Madrid was a birthday present to myself – giving myself holidays for my birthday is a bit of a tradition! I have wanted to visit Madrid for years. Since I studied Art History at university, the Prado and others was on my ‘museum hit list’. A birthday is a great excuse for a weekend in Madrid – tapas, art and plenty of Spanish gin!
We only had 2 full days in the city, so we didn’t push ourselves to see too much. On a short break our activities are generally limited to wandering, museums, and the fine art of eating and drinking. Madrid is a fantastic setting for all those activities. Amongst some of the delicacies that Madrid has to offer: Calamari (in a sandwich or out), tapas, and cheap beer! I will reveal some of the yummy eating and drinking establishments below.
Where to stay in Madrid
We stayed near the Sol metro station, at Hotel Liabeny (Calle de la Salud). It’s always hard to fully appreciate where your hotel is in relation to the sites you want to see, until you are in situ and can get a feel for the terrain. The Liabeny was certainly in a good location for what we wanted to see – only a mile in any direction for the Prado, Gran Via, Plaza Mayor, La Latina, and the Royal Palace.
What I didn’t calculate was the multiple metro trains we would need to take to get to and from the airport. Now, that isn’t really an issue for us, and the Madrid Metro is well laid out and easy to use, but it is something to consider if you aren’t a fan of the underground. The other area we would’ve liked to stay in is near Plaza de Santa Ana.
Getting around Madrid
The Number 8 line goes from all terminals at the airport into Madrid Nuevos Ministerios, and you can connect to many other lines along the way. There is €3 supplement out to the airport, so make sure you either buy a ticket including the airport supplement or buy it separately if you already have a metro ticket. The metro ticket machines are at every station (just before the gates), and are easy to use – they have an english button, and you can simply type the destination you want to go to. You can pay by either card or cash too.
Things to do on a weekend in Madrid
The Prado
The Prado museum is a huge tourist drawcard for Madrid, so make sure you book tickets in advance. Take a wander via the Congreso de los Diputados and Los Jeronimos Cathedral on your way there. The Prado is renowned for it’s collection of European art from the 12th-19th Century. I was particularly interested in the Italian Renaissance and Baroque sections – Fra Angelico, Titian, Caravaggio etc. The halls and exhibitions are beautifully laid out and it is easy to navigate. You would need a week to see it all properly. You can’t take photos in the Prado, but the guide book is only €19.50, and worth it if you want to relive some of the beautiful works.
In summer, the queues can get ridiculous, so I would recommend buying your tickets in advance and printing them at home before you visit. This allows you to bypass the ticket doors and go straight into the Jeronimo entrance. However, when we visited, on a Friday afternoon in March, there wasn’t a queue to be seen anywhere!
The Royal Palace
The next day, after a late start and a strong coffee, we made our way to the Royal Palace. What a grand old place – shining white and majestic in the spring sunshine. We were there just in time to see the changing of the guard – a modest affair, with terrifically well-behaved horses and their jauntily-attired riders.
Museo Reina Sofia
The Reina Sofia Museum is Spain’s national centre for 20th Century Art, and home of Picasso’s famous Guernica. Unlike the Prado, the Reina Sofia allows you to take photos (so I was able to try out my new 50mm lens). Flash photography is not allowed, and they also ask that you turn the beeps off on your camera so as to not disturb fellow patrons.
Guernica was a stunning sight to behold – you can read more about it’s important history here. You are unable to take photos in this section, but seeing the sheer size of this painting is so worth it (provided people aren’t all hovering too close and ruining the view)! The docents at the Reina Sofia are a very sombre lot and take it all very seriously. I used to be a docent in a museum, and always tried to engage people where I could, but these guys were very much more like security guards than guides. Despite this, the Reina Sofia is an absolutely top notch museum, with a spectacular collection, especially of Spanish contemporary art – highly recommended!
