Guide to traveling to Madrid, advice from a Madrid native

Madrid It is the city in which we were born, to which we always return after each trip and in which we have lived our entire lives.

That's why the guide to traveling to Madrid What we are going to show you is going to be full of tricks and tips for visiting our city.

Madrid It is undoubtedly the city we know best in the world, we have seen it evolve to become one of the most interesting cities in the world.

It is a city that has everything, from monuments that reflect its history and architecturally beautiful and well-kept buildings, to a fantastic atmosphere regardless of the day of the week.

It is probably the most cosmopolitan city in Spain and a place where everyone wants to come to live at some point in their life. In fact, only half of the population are from Madrid by birth.

If what you are thinking about is coming to visit it, it is important that you keep in mind some clear issues to be able to enjoy it to the fullest.

Guide to traveling to Madrid: our advice

Without being a huge city, it is large enough in size that you can feel overwhelmed, especially due to the pace of life that Madrid has.

But we are going to give you a hand so that you can move around the city as a Madrid native would move.

By what is guide to traveling to Madrid is complete, we have included the aspects that we consider most important in a trip.

Since the most interesting places to see in the city, the time you need to see them, best time to visit, transportation, both within the city and connections to the airport, where to stay, meals, excursions, guided tours and much more.

And to make the organization even easier for you, we will leave you the routes that we would take and that, in fact, we do when friends come and we want to show them our city.

We have also included many articles from practical information and curiosities of the highlighted places so that you can research more about Madrid before or during your trip.

I have prepared a guide to my city full of advice for you.

Curiosities of the history of Madrid

The first thing if you are going to travel to Madrid, unless you know a little about the most relevant history of the capital of Spain.

Madrid It was founded by the Arabs in the 9th century and although today it is the capital of Spain, it wasn't always like this.

For many years the capital of the country was in the nearby historic city of Toledo just 60 kilometers from Madrid. It was in 1561 when Felipe II designated Madrid as official capital of Castilla, epicenter of what today can be considered today's Spain.

Until that day, Madrid was just another town in Castile where the kings used to go hunting.

It has kept this title to this day, except for five years during which the headquarters of the administration was moved to Valladolid.

Since that moment, two dynasties of kings have passed through the capital, The Austrians which has been the one that has left the greatest mark, and the current Bourbons.

There have also been a few years of domination by the French army of Napoleon, two republics y almost 40 years of dictatorship.

Madrid has been built and expanded with successive reigns, so you can perfectly see the mark of each ruler in their reign.

Other cities have been losing monuments as their rulers threw away what they had to build new ones, but in Madrid this has hardly happened, which has helped to preserve its enormous heritage so well.

All this history is captured in a multitude of old palaces and streets that look like works of art.

There is nothing I like more about Madrid than seeing the buildings that make it up and, furthermore, it is not only in the most relevant areas but it is something that happens to the entire center of the capital.

What is essential to see in Madrid and its surroundings

Madrid It has several places that make up the heart of the city, specifically, the Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza de Oriente, Puerta de Alcalá and the squares of Cibeles y Neptuno.

It is a city with a Royal Palace in the center of the city, an avenue like the Gran Vía full of theaters where you can see musicals, a multitude of historical buildings and palaces, and if you like museums, the offer is brutal, including the best art gallery in the world.

You have plans to do all year and not repeat.

If you like nature, you have tremendous parks like Retirement, Madrid River and Casa de Campo.

If you like terraces with spectacular viewpoints, you have something to bore you, as well as some places like the Temple of Debod Where to see the best sunset in Madrid.

To give you an idea of ​​the city, we leave you a compilation of articles in which we show you what for us are the essential sites What you have to see if you travel to Madrid.

• 50 places to see in Madrid
• Madrid's Royal Palace
• Plaza Mayor of Madrid
• Puerta del Sol in Madrid

The Madrid heritage It is not limited only to the city, since the community has several impressive sites and some with a lot of history less than an hour from the center, which we leave you here.

In our opinion, if you spend at least 3 days in the capital, you have to visit one of these places.

