Churros and chocolate, passionate dancing and rowing in a lake. These are the things you can only do while in Madrid. We came up with a bucket list of your must see attractions and food to save you time!
Food
Let’s start with the most important item, food.
1. Churros and Chocolate. This is a MUST in Spain! You can eat chocolate for breakfast! We enjoyed our churros and chocolate from Chocolates Artesanos, a 24/7 bakery that whips out churros in minutes. It was in a hidden alley but the line was out the door! You can find churros and chocolate around every corner in Madrid, but we enjoyed the ones at Artesanos.
2. Tapas. You can’t go to Spain without getting the highly popular and delicious small plates. Once again, these are found on every corner. So just pop in somewhere and order away!
3. Sangria. The drink of choice in Spain! This fruit filled red wine is sure to make you smile and want to dance while in Madrid!
4. Tacos. You have to go to Takos al Pastor while in Madrid! They do 1 euro tacos that are to die for! We went twice as a late night snack, they are open until midnight. We would see people order 20+ tacos so don’t be ashamed to order a lot, the line is so long you’ll only want to wait once. We waited 30-45 minutes each time and our table was flipped within minutes of sitting down to eat. This is not your typical experience in Spain, usually you take your time to eat and rest. Make sure to get the chorizo, papas and queso tacos and load it up with their green sauce. I’m drooling just thinking about it!
5. Jamon. You will notice around Madrid there will be meat legs everywhere. This is very popular in Spain and you will see them in most restaurants. It was a little salty for my taste but was good in a sandwich with arugula and spread!
6. Texas BBQ…I am just kidding. However being from Texas we found this restaurant humerus.
Activities and attractions
Everything in Madrid is in walking distance. So save some money, wear comfortable shoes and track your steps! We walked 11 miles in our first day!
1. El Paque del Retiro. This was a huge park filled with tons of green to lay down on (we noticed lots of people enjoying siestas), a modern museum (free to enter but only one bathroom. FYI the line is long), and a lake that you can row in. We paid 8 euros to row our own boat around the lake for 45 minutes. This was one of our most favorite things we did!
1. Plaza Mayo. This is a stunning square that is filled with restaurants and vendors. We walked through it as we were walking through the city.
3. Puerto del Sol. This is a huge tourist destination. This is a main square surrounded by restaurants, stores and street performers.
4. The Palace of Madrid. It is 10 euros to enter and tickets can be purchased in advance. This is a beautiful palace to walk through and to cool off in. Note you cannot take any photos once you are in the palace.
5. Almudena Cathedral. This was a lovely and free cathedral that is right next to the palace.
6. Temple Debod. This is an Egyptian temple that is free to see but you can no longer walk inside of. Come at sunset and see amazing views of the Madrid palace from behind the temple!
7. See a Flamenco show. You know the emoji of the women in a red dress- “💃” – well you can see a real live show, in person. We went to the #1 flamingo show in Madrid. You can show up an hour before the show to eat dinner or come when the show starts and order some drinks. The pros of coming for dinner is that you will get a better seat. However, the food is very expensive, but delicious! We went to the Corral de la Moreia and were not disappointed. This was a perfect end to our time in Madrid!
Madrid surprised us! We enjoyed the more layback environment from the city and enjoyed a more relaxing city visit. Have you been to Madrid before? What was on your Bucketlist?
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–Happy Traveling!
Life of the Pilots Wife 