trips4fun

I will be traveling to Madrid on business toward the end of February and plan to arrive early (partially for pleasure,but also to get adjusted to the time zone after an overnight flight from the US east coast) and stay for a few extra days. I have never been to Madrid or Spain and my wife will be traveling with me.

I will likely be staying somewhere in the area around the Hotel Hesperia Madrid due to proximity to my meetings. I expect to have two days at the beginning of the trip, three days of work/meetings, and three additional days at the end. My wife will be doing some additional sight-seeing while I am working.

Our interests are general sight-seeing, people watching, etc. I am also interested in jazz and other various styles of music, so I would be interested in going to a club/show or two. Good restaurants are also always on the travel agenda . We generally look for places that are modestly priced and offer good value.

Any suggestions for things to do and general itinerary would be most welcome.

Also a couple of specific questions. Given that my meetings will be in the middle of an approximately one week visit, would it make sense to move to another area for a few days or is the area where I will be staying for business purposes a sufficient base? For simplicity, I usually prefer to stay in one place rather than move around.

With the amount of time I have, should I spend all of the time in Madrid, or should I consider a day trip or two? I don't expect to have a car (although I could consider this).

Thanks for any help!

GiuliaPiraino

We really enjoyed seeing a traditional Flamenco show at Casa Patas, the tickets are booked by phone, if you don't speak Spanish your hotel can do that for you. http://www.casapatas.com/ Here's a video

Definitely check out Maribel's free guide for great restaurant recommendations, night life, music and things to do around town, she's a Madrid native. We found this guide to be much more interesting than the typical tour books, it was more of a locals/insider guide. Definitely worth printing out and then you can just toss it so it doesn't take up room in your bag. She has a sightseeing guide as well. http://maribelsguides.com/mg_madrid.pdf

We used her guide to find all the restaurants we ate at and her suggestions were spot on. They're arranged by price so that's handy. I found Spanish food to be heavy yet delicious, like it "hurts so good". I'm still dreaming of some of those wonderful meats and cheeses and bold red wines, definitely a gastronomic delight!

As a side note, don't be deterred from the restaurants around the "perimeter" of Plaza Mayor (not inside the plaza), they look touristy but many of them are quite good, use your discretion. Again, you can't go wrong with a suggestion from Maribel's guide.

I would say a personal favorite event of mine was getting churros and chocolate from Chocolateria San Gines, it's fairly incredible, we did it at least once a day for a week, but I would have done it more had I not been embarrassed to show up yet again in the same day with that wanton desire for chocolate look. I would suggest eating hot churros and the accompanying pudding thick hot chocolate as often as possible, it's a Madrid institution this place, don't miss it http://gastronomyblog.com/2010/06/27...-gines-madrid/

We spent a week in Madrid and could have used more time. However, that's our travel personality, we like to stay longer in a town and really lift the lid and check it out. So, not sure if you all like to fit in as much in as possible or if you're more of a slow traveler. Either way, Madrid has enough to do and entertain for a week, so no matter how much time you have there you can fill it enjoyably.

I really loved Madrid, I think it's a wonderful city, I'm sure you'll love your time there no matter how long you decide to stay.

ekscrunchy

Perhaps you should consider staying at a hotel in Salamanca, further south than the Hesperia. Then you would be more in the center of things for nighttime meals, and your wife could explore on foot while you were at work. You might, for example, look at the Adler, or the Wellington, to name just two options in that general area.

I just returned from a 4-day visit and wrote quite a bit about what we ate in my trip report. I will be happy to offer more eating suggestions if you tell me more about your tastes. The area east of Retiro Park is particularly rich in restaurants that offer a good price/value ratio and have yet to be discovered by most tourists. Unlike Giulia, I did not find the food we ate to be heavy in the last, because we concentrated mostly on seafood. But you can find any type of cuisine in Madrid and, as she notes in her post above, Maribel's guide is a tremendous resource.


Here is a long thread that I began before my own trip, dealing with food:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ase-advise.cfm

trips4fun

Thank you both. Lots of information to review. Will definitely check out Maribel's guide and your thread, ekscrunchy. I'm looking forward to the trip and suspect that I will find more to keep me busy than time will allow.

kimhe

Café Central, just off bustling Plaza Santa Ana, is a the best jazz venue in town with live performances from the best artists every night at 10. Entrance 11€. Good food also. Café Populart, a little further down the street is also a place to visit.
http://www.populart.es/

You can experience world class flamenco at one of the best tablaos. Madrid is arguably the flamenco capital of the world. Although the art form comes from the South (Andalucía), everybody has to conquer Madrid to get to the top. On their way there, or as an opportunity to try out new things and get an up close audience, many of them work the top tablaos. I recommend Casa Patas and Cardamomo, both close to Plaza Santa Ana.
http://www.casapatas.com/
http://www.cardamomo.es/

Casa Marta is a centrally located good value traditional restaurant. Popular with locals and close to the Opera/Royal palace.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ta-Madrid.html

Revulgo2

IMO, the Hesperia Madrid is on a good location, close to the bus stop to the main museums and close to a Metro station (Gregorio Marañon).
My recs at a walkable distance from the Hesperia Madrid are:

Museo Sorolla
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do?TR=C&IDR=751

Museo Lazaro Galdiano
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do...3&TR=C&IDR=736

"La Gabinoteca" a funky tapas restaurant at Calle Fernandez de la Hoz 13. Open from 1.30pm to 4pm and 8.30pm to 11.30pm. No reservations. Closed on Monday. Recommended tapas: salmorejo (cold tomato soup thickened with bread), ensaladilla rusa, foie a a crema catalana (creamed foie gras), tortilla con brandada de bacalao (Spanish omelet with salt cod brandade), arroz con clamares al ali-oli (rice with squid in garlic mayonnaise) and finally order a Juan Palomo (do-it-yourself sweet dessert).
http://www.lagabinoteca.es/1200.html

Also,
Walking guided tours in English run by the Tourist Board:
http://www.esmadrid.com/descubremadrid_en/portal.do

Metro map:
http://www.metromadrid.es/export/sit...graficaing.pdf

GiuliaPiraino

Ekscrunchy, I meant "heavy" in a VERY good way, the food we ate was decadent