the subway.  Then you load money to the card.  Even when you have 2 people, you’ll still only need 1 card and just tap once to pay for say your wife and then you’d tap again on the same turnstyle for your turn.  This is the first subway system that I’ve seen use this system.  And you don’t tap again when you exit the metro.  So while you select your destination in the subway ticketing machine and pay by distance, since you don’t tap when you exit, I don’t see how they know how much you paid for your trip (this assumes the subway system isn’t a fixed rate per trip vs distance based.)

 

Day 1

We arrived at around 10AM or so, and our hotel room wasn’t ready.  We went to go eat lunch near the hotel using a reco from the concierge.  After that, we were able to check in and decided to visit the famous Prado museum.  Let me say that this is easily the most overrated museum I’ve ever been to EVER.  Sorry, I don’t like 16th century portraits of old Spanish kings.  I mean, the most recognized painting was a Mona Lisa copycat done by da Vinci’s pupil.  Also a “Last Supper” copycat painting as well.  Okay, I’m exaggerating a little bit.  The most famous painting there is Las Meninas, and the only reason I know that is because when I went to the Picasso museum in Barcelona, I saw his renditions of Las Meninas and that’s when it reminded me of the Prado.  If you’ve ever been to the British museum – you know how massive it is right?  You know the section of the British museum that has all those Renaissance paintings that everyone just skips through – yeah, that’s ALL of the Prado.  Please don’t flame me in the comments because I don’t appreciate that style of art.

 

Day 2

We decided to do the Hop On Hop Off bus just so we could see as much of Madrid as possible.  We only got off because there was a massive amount of traffic due to road construction.  We did eventually get off at the Royal Palace, which is a must visit.  Spoiler – it’s better than the Prado.  Other than that, we stayed on the bus for both the ‘historic’ and ‘modern’ routes.

 

Day 3

We did a Toledo and Segovia bus tour.  I enjoyed this tour.  I liked Segovia a bit more than Toledo just because I like old castles more than old cathedrals.  Segovia is smaller than Toledo and essentially has 1 main street.  Toledo on the outside looks cool, but if you’re IN the city, it’s just another small town with lots of hills.

 

 

Day 4

We went to the Thyssen museum that is also near the Westin.  I actually liked this more than the Prado.  It had a Monet exhibition while we were there, which was very interesting.  After this, we went to the National Archaeological museum.  On the bright side – it was only 3 EUR to enter and very empty; it also had some VR headsets and lots of AV to engage you.  On the down side, it was pretty boring.  It had some Greek and Roman sculptures, but it just doesn’t compare to the Smithsonian or really any other archaeological museums that I’ve been to.

 

Where to eat

If you’re staying at the Westin, I suggest you Google Maps your way to the “Museo de Jamon.”  This is a bit of a chain, but if you go to the nearest one, it’s less touristy and cheaper.  There are no tables; you order, stand and eat at the bar.  There is an English menu.  The wife and I got 2 ham sandwiches, 2 beers, and 3 glasses of wine for something like 14 EUR.  We actually came here 3 times during our trip.

 

 

Another restaurant near the Westin recommended by a reader is El Rincon de Esteban.  This is your typical sit-down restaurant.  While we didn’t get the paella, it seems everyone else did, so get that here.  At the end of the meal, the owner plops down a bottle of brandi, which is complimentary.  I think the wife and I knocked out 75% of the bottle.

Another cheap place to get drinks is the bar that is across the street to your 9 o’clock when you’re existing the Westin.  They also have beers for like 1.5EUR or so.  We didn’t eat the food there; only had drinks and the sundaes there.

If you want to go fancy, we tried to get reservations at Diver xo and failed.  We did get a table at Dstage (review coming, but spoiler – it was no bueno.)

Oh we also went to the Mercado San Miguel one day as well.  It was on the expensive side due to all the tourists, so we only got maybe 2 small tapas and left.  We then went to the Museum of Jamon on the walk back to the hotel.   =)

By the way, I’m writing this after a full day in Barcelona, and while I may have had a more positive attitude of Madrid before I came to Barcelona; now that I’m here, Madrid just doesn’t compare at all.  Thus, if you have to make a choice between the two cities pick Barcelona!