Madrid City Walks

[jsalt]

Hi, we have a full day in Madrid before our long-haul flight home at 10pm. Any recommendations for any of the Madrid Walks? We’ll be staying at the Newton Hostel near Plaza Major the night before, which hopefully will allow us to leave our packs there for the day. Looking for something to occupy our time for the whole day, that’s not too physically and mentally taxing, while we transition from camino-mode to back-home-mode.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

While in Madrid, two highlights I have enjoyed spending time at were the beautiful El Retiro park, and this view (see picture) of the city from above, in addition to the Plaza Mayor, which speaks for itself.

Edited to add...These views are outstanding as they have 360° views from circular vantage points from the Palace with a very inexpensive entrance fee.

 

[J Willhaus]

We like to go to one or more of the three big Art Museums (Prado, Reina Sophia, Thyssen-Bornemisza). I don't know when you will be there, but it can be very hot in Madrid with the sun reflecting off all the buildings and pavement and the museums are airconditioned and a nice way to spend a morning/afternoon. I've been several times and never been able to see everything.

The El Retiro Park is a nice place to walk around, too. My students went this winter and saw the Christmas lights in a walking tour there.

 

[jsalt]

We're not really into museums and art galleries, hence the idea of a Madrid Walk. We'll be there end of September.

 

[henrythedog]

I thought I knew Madrid pretty well; but I learned a fair bit more here:

Drake-Jones' Madrid - The Wellington Society Of Madrid

284 pages, 88 color photos Book Price: €39.99, but we are offering you the option of paying as little as €35 or as much as it is worth to you! From The Back Cover Discover Madrid in this unique book, covering its rich history, architecture, art, scandalous affairs, murders most foul, military...

wellsoc.org

 

[J Willhaus]

We're not really into museums and art galleries, hence the idea of a Madrid Walk. We'll be there end of September.

Sounds good. Just keep them as a back pocket idea if it is really hot. Retiro park then? Botanical Gardens are located there. There is an entrance fee.

There is also a couple of hop on, hop off bus routes. You might look at those and see if anything looks enticing? Ride around once and see if there is anything enticing and then get off there to walk around?

I was there this winter and we walked about 10 miles to and from the various parks, plazas and museums in one day. In the summer the other times I have been it was July or August so too hot for me to be out pounding the streets.

 

[jsalt]

I thought I knew Madrid pretty well; but I learned a fair bit more here:

Drake-Jones' Madrid - The Wellington Society Of Madrid

284 pages, 88 color photos Book Price: €39.99, but we are offering you the option of paying as little as €35 or as much as it is worth to you! From The Back Cover Discover Madrid in this unique book, covering its rich history, architecture, art, scandalous affairs, murders most foul, military...

wellsoc.org

Very many thanks, I followed the links, would LOVE to do one of his walks, but they are way over our budget, sadly.

 

[Grousedoctor]

Although the central part of Madrid is very walkable on your own, let me recommend that you check out freetour.com. You’ll find many tours offered around the city that are free, but tip based. On our recent trip to Mexico City, we did three excursions with Freetour! They were all great! The parameters of the tours are explained on the website, but they typically last 2-3 hours. Many of the tours are offered in English and/or Spanish with very knowledgeable city guides. Although we had been to some of the areas before, the insights offered by the guides were invaluable. If you’re not familiar with Madrid, try a Freetour for just the cost of tipping the guide.

 

[Bob008]

Although the central part of Madrid is very walkable on your own, let me recommend that you check out freetour.com. You’ll find many tours offered around the city that are free, but tip based. On our recent trip to Mexico City, we did three excursions with Freetour! They were all great! The parameters of the tours are explained on the website, but they typically last 2-3 hours. Many of the tours are offered in English and/or Spanish with very knowledgeable city guides. Although we had been to some of the areas before, the insights offered by the guides were invaluable. If you’re not familiar with Madrid, try a Freetour for just the cost of tipping the guide.

Just wondering, what will be the appropriate tip for the tip-based free tour in Spain?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Although the video mentioned in the post below is about where to stay in Madrid and you already have a place it may give you an idea of what a number of neighborhoods are like and what to do and where to eat in each one. Maybe make your own walk. A much better description of the video is in the post.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/staying-in-madrid.84211/#post-1202548

 

[Grousedoctor]

Just wondering, what will be the appropriate tip for the tip-based free tour in Spain?

People were tipping the guide about $10. As there were no other costs, this level of tipping seemed more than reasonable for everything that the guide provided. In CDMX, we also paid for our own subway tickets if we were traveling across town. As a subway ticket only cost about $0.30, it’s one of the cheapest public transportation systems around.

