MADRID, SPAIN
We spent 3 nights in Madrid in June 2004 and loved it. Madrid is the
capital of Spain and the largest city, but the centre is quite compact,
very walkable, with wide tree-lined streets and several lovely squares
with cafes.
Madrid's metro system is excellent and you can use it to get
to the centre of the city from the airport. The Barajas Airport Metro station
is situated at Terminal T2 and trains leave every 5 minutes from 6.00am to
2.00am. Line 8 goes straight to the newly reformed Nuevos Ministerios Metro
station in the centre of Madrid, with a journey time of just 12 minutes.
On your return it is even possible to check-in here for some flights between
the hours of 6.30am and 10.30pm. A 10-trip ticket at €6.15 * is valid
for both the Metro and bus or just buy a €1 single trip ticket. You
can pick up metro maps (plano del metro) at any station.
The Airport Bus (number 200) leaves from Terminal 2 and passes by Terminal
1, before heading for the Avenida de America interchange which is the last
stop. As with the metro, you can buy a single trip ticket for €1 or
buy a 10-trip ticket to use during your stay.
Hotel HH Campomanes, Madrid (now Hotel Mario, Madrid)
We loved the HH Campomanes boutique hotel in Madrid but note that it has now changed name (and possibly owners?) and is called the Hotel Mario. We obviously can't comment on any changes that may have been made since it changed, but we would definitely stay there again based on our visit. We had a very nice modern, clean room with spotless bathroom and large, soft towels. It's in a great location too, just round the corner from Opera metro station, 5 minutes walk from the Royal Palace, close to the impressive Plaza Mayor and 10 minutes walk to Puerta del Sol. Nice breakfast buffet, with fruit, yoghurt, rolls, toast, croissants, cheese, ham, etc. Visit Hotel Mario's website.
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Plaza
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HH
Campanones room |
Plaza Mayor |
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Madrid
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Real Madrid's Bernabeu |
On the bench! |
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Parc
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Royal Palace |
Ornate roof in Palace |
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Catedral
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Sangria
atNaturbier |
Chocolateria
San Gines |
Things to see and do in Madrid
Visit the impressive Royal Palace which is still used for state occasions although the Royal Family do not live there. Only some of the rooms are open to the public but it is very ornate and decorated in a variety of styles. Click here for more information.
Parco de Retiro is a nice place to spend an hour or two. It is the most popular park in Madrid and has a rose garden, several cafes, a boating lake and the crystal palace which regularly holds art exhibitions.
Atocha Station (Estacion del Mediodia) is more like a botanical garden than a railway station and worth a visit. Make sure you don't miss the turtles!
If you're at all interested in football, you must visit Real Madrid's stadium and do a tour of the Bernabeu where you get to visit the dressing rooms, walk up the players tunnel, sit on the bench and in the directors area, and visit the trophies exhibition. If you're lucky you may even get to go to a game. Visit Real Madrid's official website.
If Real Madrid isn't playing at home when you're there, Madrid's second team Atletico Madrid may be. Check out their website for details.
Bars and Restaurants in Madrid
At night we liked the area around Plaza Santa Ana, a square just off Puerta del Sol and situated in an older barrio of Madrid which had a really nice atmosphere at night and a good selection of bars and restaurants with seats inside and out. Our favourite bar here was Naturbier which brews its own beer and where we had great Sangria - loved the mixed nuts too! Visit Naturbier's website for more information and photos. Calle Huertas in this area also has many places to eat and drink.
The Plaza Mayor area also has a lot of bars and cafes but is more touristy and you can expect to pay more because of the location.The square is a nice place to sit and have a drink but if you're going to eat there, check the price first.
We had a very nice meal at (Carrera de San Jeronimo 32) with a great selection of pasta and pizza at reasonable prices.
If you get the munchies at the end of the evening, try some thick hot chocolate and churros (long, skinny version of the donut!) at Chocolateria San Gines near Calle del Arenal. It's open from 6pm till 7am! Not the healthiest of late night snacks, but probably good to soak up some of that alcohol!
Some useful sites about Madrid:
About
Madrid -
Lots of useful information about Madrid here
Time Out Madrid -
Lots of stuff about Madrid, including shopping, restaurants and bars
and tourist information
Jeremy's Multi Madrid - Useful site with some good webcams, panoramic views,
a forum and lots of other stuff
Trip
Advisor - Reviews from other travellers and a useful forum
Hotels
in Madrid - Book hotels in Madrid, read travellers reviews of those
hotels and earn rewards worth 5% of your booking to use against other reservations.
*Note: Prices quoted above were
accurate in 2007