• 25 essential things to see around Madrid
• The 7 most beautiful towns in the Sierra Norte of Madrid
• What to see in Alcalá de Henares in 1 day
• How to visit the Escorial Monastery
• Royal Palace of Aranjuez

Routes to visit Madrid

Know what route to take through Madrid, is probably the hardest part. And it is not easy to choose which route to take to be efficient and visit everything that may interest you.

Si vas a visit madridOur advice is that you plan a good route to optimize your time, because if not, you can go crazy walking through the city getting lost among its streets and squares.

We are here to help you plan your route through Madrid.

Specifically, here you have several articles in which we propose various routes step by step, with a map included, so that you can make the most of your visit.

Routes also depending on the days you have to visit Madrid.

• 1-day route through Madrid
• 2-day route through Madrid
• Route of more than 3 days through Madrid

Best excursions around Madrid

If I told you before that there are several visits within the Region of Madrid which are very interesting, you should also know that there are several cities that are among the most beautiful in Spain, just an hour away from the capital.

To the north are the Castilian-Leonese cities of Segovia y Avila.

Segovia It has two monuments that, for me, are among the most spectacular that Spain has, and I am referring to the Roman aqueduct and the Alcazar, which are authentic gems.

And the other city is very close, Avila, With the most important medieval wall in Spain.

South of the community, there is the other one-day visit that we always recommend doing from Madrid, especially to those of you who come to Spain from abroad, and I am referring to the city of Toledo.

As I have told you before, Toledo It was the capital of historic Castile and is a more than interesting city.

It is surrounded by Tagus River and has numerous monuments that reflect its multicultural past.

Here I leave you several articles with all the information in case you want to take a look and feel encouraged to visit them.

• Excursions from Madrid
• What to see in Segovia
• What to see in Avila
• What to see in Toledo

How to get around Madrid?

If there is one thing I am proud of about Madrid, besides being able to drink tap water (a typical Madrid joke), it is the Metro de Madrid, simply spectacular.

The best option, the Metro

Beyond the fact that various aspects can be improved, having traveled a lot around the world makes me value the quality of the Metro that we have, with which the entire city is perfectly connected underground.

Forget about using the car to visit Madrid because the Metro It is much faster and allows you not to have to look for a parking space or deal with tremendous traffic jams.

This Madrid guide It is made to help you and on the subject of transportation the recommendation is very clear, use the Metro, you buy a 10 trip rechargeable voucher and you expand it as you need it.

You have up to 13 lines of Metro and more than 300 stations. I think it is enough for a city where just over three million people live.

Perhaps the worst thing that Madrid has the first times you use the MetroUntil you adapt, it can be overwhelming, but you quickly get the hang of it.

In addition there is an extensive bus network to complement the lines of Metro, but I already told you that for the vast majority of travelers, the most efficient thing is to forget about the bus and focus on the subway.

Of course, you also have other types of options such as City Council electric bikes, which can be rented just by having the card. In the bike parking machines themselves you have information on how to do it.

Now, the routes that we propose to visit Madrid are to be done on foot, which is the way to get to know the historic center of the city.

To most of the interesting places that we suggest you visit, if you visit them in the order they appear on the route, you will arrive on foot.

Transportation from the airport to the center of Madrid

Something very good that he has Madrid public transport is that it connects the city center very well with the Baraja's airport and with the high speed trains that arrive at the stations Atocha y Chamartín.

For those of you who have a little respect for arriving in Madrid, with the issue of transportation there is another option, which is to take a transfer that picks you up at the airport and drops you off at the hotel.

From there you have to launch yourself without fear into the adventure of discovering that wonder called Metro de Madrid.

Whichever option you prefer, here we leave you more information that can help you use public transport in Madrid.

• How to get from Madrid Airport to the city center
• How to get from Madrid Airport T4 to Atocha
• Express bus from the airport to the center of Madrid

What is the best time to travel to Madrid?

As a Madrid native, this is a question that I have a very clear answer to and it is important that you evaluate it before coming.

Don't even think about coming to Madrid in summer, unless it is your only option. The heat can be terrible, with highs of 40-42 degrees and it barely cools off at night.

But hey, this is something that happens to the entire interior of the country, not just to Madrid.

While it is true that there is a way to escape the terrible heat by visiting museums, palaces or parks, we must recognize that visiting Madrid in the middle of July or August can be exhausting.