 

[tjz]

We just got back from the Camino de Norte, and spent a day in Madrid. We always love Madrid, especially the museums! If you're looking for a great walk, though, it is pretty hard to beat the Gran Via. The architecture is spectacular!

Gran Vía, Madrid - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Vacajoe]

Download the audio walking tour from Rick Steves. It’s a little out of date and a bit corny, but free and you can pause it when something draws your interest beyond what the tour provides. I really am not a fan of his, so I was surprised how much I enjoyed the audio tour. You can download it as a podcast or play it through his app which provides other resources

 

[Bala]

We always Google free walking tours in whatever city we're in. They have invariably been good - often with young entrepreneurs who develop their own itineraries based on their personal interests -- historic highlights, off-the-beaten-path, local foods, etc. Their personal enthusiasm and recommendations are often excellent.

We did a Madrid highlights tip-based tour years ago, but I don't remember the name of the booking company. Madrid Walks?? However, it was something we just looked up that morning and we both enjoyed it.

We also did an On and Off Bus one year when my knees were so bad I could hardly walk to the bus stop. Instead of being bland and hokey, as we expected, it was interesting, informative, and took us to parts of the city we wouldn't have gotten to otherwise. Definitely worth a thought.

 

[trecile]

Although the central part of Madrid is very walkable on your own, let me recommend that you check out freetour.com. You’ll find many tours offered around the city that are free, but tip based.

I almost always do a free walking tour when I first arrive in a new city. It's always enjoyable, and most of the tour guides are very entertaining and knowledgeable. One year I did a free tapas tour in Madrid. I thought for sure that they would take us to different places where we would have to purchase our tapas, but we also had free tapas and some small drinks! I was alone, and met a young woman from Colombia who was also solo, so we agreed to meet up the next evening for dinner!

 

[Corned Beef]

There are (or were) Madrid city walks you could book from the Tourist Office in the Plaza Mayor. Took about a couple of hours.

Guided Tours of Madrid

Take a guided tour to explore the city in depth, and don’t worry about planning or anything else.

www.esmadrid.com

On checking their website, I can see they have expanded their range of walks from pre-Covid times. You may need more than 1 day if you want to do them all.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

Don't forget to pay your respects to Santiago at the Church of Santiago in the Plaza de Santiago, starting place for the Camino de Madrid and the Camino de Uclés. You can even get a stamp inside if it's open.

The church is near the Royal Palace, Almudena Cathedral and Plaza Mayor.

 

[JimG59]

Get a city map and walk the perimeter of Madrid or as much as you are comfortable with. On our recent 3 day break in Madrid we walked the west half and the following day we walked the eastern half. Taking in most of the sights.

 

[henrythedog]

Looks like you're sorted for a walking tour.

Here are some inexpensive places to try for snacks and atmosphere: all central

Chocolate and chorros. Chocolateria San Gines or Valor (or Chocolate only – Ivars favourite – El Riojano)

Licor de madroño. El Madroño (Fruit of 'the strawberry tree' - viz the Bear and The Strawberry Tree symbol of Madrid)

Small chunks of battered bacalao and croquettas de bacalao. Casa Labra. Historic and very traditional.

Bocadillos de calamares. Everywhere, but Casa Rúa is good

Lavender sweets. La Violeta

Bakery. Horno La Santiaguesa

 

[DreamWeaver]

Not sure what day you will be there,
El Rastro "Flea market" is a large open-air market open on Sunday
I love to see all the foods in Mercado de San Miguel too

 

[Nice & Steady]

Looks like you're sorted for a walking tour.

Here are some inexpensive places to try for snacks and atmosphere: all central

Chocolate and chorros. Chocolateria San Gines or Valor (or Chocolate only – Ivars favourite – El Riojano)

Licor de madroño. El Madroño (Fruit of 'the strawberry tree' - viz the Bear and The Strawberry Tree symbol of Madrid)

Small chunks of battered bacalao and croquettas de bacalao. Casa Labra. Historic and very traditional.

Bocadillos de calamares. Everywhere, but Casa Rúa is good

Lavender sweets. La Violeta

Bakery. Horno La Santiaguesa

 

[Nice & Steady]

Can anyone recommend a place to buy good-quality t-shirts with Spanish logos?

 

[lanacarr]

Hi, we have a full day in Madrid before our long-haul flight home at 10pm. Any recommendations for any of the Madrid Walks? We’ll be staying at the Newton Hostel near Plaza Major the night before, which hopefully will allow us to leave our packs there for the day. Looking for something to occupy our time for the whole day, that’s not too physically and mentally taxing, while we transition from camino-mode to back-home-mode.

I was there last fall after walking the Primitivo. I did a city walk using Guruwalks. There’re were several options and no cost. You only tip the guide at the end based on how you feel the guide did. I also you Trip Advisor for suggestions. Toured the palace using one of their excursions. Trip Advisor is fee based.

