Spain has such a special place in my heart. I visited for the first time when I was 16 and stayed with a host family for a little over 2 weeks and was completely immersed in the culture and surroundings. While that trip only had me in Madrid for a few short days I remembered the magnificent Palace and seeing some stunning artwork at the Museo Nacional Del Prado. Since then, I have visited Barcelona (seen here) but when a friend mentioned that she was going to be visiting Madrid around my 30th birthday I immediately decided to tag along.
THE GAME PLAN
The first full day in a city after long hours of travel to get there can be slightly challenging. Because Spain has a later schedule than most, it was a lot easier to adjust and not feel that we weren't getting to experience everything because we wanted to sleep in a little. Our only plan for this trip was to see as much as possible. Luckily, our hotel, RHC was a perfect location to walk to any of the locations that were highest on our must-see list.
We decided to follow the Rick Steves walking guide of Madrid and had a great starting point at the Grand Palace.
Since our main goal for our 4 night 3-day stay, was to see as much as possible we decided not to tour the Grand Palace on the first day but to try on our other free day if we had time.
The best part of our self-guided walking tour was that we were in no rush to get anything done. We took our time to enjoy the sights, endless gorgeous ally ways, and to really eat and drink our way through Madrid. The Rick Steves book has a lot of great tips like places to visit and avoid, little-known facts about the city, and suggested places to eat.
WHAT TO SEE
The Grand Palace - while we ended up not having enough time to tour the Palace it is still amazing to stop by and wander the gardens. I will definitely make this a priority on my next visit to the city.
Cost - 11 euros
Catedral de la Almudena - This beautiful cathedral shares a plaza with The Grand Palace and has some gorgeous artwork.
Cost - 1 euro donation
Plaza Mayor - THE main plaza in Madrid. Surrounded by a bevy of restaurants and cafe's it really a city hub. We enjoyed a few hour break and enjoyed the sun and a little wine on in the square.
Because Madrid's high elevation it has some amazing sunsets.
The guidebook suggested viewing the sunset at Templo de Debod at Parque Oeste which is a location of a real Egyptian temple that was dismantled and reassembled in Madrid. You can expect a crowd here but there is not a place with a bad view here.
While the sun was setting we start walking back to our hotel and passed by the Palace and the Catedral de la Almudena. I will say that the views from those locations were breathtaking so if you wanted smaller crowds to view the sunset I may suggest those locations.
WHERE TO STAY
RHC hotel. The location was perfect. Just a few blocks from The Royal Palace and the Catedral de la Almudena. We had a corner room and got a peek at the San Francisco el Grande from the window. One we saved money is to make sure whichever hotel we choose, it offered breakfast so it would be one cost we didn't have to spend money on. Not only did RHC hotel have a prime location, but it offered plenty of options for breakfast that were included in the stay. Plus, breakfast goes until 10 am in case you need to sleep in from a long day of sightseeing and adventuring.
view from our hotel!
Along the suggested tour path, we stumbled into many other cool places like the oldest door in the city, the oldest bookstore
SOME PLACES I WISH I HAD VISITED:
- The Grand Palace - I wish I had time to tour
- Museo Nacional Del Prado - I wish I had had enough time to tour the gallery and really enjoy all of the artwork.
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