{"id":1105,"date":"2018-04-13T15:38:29","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T22:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/blog\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2018-04-13T15:40:22","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T22:40:22","slug":"things-to-do-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/?p=1105","title":{"rendered":"Things to do in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Retiro Park in 2003<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Madrid is a city so full of life and culture that it\u2019s hard to do justice to it in a few paragraphs. Artistically the city holds its own against any in Europe,\u00a0with the of the best art museums on the continent where renaissance masterworks and seminal 20th-century pieces are waiting to captivate you.\u00a0Take in all the historic sights and get the background on the Spanish Empire that spanned the globe in the 16th and 17th-centuries. There are also\u00a0countless little things that make Madrid memorable, whether that\u2019s a caf\u00e9 con leche in a stately square, drinks at a rooftop bar or a wander through the\u00a0Retiro or Casa de Campo on a sunny day.<\/p>\n

The Prado<\/strong> –\u00a0Absolutely essential, the Prado is one of the best and most popular art museums in the world.\u00a0There\u2019s an overwhelming collection of masterpieces by renaissance and baroque masters.\u00a0Spain is represented by Vel\u00e1zquez and El Greco, the low countries by Rembrandt, Brueghel, van Dyck and Rubens, while Titian, Caravaggio, Botticelli\u00a0and Tintoretto form the Italian contingent.\u00a0Of the many must-see works are Bosch\u2019s Garden of Earthly Delights and David with Head of Goliath by Caravaggio.\u00a0The artist with most works hanging at the Prado is the Spanish Romantic Goya, whose 14 Black Paintings are a Spanish cultural reference point.<\/p>\n

Retiro Park<\/strong> –\u00a0Madrid\u2019s green heart and full of elegant gardens, the Retiro is just a few steps east from the Prado and was a royal property up to the end of the 19th\u00a0century when it was opened to the public.\u00a0If you\u2019re visiting with little ones, paddling on the Grand Pond next to the monument of Alfonso XII is a fun option on a sunny afternoon.\u00a0The iron and glass pavilion built to house the Philippine Exhibition in 1887 is magnificent and growing in the pond in front of it are bald cypresses,\u00a0strange swamp trees that turn \u00a0a lovely golden brown in summer.\u00a0The oldest tree in the city is close by: It\u2019s a Montezuma Cypress planted in 1633 and ringed by an iron fence.<\/p>\n

Royal Palace<\/strong> –\u00a0Built in the mid-1700s for King Philip V the Royal Palace is on the site of Madrid\u2019s Moorish Alc\u00e1zar fortress-palace, which burned down in 1734. It\u2019s\u00a0the largest royal palace in western Europe, and has a blend of baroque and neoclassical styles.\u00a0You have to go inside for the full experience because the royal collections and frescoes are sublime.\u00a0There are works by Goya, Caravaggio and Vel\u00e1zquez, as well as stunning displays of watches, tapestries, porcelain and silverware.\u00a0You can see the only string quartet of Stradivarius instruments in the world, and the Royal Armoury that includes the personal weapons used by Charles\u00a0V in the 16th Century.<\/p>\n

Santiago Bernab\u00e9u Stadium<\/strong> –\u00a0Whether you\u2019re a supporter of the club or not, the truth remains that Real Madrid are Europe\u2019s most successful football team with a record-breaking 11\u00a0European Cups to their name.\u00a0So any fan of the game should consider a pilgrimage to their gargantuan 85,000-seater stadium, where history has been made many times down the\u00a0seasons.\u00a0A tour will grant you panoramic views of the stadium, you\u2019ll step inside the dressing room, visit the dugouts and see all sorts of interesting bits including\u00a0the trophy collection, press room and presidential box<\/p>\n

National Archaeological Museum<\/strong> –\u00a0With invaluable pieces gathered from across Spain, this museum is a trip through Spain\u2019s rich history.\u00a0What may surprise you is the wealth of magnificent items that predate the Roman period.\u00a0The best of these Iberian treasures and sculptures look almost new, despite being at least 2,500 years-old.\u00a0The Lady of Elche is a bust of a woman with an incredibly detailed headdress and coils over her ears.\u00a0Much later but no less impressive is the Treasure of Guarrazar a Visigothic \u00a0set of crosses and votive crowns dating to the 600s.<\/p>\n

Puerta del Sol<\/strong> –\u00a0This grand square next to the Casa de Correos (Post Office Building) is a popular meeting place, suffused with meaning for both city and country.\u00a0Nearly every Spanish person will recognise the clock at the top of the Casa de Correos, as this marks the televised countdown on New Year\u2019s Eve.\u00a0There\u2019s a tricky ritual involved too: With every chime you\u2019re supposed to eat a grape for good luck (12 in total). Also in the square the is El Oso y El\u00a0Madro\u00f1o statue, a symbol for Madrid since the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

Gran V\u00eda<\/strong> –\u00a0If you\u2019d like to get a sense of the city, \u00a0a walk along the Gran V\u00eda is a superb place to start.\u00a0It\u2019s Madrid\u2019s entertainment, shopping and cultural nerve centre, a buzzing avenue often full of life until dawn.\u00a0By day it throngs with shoppers stopping by the many malls, high-street stores like H&M and Zara and luxury boutiques.\u00a0In the evenings there are couples arm-in-arm, stepping out to the cinema or a musical.\u00a0And after dark the street pulses with many of Madrid\u2019s top nightclubs.\u00a0Sights to spot as you stroll include the vast Telef\u00f3nica Building, built in 1928 and an early example of a skyscraper.<\/p>\n