 

[Bruce30017]

Hi, we have a full day in Madrid before our long-haul flight home at 10pm. Any recommendations for any of the Madrid Walks? We’ll be staying at the Newton Hostel near Plaza Major the night before, which hopefully will allow us to leave our packs there for the day. Looking for something to occupy our time for the whole day, that’s not too physically and mentally taxing, while we transition from camino-mode to back-home-mode.

I've always had good luck with Sandemans Tours, both in Madrid and a few other cities in Europe. You are asked to make a reservation, but they are "free" ~3 hour tours that are tips-based - but still well worth it. Gives you lots of ideas where to spend time afterwards, where to get a meal, and something like the camino, meet other travelers.

Bruce30017

 

[James Storrie]

Hi, we have a full day in Madrid before our long-haul flight home at 10pm. Any recommendations for any of the Madrid Walks? We’ll be staying at the Newton Hostel near Plaza Major the night before, which hopefully will allow us to leave our packs there for the day. Looking for something to occupy our time for the whole day, that’s not too physically and mentally taxing, while we transition from camino-mode to back-home-mode.

There's a city tour bus that's really nice hop on hop off, there are two options bus 1 or 2 tour. I've done both and I recall 1 was the nicer it takes you to the palace, where as 2 is more shopping and takes you to the football stadium Rio Madrid play from.

 

[henrythedog]

Can anyone recommend a place to buy good-quality t-shirts with Spanish logos?

El Corte Ingles. It’s a ‘better than most’ department story. There’s one in most big cities and several in the largest. In Madrid there’s one just off Sol.

 

[Marus99]

Casa del Campo is an awesome open space too. As mentioned Retiro Park is wonderful.

 

[NamaMama]

Download the Rick Steve’s Audio Europe app. There is a free Madrid walking tour

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Hi, we have a full day in Madrid before our long-haul flight home at 10pm. Any recommendations for any of the Madrid Walks? We’ll be staying at the Newton Hostel near Plaza Major the night before, which hopefully will allow us to leave our packs there for the day. Looking for something to occupy our time for the whole day, that’s not too physically and mentally taxing, while we transition from camino-mode to back-home-mode.

Go visit the Prado gallery.

 

[SabsP]

We're not really into museums and art galleries, hence the idea of a Madrid Walk. We'll be there end of September.

Even if you are not into musea and galleries I reecommend the smallest of the three major musea in Madrid : the Thyssen Bornemisza.

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

The Art Walk is composed of Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Prado Museum and Reina Sofía Art Centre.

www.museothyssen.org

Especially the permanent collection.

Much more intimate than Prado or Reina Sofia.

 

[Anamya]

I'd go even smaller than the museums above and suggest Museum Cerralbo. The house of a rich guy that was preserved for future generations. He was super nerd, so he had some pieces of art but also a TELEPHONE (woooowww), an electric light bulb and some other cool things. A nice little place somewhat near the Royal Palace (which is also gorgeous).

In 2022 I did a very interesting Ghost tour, walking around the city with a guide while he told ghost stories. It was in the evening, but by 9pm it was still daylight, so not very scary. The tour was good though

 

[Plataman]

Hi, we have a full day in Madrid before our long-haul flight home at 10pm. Any recommendations for any of the Madrid Walks? We’ll be staying at the Newton Hostel near Plaza Major the night before, which hopefully will allow us to leave our packs there for the day. Looking for something to occupy our time for the whole day, that’s not too physically and mentally taxing, while we transition from camino-mode to back-home-mode.

Visit the Prado, easy to fill a day there.

 

[jsalt]

Hi, I should have said in my first post that the Prado is not an option, sorry!

I am more interested in the Madrid city walks. There seems to be very many tour guides that offer these, so I was wondering which ones are better than others. Very many thanks for all those recommendations – I’ll do some more googling, based on your suggestions.

We are not into museums or art galleries – the Retiro Park would probably suit us better if the weather is fine.

I DID try to get into the Prado last year, for something to do before my flight. It was mid-week, and out of season in mid-winter, but the queue was at least 2 hours long and I just didn’t have the mind-set at the time to join the end of it.

So if we want to do that in peak-season we would have to book skip-the-line-tickets – and there we have another problem – we are on very tight budgets.

Our South African Rands get us nowhere in Europe and after our camino we’ll probably have about 20 euros left each to tip the walking-tour guide .

Very many thanks to everyone for all your suggestions, it is very much appreciated.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

While in Madrid, two highlights I have enjoyed spending time at were the beautiful El Retiro park, and this view (see picture) of the city from above, in addition to the Plaza Mayor, which speaks for itself.
View attachment 167406
Edited to add...These views are outstanding as they have 360° views from circular vantage points from the Palace with a very inexpensive entrance fee.

