Planning a 10 night family trip to Madrid in December. Haven’t been.

Main areas we are looking at are Conde Duque, Bario de las Letras, and Ibiza.

Would like to avoid chaotic busy daily life if possible. Ideally would have chosen Salamanca but the prices are a bit out of the budget.

Would love to hear some local advice as to which neighborhood is best and will still not feel isolated. Thank you!

Hello everyone!

I would appreciate some recommendations on what to see in Madrid in the next 2 days. I have already been around the central area (see picture). Tomorrow I plan to go to Retiro Park. Could you suggest something in that area, where to grab a bite, like a street food place or a decent restaurant?

Also, what is somsthing I shouldn't "miss" while being here? I find crowded places not so attractive like the central part.

Any help is welcome! Thanks in advance ✌️

P.s. some quirt, cosy specialty coffee shops are also nice to visit.

¡Hola! ¿Me pueden recomendar alguna visita guiada que lleve a estas dos locaciones? En internet encontré varias y no sé cuál escoger. Gracias de antemano :)

Planned on hitting the market tomorrow.

It looks like rain is coming.

Should we not bother if it’s raining? Should we wait til the afternoon since the forecast looks better then?

Hi everyone!

I (28M) booked my first solo-trip for Madrid to celebrate my birthday in January and, apart from a bit of anxiety, I feel overall excited to begin this little journey!

I felt I really need some time for myself, even though sometimes I'm hella scared to travel alone, but, nevertheless, I figured Madrid would be a safe place to visit and to have a nice birthday for myself.

As soon as I found this subreddit I thought to myself it was better to ask my questions here rather than to ask ChatGPT, hoping that I would recieve some thoughtful answers from locals instead of answers gathered from reviews one could find on the internet.

First of all, since I'll be in Madrid for my special day, I wanted to treat myself with a nice dinner. I'm talking about a dinner in those places where you usually dress up nicely, and the cousine is special and sophisticated. I know I'll feel alone because I won't have my friends with me, so I really want to feel special with some good spanish chef-made cooking in some michelin starred restaurant! Do you have any recomendations? So that I can already make a reservation and be ready once I'm there.

Secondly, since I'm interested in bespoke tailoring and, having already worked with some great neapolitan tailors, do you know any historical tailors' shops I could visit and maybe learn a thing or two? I would love to see how luxury handmade menswear is made and I wouldn't mind chatting with other tailors (and maybe find a new life in Madrid, but maybe this story is for another post ahah).

My birthday dinner and the tailors shops are my two most important matters but, if you have spare time to help me, I'll write some other things I'm interested about:

- I know Madrid is LGBTQIA+ friendly, but would it still be fun as a solo-traveler guy? I don't know if I'll feel brave enough to go clubbing and, as of now, I was thinking about sticking to bars. How is the nightlife in mid january? Is it still worth a shot?

- Speaking of gay things, I was thinking about going to a musical but maybe it's too soon to see January dates in theatres. Aside from the famous Lion King or Wicked, do you have any recomendations for good spanish musicals? I wanted to see a flamenco show too but online they all seem so cheap and tourist-y, and that is why I was leaning more towards a musical theatre show.

- Finally, do you know any niche perfume shops? I havent traveled a lot, but when I did, my go-to souvenir is a perfume from a brand born in the country I was visiting. I'm not talking about Carner Barcelona, I wanna know some niche, cool and exciting perfume brands that could make a nice and well deserved souvenir for my trip.

I feel like I wrote too much but, for whoever got here, thank you for your attention! I'm really looking forward to travelling alone for the first time and I hope to find the help (and maybe a bit of courage) with your answers.

(Hope my english is good enough for you to understand what I'm trying to say)

Hi guys. I’m visiting Madrid for the first time and I would love to experience a match at the Bernabeu. My wife and I have been trying for tickets through the official website but no luck and apparently you can purchase only 1 ticket. Please help me out! Thanks

I've got Porto- Madrid-JFK flights with a 95 minute connection in two days. It's on one Iberia ticket. Carry on only. US passport.

I understand that while the MCT is 55 minutes, there's might be a holdup at the passport control.

Any tips on how to expedite the connection? Who can help? Can I get to the front of the passport control line?

TYIA

Going to be walking to Gran Via from Retiro. Any good places for a Vermut?

Hi everyone. I'm planning a family trip for 5 people to Madrid. I'm wondering if it's worth it to stay in a hotel with breakfast included or without, buying and cooking our own food. Note: cooking isn't a problem, I even enjoy it. (Read "cooking" as having breakfast and a snack before bed.)

I'm not interested in the prices of lunch and snacks at street food stalls; I want to know how much I would spend on groceries for four days. Bread, eggs, milk, coffee, fruit, etc...

Hello,

We are a large group of 40 staying in Gran Via.