Where to eat & drink in Madrid
Dinner options in Madrid
Head to the little streets between Calle de Carretas and Plaza Santa Ana – it is a maze of little pedestrian alleys and restaurants spilling out onto the street. We had done our research and made a bee-line to the restaurant Kaixo Taberna (Calle de Barcelona, 12) – and it did not disappoint. We sat out on the street under the outdoor heaters and enjoyed cava sangria (a jug a mere €14). And amazingly generous portions of tapas – there was enough food for 4 people. All this and a bottle of red wine came to a very pleasing £45 – wow!
Be aware, kitchens don’t open until 8pm, so you have to embrace the laid back and later start to everything in Spain – breakfast after 10am, lunch after 1pm, and dinner after 8pm. Bars are open earlier, and most serve small plates of tapas with each drink. It is possible to graze until dinner very easily, or skip dinner altogether!
Lunch at a Museum
For a light lunch, try Arzabal (Calle de Santa Isabel, 8), the restaurant attached to the Museo Reina Sofia. The terrace is separated from the busy road with trees and pergolas, and it is quite the oasis. We thought we were going to be charged through the nose for the location (the menu is refined and a teensy bit pretentious), but we were pleasantly surprised. The drinks were cheap and the 1/2 plate of tapas and small cheese board we ordered was more than enough, and only came to €25 all up.
Don’t forget to grab yourself a serving of churros with chocolate sauce at some point on your trip to Madrid!
Other dining options in Madrid
Other places that were recommended to us, but that we didn’t make it to are: Txirimiri (Calle del Humilladero, 6) – famous for it’s Tortilla; Botin (Calle Cuchilleros, 17) – the oldest restaurant still running in the world; and Cervecería Alemana (Plaza de Santa Ana, 6) – with live music and happy hour.
Where to drink in Madrid
Now, for a very important tip – whilst chatting to some locals on our last night, they recommended we try the Puertos de India strawberry gin. It is made in Sevilla with Andalusian strawberries, and is, quite possibly, the most divine gin I’ve ever tried – so go and get yourselves some!
We had been told that La Latina (via Plaza Mayor) was the hippest place for outdoor terraces and great tapas bars. Unfortunately, it turns into hen-do central on a Saturday night (especially Calle Cava Baja). The upside to that is the number of drinks deals there are! We stopped at Casa Lucio (a divey place, but that serves fantastic sangria and famous huevos rotos (broken eggs). But gravitated towards Plaza de los Carros, to where the crowd was more local than tourist.
We sat outside at our new favourite bar, Dona Camila, under the shadow of Iglesia de San Andrés church. We loved this place so much (and the friendly locals that we chatted to), that we stayed here for the rest of the night – and drank much of the Puertos de India gin from Sevilla.
There are so many delights to discover in Spain – why not explore Barcelona, or the wonderful dog-friendly Bilbao?
Lessons on how not to be an obnoxious tourist
I wanted to talk about an incident we witnessed in Madrid, that made me, as a traveller, really embarrassed. After visiting the Reina Sofia, we stopped off at Restaurante Sanabria for a quick wine and some calamari. Sanabria is a bit touristy, but also attracts lots of Spanish students. It is cheap and cheerful. Our visit was somewhat ruined by a group of drunken tourists. They did that embarrassing thing of not trying to speak the language, but instead just talking louder and louder. Believing somehow that yelling at the waiter would make them more understood.
I HATE this kind of tourist, and it made me visibly cringe with each revolting transaction. I just wanted to walk over to them and yell ‘stop being so disrespectful!’. Instead, we asked for our bill (in our best Spanish), tipped well, and snuck away before we might be associated with them in any way!
NOTE: You don’t have to be fluent or even say more than ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. But TRY. A few words in the local language will go a long way in being a respectful traveller.
A Weekend of Art and Tapas in Madrid
Sufficed to say, 2 days was not long enough in this fantastic city! With a perfect mix of culture, food, drink and relaxed approach, we would highly recommend a weekend in Madrid at the very least. If you could stay a week, it would allow you to explore the outer areas too, such as the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which takes a day-trip from Madrid.