Although I also have to admit that visit Madrid in summer has some advantage.

And, as it is the time of year when there are fewer people in the city, the overcrowding that can be felt at some times of the year disappears completely.

In my opinion, the best times of the year to visit Madrid are from March to May, and then from September to November.

These are the times when the weather is very pleasant, with a very good temperature, at night it is cool, but during the day in the sun it is luxurious, which causes the terraces to be filled with people and the atmosphere in the streets. be brutal.

A separate point are December and January, which are not bad months to visit the capital, especially the great decoration of its streets with the christmas lighting, although it can get cold with temperatures below zero at night.

How many days are recommended to visit Madrid?

This is a difficult question to answer, because you never really get to know Madrid, and I'm telling you this from my own experience.

But if your idea is to visit Madrid, I have to tell you that the question would almost be the other way around, tell me how many days you have and I will tell you how much you will be able to see of the city.

The historical part with the essential sites It takes you 2 full days, visiting any of the Museums of the Art Triangle, specifically, the Museo del Prado, as well as the Royal Palace which are the most important monuments in Madrid.

If you want to include in your trip a visit to some of the interesting places in the surroundings of Madrid, it is essential to have 3 full days.

As we have mentioned before, it has several excursions less than an hour from the capital that are very interesting, such as the Monastery of El Escorial or Royal Palace and Gardens of Aranjuez, without forgetting Alcalá de Henares.

In my opinion, if you want to get to know the city and its surroundings well, not only by visiting its monuments, but also by experiencing its different environments, you should have a week for your trip...or better, travel to Madrid several times and at different times.

Where to sleep in Madrid

As you will understand, living in Madrid I have never slept in a hotel in the capital, but I have been in many, especially those that have viewpoints and terraces.

But despite not having slept in any, I do know which are the best areas to stay, which I am going to recommend to you.

What you have to be clear about is that Madrid is not a cheap city since the prices of a double room usually exceed 100 euros, although if you search carefully, in some seasons you will surely be able to find an offer.

As each traveler is different, I am going to give you some advice depending on the budget you have, so it will be easier for you to choose.

Low-cost accommodations in Madrid

If you want to reduce the cost of accommodation in Madrid, it is essential that you look for hotels or tourist apartments that are not too centrally located, but that have a Metro station nearby. a way to greatly reduce the price.

The problem is that there are so many Metro lines that you have to keep one thing in mind.

The ideal is to look at the map of the Metro and see the routes of the lines to the outside of the city, that can help you find a hotel next to one that goes directly to the center and thus avoid making transfers.

If you want to be very central with an affordable price, an area with many hotels and guesthouses is behind Puerta del Sol.

It is a much more central place, but since there are so many accommodations, there are always interesting places for prices if you look for it in advance.

The best hotels in Madrid

If the budget is not much of a problem, what we are going to do is choose a hotel based on the area, because telling you just one hotel is complicated because there are very good hotels.

An area that I really like is the stretch from Gran Vía to Plaza de España, where there are great hotels with spectacular terraces and that location allows you to move around the city on foot without any problem.

But there are also two places that are pure fantasy, the surroundings of the Retiro Park and the hotels with views of the Royal Palace.

In any case, Madrid has one very good thing, and that is that it has a tremendous hotel offer.

Where and what to eat in Madrid

In Madrid there are several Traditional dish which without a doubt must be tried.

In my opinion as a Madrid native, the star is the Madrid stew. For those of you who don't know it, it is a stew that has everything, but yes, after eating it you have to take a nap.

It is a typical dish on the daily menu on Thursdays in Madrid and although there are several traditional places to try it such as The Charolais, Carola House, La Bola o Malacatín, and if you are looking for a truly historic place to try it, you have the Lhardy restaurant.

If we talk about “popular foods”, it is also mandatory to try the squid sandwich.

For those of you who are not from Madrid, many times I know that it seems like a very strange combination, but the mixture is brutal. It is usually eaten around the Plaza Mayor, but not in it, which is where they are more expensive.

The patatas bravas is something very Madrid and you can have it in any bar and restaurant in the capital, and if we move on to more risky dishes, the stars are usually the Calluses, ear and snails.