Madrid: Royal Palace Skip-the-Line Guided Tour
Duration: 2 hours
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Madrid
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Top attractions in Madrid
Madrid: Prado Museum Direct Entrance Ticket
Valid: 1 day
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Madrid: Bernabéu Stadium Tour with Direct Access Tickets
Valid: 1 day
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Toledo & Segovia: Full-Day Tour with Priority Alcázar Entry
Duration: 11 hours
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Skip-the-Line Madrid Reina Sofía Museum Entrance Ticket
Valid: 1 day
Madrid City Tour (Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour)
Valid: 1 - 2 days
Madrid: Toledo Full Day Tour with Free Madrid City Tour
Duration: 8 hours
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Madrid: Skip-the-Line Guided Tour of the Royal Palace
Duration: 2 - 3 hours
Madrid: Live Flamenco Show with Food and Drinks Options
Duration: 60 - 90 minutes
Madrid Art Walk Pass: Prado, Reina Sofia, & Thyssen Museums
Valid: 1 year
Madrid: City Center and Retiro Park 1.5-Hour Segway Tour
Duration: 90 minutes
El Escorial and Valley of the Fallen: Skip-the-Line Tour
Duration: 7 hours
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Top 10 things to do in Madrid
Madrid's culture is one that seems to emphasize living and leisure over hard work, yet its history has seen it produce some of Europe's most awe-inspiring artworks and buildings. Here are just a few of the best places to visit in Spain's capital!
Plaza de España
The metro station of the same name takes you to the Plaza de España, where a huge statue of Miguel de Cervantes presides over those of his characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Soccer fans can tour the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, walk the pitch, visit the dressing rooms, and marvel at the club's huge trophy cabinet!
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
The Reina Sofía Museum of Modern Art boasts one of the foremost collections of 20th and 21st-century Spanish art, with highlights including Picasso's Guernica.
Museo del Prado
If traditional art is more your thing, the Museo del Prado exhibits the world's most extensive collection of Spanish art from the 12th to 19th centuries.
Palacio Real
Madrid's most famous landmark Palacio Real is one of Europe's most spectacular palaces, built from Spanish marble and surrounded by beautifully landscaped courtyards and gardens!
Plaza Mayor
Once the place to see bullfights and carnivals, you can find some of Madrid's best restaurants where the historic market square Plaza Mayor meets the "Austrias" neighborhood.
Gran Vía
This energetic and extravagant shopping street is also the pulse of Madrid's nightlife, hence its nickname: "The Spanish Broadway!"
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Completing Madrid's "Golden Triangle of Art," along with the Reina Sofia and Prado museums, the collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is owned by a former Miss Spain and is perhaps the most eclectic of the lot.
Círculo de Bellas Artes
Another key player on Madrid's art scene, this gallery's rooftop terrace offers stunning panoramas of the whole city! It's the best view of Madrid by quite a margin.
Parque del Buen Retiro
Of Madrid's many green corners, Retiro Park's statues, fountains, and floral features offer the city's most scenic respite for joggers, picnickers, boaters, and you!
Planning Your Madrid Visit
Best time to visit?
Summer is peak season despite the intolerable heat that drives even the natives to close up shop and head to a cooler climate! It's better to go in spring or fall, although if it takes more than a mild winter to put you off, hotels are considerably cheaper in winter!
How many days?
Madrid has enough life in it to enjoy a week there. If that turns out to be a little too long for you, the city is also well positioned for day-trip opportunities. For instance, consider visiting historic Toledo or Segovia, if not the Ribera del Duero wine region for a tasting or two!
How to get from the airport to the city?
Barajas International Airport is one of the world's largest, which means it's busy but pleasantly well connected! Taxis are available but the Renfe train is the cheapest and quickest option, however, at rush hour it might be less stressful to get the airport express bus. There is also the Metro, although this isn't advisable when carrying plenty of luggage.
How to get around?
Buses and the Metro are reliable, well connected, and cheap. Visitors might find it easier to purchase a Madrid Tourist Travel Pass, valid on all trains and buses for 1, 3, 5, or 7 days. Taxis are also very affordable compared to most European cities, and well regulated, too.
Good to know
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- Language
- Spanish
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- Currency
- Euro (€)
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- Time Zone
- UTC (+01:00)
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- Country Code
- +34
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- Best time to visit
- Spring and Fall offer milder temperatures and fewer tourists
Things to Do in Madrid
Top Attractions in Madrid
Cities in Spain
Other Sightseeing Options in Madrid
Want to discover all there is to do in Madrid? Click here for a full list.
What people are saying about Madrid
The Enchanted City was a highlight of our trip to Spain
Cuenca was beautiful and The Enchanted City was one of the highlights of our trip to Spain. I highly recommend that you take this tour if you're in Cuenca. We were especially lucky to have had Jorge as our guide for the Enchanted City as his English was excellent and he was so knowledgeable and excited about The Enchanted City and he made the tour so interesting and fun! The only thing that I would suggest to the tour guides is that you change the lunch schedule. We opted out of the lunch to eat on our own but we were dropped off in Cuenca for lunch at 3pm just at the time that everything was closing. There were limited options to eat and all stores in the city were closed during our free time. It would've been more enjoyable if we were able to use that time to walk around the city and shop and choose an eating option. You might want to just consider having lunch with the group if you take this tour.
From Madrid: Segovia, Avila and Toledo Three Cities Day Trip
“The tour was very good and complete, we had a great day! Our guide Paula was great and managed the tour very well in both languages (English and Spanish). Our driver Enrique was also very nice. All three towns were beautiful and we spend a good amount of time in each to see the main places. Lunch was also good. I do recommend both the tour and the company. My only suggestion would be to have a larger vehicle (more space, not more people) because the vehicle we had was pretty small for such a long day and the visibility was limited because of the tall seats and small windows”.
Excellent Flamenco dance with average food
Show was booked for 7.30 pm but only food was served till 8.30pm and once show started , we were spell bound. All three dancers were good. Finale by male dancer was electrifying and he was virtually doing endurance dance and was profusely sweating but still going strong. An explanation about songs and dance in English would help tourists to appreciate theme of dance and songs better. I would recommend this show to my friends and tourists
Great tour, difficult to find guide at the beginning.
Very knowledgable and friendly guide. I appreciated the small size of our tour (8 people total). Our guide took us through at a perfect pace and definitely knew the palace. Our only complaint, was that the meeting spot was difficult to find and we had trouble reaching the tour company to figure it out.
Excellent Full day to see all the major sights
Lots of riding on the bus, but we managed to have enough time to enjoy both cities. Great value. Museum/castle visit at Segovia is included, but not the cathedral in Toledo, which may not be worth the 10 euros to visit. Guide was excellent Enough time to visit, but not for shopping.
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