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Madrid is a city so full of life and culture that it’s hard to do justice to it in a few paragraphs. Artistically the city holds its own against any in Europe, with some of the best art museums on the continent where renaissance masterworks and seminal 20th-century pieces are waiting to captivate you.
Welcome to ThingsToDo Channel today we’re going to list ten things to do in Madrid
#10 Check out The Prado.
Absolutely essential, the Prado is one of the best and most popular art museums in the world. There’s an overwhelming collection of masterpieces by renaissance and baroque masters. Spain is represented by Velázquez and El Greco, the low countries by Rembrandt, Brueghel, van Dyck, and Rubens, while Titian, Caravaggio, Botticelli, and Tintoretto form the Italian contingent.
#9 Stroll around Retiro Park.
Madrid’s 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 century when it was opened to the public. If you’re visiting with little ones, paddling on the Grand Pond next to the monument of Alfonso XII is a fun option on a sunny afternoon.
#8 See The Royal Palace.
Built-in the mid-1700s for King Philip V the Royal Palace is on the site of Madrid’s Moorish Alcázar fortress-palace, which burned down in 1734. It’s the largest royal palace in western Europe and has a blend of baroque and neoclassical styles. You have to go inside for the full experience because the royal collections and frescoes are sublime.
#7 A day at the National Archaeological Museum.
With invaluable pieces gathered from across Spain, this museum is a trip through Spain’s rich history. What may surprise you is the wealth of magnificent items that predate the Roman period. The best of these Iberian treasures and sculptures look almost new, despite being at least 2,500 years old.
#6 Walk around Grand Via.
If you’d like to get a sense of the city, a walk along the Gran Vía is a superb place to start. It’s Madrid’s entertainment, shopping, and cultural nerve center, a buzzing avenue often full of life until dawn. By day it throngs with shoppers stopping by the many malls, high-street stores like H&M and Zara and luxury boutiques.
#5 Plaza Mayor.
Another of Madrid’s “musts”, Plaza Mayor is a handsome renaissance square, laid out in the early-1600s and completely sequestered by historic three-story-high residential buildings. There are nine entrances to the square and within the porticoes at the bottom of the buildings are several cafes.
#4 Get some Churros at San Gines.
Perfect in winter, Spanish hot chocolate is one of the most luxurious things you’ll ever taste. It can be so rich and thick you sometimes need a spoon to drink it. And the perfect pairing is a sugary churro, which if you don’t know, is piped dough, deep-fried.
#3 Tour Reina Sofia Museum.
Round off your journey through Madrid’s art collections with the third museum on the Golden Triangle. This museum focuses mainly on Spanish art and is more modern in scope than the others. The best reason to come is to the many works by the 20th-century artists Picasso and Dalí. Just to show that isn’t overkilling: Picasso’s epoch-making Guernica is on display, so it’s an opportunity you really shouldn’t miss.
#2 Haggle at El Rastro.
On Sundays, it will seem like the entire city has descended on Ribera de Coritodores and Plaza de Cascorro. This is when some 3,500 stalls are open, hawking pretty much anything you can think of, whether used or new. It’s the largest flea market in Madrid and gets pretty hectic, so it’s always a good idea to show up early. Even though it’s a Sunday the antique shops on the streets branching off Ribera de Cortidores will be open, and there are also cafes if you’re in need of a pick-me-up after wading through the crowds.
#1 Shop at Mercado San Miguel.
An easy walk from Plaza Mayor is this gorgeous art nouveau marketplace that dates to 1916. It’s 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, like cava, pimento (paprika) and saffron. There’s a host of tapas bars here serving all the favorites like patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo, and boquerones, with a glass of beer, rioja or vermouth. To do your food shopping like a real Madrileño head to the vast Mercado de Maravillas in Cuatro Caminos. It’s Europe’s largest municipal market with 200 stalls.
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