Jill, I have just checked the website and the entrance fee is only €3, and our line was short. The birdseye views were amazing. You would have 17 euros left for other things. It was also in walking distance to other main attractions, so no is bus needed.

 

[OzAnnie]

I’m back in Madrid right now Jill
Just enjoyed a menu Del dia at El
gaucho. (2 doors down from my accommodation at Puerta del Sol ). Now I’m heading off the enjoy a lovely saunter in el parque de retiro.

I’ve been there many times but it’s so relaxing…. I understand at the end of your primitivo you’ll not be looking for too much action. Hi to Alison and your latest group. Xx

 

[OzAnnie]

Now I’m heading off the enjoy a lovely saunter in el parque de retiro

…..take #2…..
I went out without rain jacket and 10 minutes later the clouds and wind arrived and a little rain. I decided that it might not be as pleasant as usual so headed indoors.
…. So…. Have your plan B or C .

 

[jsalt]

…. So…. Have your plan B or C .

That's a very good point.

Always good to have at least a Plan B . . .

 

[Pelegrin]

A good park for walking is Parque Juan Carlos I. metro Feria de Madrid. It has artificial lakes and hills with very good views of the east outskirts of Madrid and Sierra de Madrid ( now with snow).

 

[OzAnnie]

…..take #2…..

…..take #3….
Tuesday 9th. I fly out late tonight - so I’m in your situation.

How I love Madrid. The sun is out - a beautiful day. So much to absorb.
I’ve ambled all over today. I checked out exactly where the airport bus stop was at Atocha. A note for anyone arriving or departing Madrid at the moment. So much is being upgraded. Traffic changes etc/ access to/from Atocha at the moment is restricted. Pics below. Fenced off access which previously faced Hotel Medio Día. Changes to the intersection of Neptune fountain (between Atocha and cebiles ) …. Continuing upgrades around Chamartín. Allow enough time to locate things.
But today - who cares about changes … I’ve wandered through El Jardín real botánico and now in el
Parque de Retiro.
Jill- I think I’m like you in wanting to relax wandering… stop and start when you’re ready. I wouldn’t choose to be in a gallery on a day like today.

My plane’s departure is scheduled about 15 minutes before midnight so I’m taking my time.
At the moment in the botanical gardens, the colour is all about , tulips, peonies, rhododendrons, azaleas etc plus more…. There are a lot of still green sections (roses etc) which I’m sure will still be a blaze of colour when your arrive. Something for everyone. A pic also of the prado which is right beside el jardín de real botánico.

I sadly now have to leave the completely blue sky of el parque de Retiro. A guy playing his guitar right here. I feel so lucky to finish off with a day like today. (After the mud and rain of March and early April. ). Buen camino everyone out there now.

 

[OzAnnie]

Pics of the changes around Atocha train station. (Mentioned above but I couldn’t fit the extra pics there. ). Also shows the airport bus stop at Atocha - bus 203 ; and last night a little wander around SOL after the rain abated … right beside my accommodation a few doors down from Puerta del Sol (on Carrera de Jerónimo ). Such a lucky duck..

Hasta luego.
Annie.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Jill, I have just checked the website and the entrance fee is only €3, and our line was short. The birdseye views were amazing. You would have 17 euros left for other things. It was also in walking distance to other main attractions, so no is bus needed.

This was so interesting. I loved the views from all angles, so I am still encouraging you as it didn't take over an hour of our time and is a nice change from just walking around.

It is located on top of the beautiful Palacio de Cibelas.

 

[isawtman]

We're not really into museums and art galleries, hence the idea of a Madrid Walk. We'll be there end of September.

Even if you are not into museums, I would still go to the Museo Renia Sofia to see Picasso's Guernica Painting. It is a very important anti-war painting that is as relevant today as when Picasso painted it. It is really big, too. It is 11 feet high by 25 feet long. Here is the wiki page about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(Picasso) To me this is the must see item in Madrid and I made sure I stayed overnight in Madrid just so I had time to see it.

 

[dhalleyf]

Thanks everyone. Been reading this thread as we arrive in Madrid on 17th April for 3 nights. Some really great ideas on how to spend our time Camino Frances here we come yay!!

 

[DoughnutANZ]

I DID try to get into the Prado last year, for something to do before my flight. It was mid-week, and out of season in mid-winter, but the queue was at least 2 hours long and I just didn’t have the mind-set at the time to join the end of it.

I guess that I must of somehow been very lucky on Wednesday the 16th August last year when I visited the Prado because I think that it took only 5 or 6 minutes to get in.

I did notice later as I left that there was a huge queue but for some reason when I arrived (just after 2pm according to Google Maps) there was virtually no queue.