We are looking for a tapas place that can accommodate such a group. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

I’ll be visiting Madrid in November and would really like to visit Bodega El Capricho in Jiménez de Jamuz for a guided tour and lunch.
I’m trying to figure out the easiest and most cost-effective way to get there, preferably as a day trip from Madrid.
So far, I’ve considered:
Rental car: Driving directly from Madrid (around 3–3.5 hours each way).
High-speed train: Taking the train from Madrid to León, then getting a taxi or renting a car to reach the restaurant.
Other options: Private transfers, buses, or any easier alternatives I might be missing.
My main concern with the train option is getting from León to the restaurant and back, especially the cost and availability of taxis.
For anyone who’s visited El Capricho:
How did you get there, and would you recommend that option?
Is it easy to find taxis or arrange round-trip transportation from León?
Would renting a car in León instead of Madrid make more sense?
Is it realistic to do the tour and lunch and return to Madrid the same day?
Any other transportation options or recommendations?
I’d prefer not to rent a car for my entire Madrid stay just for this one excursion.

Hey,

I live right in the centro, and every day I see the same thing: people at a corner of Sol spinning around with their phone, trying to figure out which way to go. Then they walk right past a building where something crazy happened 400 years ago without knowing.

So in my spare time I built Discover the City. It's basically an audio guide that follows you with GPS. You put your headphones on and walk, and when you reach each spot the narration starts by itself and tells you the story of what you're looking at. No standing there reading a plaque, no tour group, no guy with an umbrella.

A few things I'm kind of proud of:

Narrated in English and Spanish, with the text on screen too if you'd rather read.
Play together on several phones at once. One person starts it and the others join with a code, so everyone hears it on their own phone at the same time
On some routes you take a photo and it sends you back to that era.
Small riddles and challenges along the way so it doesn't feel like a lecture.

There are 9 routes in English right now: Gran Vía, Barrio de las Letras, the Royal Palace gardens, Lavapiés, Madrid de los Austrias, Paseo del Prado at night (a ghost one 👻), and a few more.
It's completely free, runs in the browser, no app to install. Bring headphones, it's way better with them.

👉https://discoverthecity.live
Better to open in a laptop/desktop if you aren’t in the city or directly in your phone if you are around and want to do the tour.

It's just me building this, so any feedback really helps. If you try one on your trip, tell me what worked and what didn't. Hope it makes your visit a bit more fun 🙂

Hi everyone !

I’m currently in Madrid since a few weeks and i was wondering if there are some coffees that accept laptop on their terrace.

If you have any idea then let me know it would be really cool !

Thank you

Hi everyone. My family and I (from Brasil) are going on a European trip and Madrid is where we're starting. I looked at some comments here and put together a list of places to visit:

day 1: Parque del Retiro > Real Jardim Botânico > Museo del Prado > Paseo del Prado > Puerta de Alcalá > Calle de Alcalá > Biblioteca Nacional de Espana > Gran Via > Plaza de Callao > Mercado de San Anton

day 2: Plaza Mayor > Puerta del Sol > Calle Mayor > Mercado San Miguel > Catedral de Sta Maria > Palacio Real Madrid (free to latinoamericans) > Jardines de Sabatini > Campo del Moro > San Ginés

day 3: Malasana > Chueca > La Latina > Barrio de Las Letras > Puerta de Toledo > Puente de Toledo > Parque Madrid Rio

Did I miss anything? Is there anything you'd like to add that would enhance my experience in Madrid? I welcome suggestions and criticism.

ps: We're looking at Airbnbs away from the city center that don't charge a fortune. I'm open to recommendations for cozy and safe neighborhoods at fair prices.

Reason I ask is a regular Uber in the US can accommodate 4 people regularly plus checked bags. But I know european cars can be smaller with smaller trunks. Was seeing if anyone had experience with airport pickups for a group of 4 with airport bags. If theres a better taxi service you recommend I am open to that as well.

Today, I tried to buy a tickets for the Sevilla match as soon as sales opened, but it was just impossible.

Even when I clicked on a seat within the first second of it appearing, I still couldn’t get it into my cart.

Is this a scalper bot? I really can’t imagine that there is always someone faster to get the ticket into the cart.

Considering buying tickets now from “Visit football”.
Does anyone can recommend them?

Thanks for any Tipps

Hi,

What markets are there in Madrid on Sundays? I am visiting at the end of November.

I have seen el mercado El Rastro en La Latina, but is there better in Chamberí o Malasaña?

I like cheap thrift pieces, handbags, cool accessories, etc. I do not want a market that is generic if that makes sense haha!

The cellulite…agghhh!

Hi all,

I'm heading from Córdoba to San Sebastián on the 17th. Currently, I have a Renfe ticket booked to get from Córdoba to Madrid, then another Renfe ticket from Madrid to San Sebastián (with a 2 hour transfer in Valladolid).

Here are my concerns:

1) the Renfe drops me at Atocha in Madrid; then I have 2 hours to get to Madrid Chamartin. I'm told it's kindof hard to do this. What can I expect? What are your suggestions as to how I should go about getting from Atocha to Chamartin? another train? Bus? Walk?

2) I don't know anything about Valladolid and what the "transfer" there is like. Can anyone tell me about that? Do I need to walk a long way? Call a cab? Stay at the Renfe station?

If it helps, I'm transferring from a Renfe AVANT train to a Renfe MD train.

Muchas gracias!