Plaza Mayor<\/strong> –\u00a0Another of Madrid\u2019s \u201cmusts\u201d, Plaza Mayor is a handsome renaissance square, laid out in the early-1600s and completely sequestered by historic three-storey-high residential buildings.\u00a0There are nine entrances to the square and within the porticoes at the bottom of the buildings are several cafes.\u00a0Order a coffee (overpriced but necessary because of the location!) at an outdoor table and watch Madrid in action for a few minutes.\u00a0After that you could wander up to the 400-year-old bronze statue of King Philip III, who was in power at the height of the Spanish empire.<\/p>\n

Mercado San Miguel<\/strong> –\u00a0An easy walk from Plaza Mayor is this gorgeous art nouveau marketplace that dates to 1916.\u00a0It\u2019s less of a fresh produce market (although there are grocery stalls) and more of a gastronomic destination to purchase the best that Spain has to offer,\u00a0like cava, pimenton (parprika) and saffron.\u00a0There\u2019s a host of tapas bars here serving all the favourites like patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo and boquerones, with a glass of beer, rioja or vermouth.\u00a0To do your food shopping like a real Madrile\u00f1o head to the vast Mercado de Maravillas in Cuatro Caminos.\u00a0It\u2019s Europe\u2019s largest municipal market with 200 stalls.<\/p>\n

El Rastro<\/strong> –\u00a0On Sundays it will seem like the entire city has descended on Ribera de Coritodores and Plaza de Cascorro.\u00a0This is when some 3,500 stalls are open, hawking pretty much anything you can think of, whether used or new.\u00a0It\u2019s the largest flea market in Madrid and gets pretty hectic, so it\u2019s always a good idea to show up early.\u00a0Even though it\u2019s a Sunday the antique shops on the streets branching off Ribera de Cortidores will be open, and there are also cafes if you\u2019re in need of a\u00a0pick-me-up after wading through the crowds.<\/p>\n

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum of Art<\/strong> –\u00a0If you still have an appetite for art after the Prado, amble over to this museum, which is also part of Madrid\u2019s \u201cGolden Triangle of Art\u201d. You shouldn\u2019t\u00a0get bogged down, because the attractions in the Triangle are complementary, each covering schools and periods that the others do not.\u00a0So at Thyssen-Bornemisza you can see works from the English and German schools by artists like Hans Holbein, Hans Baldung Grien and Albrecht\u00a0D\u00fcrer.\u00a0These are accompanied by pieces from other renaissance masters like Tintoretto, Veronese, Rembrandt, van Dyck and many more.\u00a0There\u2019s also a big collection of American abstract expressionism, and a host of impressionist and post-expressionist pieces by the likes of Monet, Renoir\u00a0and Degas.<\/p>\n

Reina Sofia Museum<\/strong> –\u00a0Round off your journey through Madrid\u2019s art collections with the third museum on the Golden Triangle.\u00a0This museum focuses mainly on Spanish art, and is more modern in scope than the others.\u00a0The best reason to come is to the many works by the 20th-century artists Picasso and Dal\u00ed.\u00a0Just to show that isn\u2019t overkill: Picasso\u2019s epoch-making Guernica is on display, so it\u2019s an opportunity you really shouldn\u2019t miss.\u00a0Among the other Spanish greats represented at Reina Sof\u00eda are Joan Mir\u00f3, Juan Gris and the important abstract sculptor Eduardo Chillida.<\/p>\n

Churros at San Gin\u00e9s<\/strong> –\u00a0Perfect in winter, Spanish hot chocolate is one of the most luxurious things you\u2019ll ever taste.\u00a0It can be so rich and thick you sometimes need a spoon to drink it.\u00a0And the perfect pairing is a sugary churro, which if you don\u2019t know, is piped dough, deep-fried.\u00a0Just off the Puerta del Sol, visit the Chocolater\u00eda San Gin\u00e9s, which has been serving churros and hot chocolate since the 19th century and does it as well\u00a0as any joint in the city.\u00a0If you can\u2019t make it to San Gin\u00e9s there are loads of stalls on the streets in the cooler months of the year.<\/p>\n

Beer at a bar terrace<\/strong> –\u00a0In the summer many of Madrid\u2019s bars and restaurants spill out onto the city\u2019s pavements and squares.\u00a0This an essential part of going out and socialising in the city.\u00a0On Plaza de la Cebada on balmy summer evenings it can even be difficult to work your way through the throng.\u00a0On the rooftops are terraces of a different kind.\u00a0These bars enjoy jaw-dropping views of the city and are a fine way to usher in the sunset.\u00a0Close to Plaza Mayor is The Hat, which like many of these bars doesn\u2019t give you much of an indication of what you\u2019ll find on the rooftop, where tables\u00a0sit beneath a glass canopy and you can feast your eyes on Madrid\u2019s cityscape.<\/p>\n

Flamenco tablaos<\/strong> –\u00a0Flamenco is a dance that originated in Andalusia, Murcia and Extremadura, and even if it\u2019s not strictly native to Madrid the city has some of the most\u00a0famous tablaos in the country.\u00a0These are special halls that cropped up in the 1960s, and here you see a show over a candlelit meal with sangria.\u00a0It\u2019s a fine way of killing two birds with one stone: Tucking into Spanish specialities like jam\u00f3n ib\u00e9rico, migas (fried bread seasoned with paprika) or\u00a0roast suckling pig, while seeing one of the country\u2019s most famous art-forms expressed by some of the best dancers in the flamenco world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madrid is a city so full of life and culture that it\u2019s hard to do justice to it in a few paragraphs. Artistically the city holds its own against any in Europe,\u00a0with the of the best art museums on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu","category-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1108,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/1108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenkatraveler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}