Enjoy a weekend of art and tapas in Madrid. Don’t question it, just visit – it has become one of my favourite European city breaks! Oh, and remember to learn a few words of Spanish before you go!
Looking for more weekend breaks in Europe? Why not try a short break in Copenhagen… or the foodie city of Lyon, France!
All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!). Images shot with a Canon DSLR T3i Rebel + Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.8 STM; and an iPhone6s.
Ahh… loved the Prado. Didn’t get a chance to go to the Reina Sofia but Madrid stole my heart so I will be back…
Your post reminded me of all the art and tapas I had in Barcelona. I would love to visit prado in Madrid. spanish cities have awesome food, friendly people and great architecture and art.
Hannah, It sounds like you guys packed a lot into two days. We have been to Madrid twice and our “to do” list is still very long. on our first visit we bought the 3 museum pass. trying to do them in 2 days exhausted us. Next time we will pick a few exhibits we want to see and not skim the whole thing. Tapas and sangria on a patio is my favourite dinner. And you are right, you need to end with churros and chocolate. Churros are a great chocolate delivery mechanism 🙂 It looks like you didn’t get inside the palace. It is a truly stunning sight to see and should be on your list for a return visit. I too get annoyed with people who can’t even learn a few words in spanish. We try to know the basics, even if our pronunciation gets corrected often. Thanks for sharing your birthday tradition. I think this is one I should adopt!
I never would have thought to drink gin in Madrid, great tip. Churros and chocolate would be a daily occurrence! Looks like you had a great weekend, Happy belated birthday!
You’re a traveller after my own heart! I love to plan trips for my birthday too, and have done exactly that for this summer. Spending time in Madrid certainly seems like a fabulous gift to yourself. I would spend hours in the Prado enjoying all that fab Renaissance art. And the food – those churros in warm chocolate are to die for! You packed a lot into two days – well done.
I must confess I did not visit the prado (or indeed any other art museum) when I visited as it just isnt my thing but strawberry gin? Now we are talking.
Despite living in Barcelona for two years, I never made it to Madrid. It really looks like there is a lot of interesting things to do in the city. I would love to check out all the museums too, as I’m a bit of a History geek!
I agree with your sentiment about the English Tourists. Sometimes, we really don’t do ourselves any favours abroad. It’s not difficult to learn a bit of the local language and make an effort, instead of coming across as completely ignorant. These kind of people give us all a bad name!
I would love to visit Madrid at some point, the sound of cheap beer and tapas sounds great to me haha. from friends that have travelled to Madrid and this post, it’s like Madrid will just suck you into it’s culture. – I’m 100% with about what you said about the Manc girls too, I’ve learnt over the years and i tell anybody who’s looking to travel to a foreign country – learn some basic words, learn how to get by, the locals will respect you more, and you will learn.
You had me at gin… 😉 Seriously though, I love that there are so many affordable drink and tapas option. I’m dying to visit The Prado. I’ve heard that it’s a really moving museum.
I totally relate spending your birthday in another country as a tradition! I have been spending my birthday abroad from the last 8 years!
Also, this article reminded me of my dream to go to Spain. I have Spanish blood and was planning to move there and know my roots 2 years ago but it didn’t pan out. My love for churros, calamari and tapas are alive again, thanks to you lol.
You fit in a LOT in your 48 hours! I think my favorite part about this was the restaurant experiences you had (minus the vodka ladies, clearly). All so affordable, and all so absolutely mouthwatering. I’m most definitely saving this for later!!
Oh wow, Madrid looks and sounds beautiful!! I’d always forgotten it in favour of Barcelona, but I think that’s going to change! Such a shame about the tourists, though – it’s horrible and embarrassing when you see people behave like that. I can’t stand it when you see people shouting in English, when it’s their fault for being too lazy to learn the language!
I loved Madrid so much! I was thinking on a quick getaway this february. I know the weather is so nice there. and I want to go check out more of La Latina and Malasana.
I must say this is a cool tradition to give yourself a gift – a journey. I also love Madrid. I look forward to the time when we can again travel freely!