madrid

fitzgese

any things that i must see or do for a week-end in madrid. not too big in to art museums but am opened minded. i will consider anything

Ipanema

I haven't been there in a while, but 2 highlights I remember:

1. Even if you're not big into art, go and see the Museo del Prado, really good stuff in it. Go and see the paintings of Goya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Goya) and Velazquez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Velázquez), even if you don't know the first thing about painting they are impressive.

2. Eat a squid ring roll with mayonnaise, and a glass of beer. The rule is, the grubbier the place, with napkins and rubbish on the floor, the better it tends to be.

fitzgese

thanks for that. any more advise from anyone would be great

tc20

Was in Madrid for a long weekend last year. Got the open top bus tour. There are three lines (red, green & blue iirc) Each has its own route, eg red is the culture bus, passes museums/galleries etc. The three routes intersect at various points and you can hop on & off as often as you like. Costs about 10-12 euro. The Bernabeu Stadium (home of Real Madrid) is worth a visit, tho entrance cost is extra, its not that expensive.
Just strolling around and dropping into tapas bars is what we did mostly. Theres a huge big park thats nice to chill out in, cant remember the name, but it'll be on any city map.
Enjoy!

missmatty

Parc de Retiro, as far as I remember.

Was there 6 years ago, went to Plaza Major, the Palace, The museum Bornemiszta, etc. Also went on a day trip to Toledo which i would highly recommend. Get a Lonely Planet city guide and you won't go too far astray!

tc20

missmatty wrote:

Parc de Retiro, as far as I remember.

thats it!

Isnt Plaza Major the large cobbled square, surrounded by beautiful buildings, with cafes/restaurants? We did eat there, but felt we got ripped off big time for a mixed plate of stuff, considering we found other restaurants to be quite favourable pricewise. Thats the price for being there tho (Plaza Major, i mean)

Was amazed by the amount of shops selling not only religious artifacts, stautues and the like, but also religious outfitters

admiralofthefleet

amazing place to visit, be careful in retiro park its full of drug dealers. go to the casino in torreledones, joy night club, the irish rover at the picasso tower. if you are going shopping then gran via would be good but its in the city centre and can be very busy and expensive so i would recommend getting the metro to a station called 'mar de crystal' (on the airport line), there is a decent sized shopping centre above the station that is easy to stroll around and not expensive as its in the sticks. be careful with your belongings as there are gypsies around and for a 'fun' car journey go to the fair ground at nite

Peter Collins

Don't forget Plaza del Torros for the bullifights!!!!

It may not be the right time of year, but you might be lucky.

It's amazing to see.

dudara

I'll be heading to Madrid for a week in a fortnight, and we'll also be taking in the Summercase music festival while we're there.

If anyone has more tips, I'd love to hear them.

Poncherello

Bullfights are every Sunday evening, get the Metro there in the afternoon to pick up tickets - very cheap if you dont mind sitting in the sun
Well worth a look

monkeyfudge

There is two amusement parks... one right in the city and another Warner Brothers Park a bit of a train journey out of the city.

I went to the wax museum last time I was there.. it was pretty cool... but skip the video performance beforehand as it's full of pro-franco propaganda.

Actually Franco's tomb is worth a visit... it's utterly vast and was built with the slave labour of people who opposed him.