ems101

Hi

A friend and I are going to Madrid for a week in mid June. We fly in and out of Madrid but would also like to see the surrounding towns. We are looking at going to Toledo and Segovia, possibly spending a night in each.

Basically, we want to make the most of our time in Madrid and the surrounds. We have been to Barcelona previously and will like visit Northern and Southern Spain on future trips so would like to see the area around Madrid properly on this visit rather than travel around Spain.

We plan on using public transportation and want to work out how best to optimise our time so as to visit the nicest towns, spend time in Madrid (how many days would we need to spend in Madrid?) and have a relaxing holiday also!

Any suggestions as to hotels, towns, transport etc. much appreciated!

Nlingenfel

I stayed at the Hostal Persal, wonderful staff, good breakfast and great location. It is a very nice 2 star hotel.
My room was very nice for the price and very clean. I am always amazed at the people who stay in a 2 star hotel and then expect a 4 star room. Would definately stay their again.

kimhe

I can also recommend Persal, great value and excellent location. http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/pers...l?dcid=1;dva=0

More than enough to do and see in Madrid for a week, but there are many good options for day-trips (Toledo, Segovia, Alcalá de Henares etc., and of course El Escorial, the 16th century king Felipe II's monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world at the peak of Spanish world power.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/318

Here are some suggestions I've previously posted for Madrid:

Have breakfast or lunch at Café del Círculo de Bellas Artes in down town Calle Alcalá, 42. One of the city's most emblematic cafés. Grab a window table and watch Madrid life on bustling Calle Alcalá. Take the lift up to the roof topp terrace (the azotea) for the most spectacular views of the city. http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarApl...ntificador=179

Watch the sunset over the Guadarrama mountains from the terrace at El Ventorrillo in the Vistillas park. Great pollo al ajillo, some say the best in town. Map, video and some pictures: http://11870.com/pro/restaurante-ventorrillo

Have lunch or some tapas at Casa Granada, on the 6th floor of an apartment building just off Plaza Tirso de Molina. Hard to find and a great terrace. http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Vide...ada-Video.html

Café Central, just off bustling Plaza Santa Ana, is a fabulous jazz venue with live performances from the best artists every night at 10. Entrance 15€. Good food also. Populart, a little further down the street, is also a great place.

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, Cardamomo, both close to Plaza Santa Ana and recently revived Villa Rosa from 1911 on the Plaza Santa Ana itself.
http://www.casapatas.com/
http://www.cardamomo.es/
http://www.villa-rosa.es/

A stroll in the beautiful Retiro Park. http://www.aviewoncities.com/madrid/parquedelretiro.htm

Asturian Casa Mingo for the best grilled chicken and cider: http://www.casamingo.es/
Watch the video, and you're sold:
http://11870.com/pro/casa-mingo/videos/bc313f19

Txirimiri in Calle del Humilladero, 6 gives you an idea of why the Basque kitchen is considered among the best in the world. In the midst of one of the best tapas/restaurant districts in town, in and around Calle Cava Baja in La Latina.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ri-Madrid.html

I never leave Madrid without having had the squid in its own ink and the famous cod at Casa Revuelta, also in the same district.
http://11870.com/pro/casa-revuelta

You should also try the excellent salmorejo, a somewhat thicker variant of the tomato/vegetable soup gazpacho, in Según Emma just behind the newly reopened gourmet-oriented San Miguel food market. http://11870.com/pro/segun-emma
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ma-Madrid.html

The Reina Sofia contemporary art museum. The second floor with Picasso, Dalí, lots of other painitings, posters, films, photos etc., dealing with a couple of the greatest civilizational breakdowns of the 20th century, the Spanish Civil War and WWII, completely blew my mind off a couple of years ago.

The Rastro flea market on Sunday, just as much about having some tapas and a vermut as about shopping: http://www.madrid-guide-spain.com/el-rastro.html

The Chueca and Malasaña area, north of Gran Vía, is Madrid's most lively shopping district that "combine both originality and the avant-garde. Specifically, the section made up of little streets perpendicular to Fuencarral and Hortaleza streets is a shoppers’ paradise".
http://www.softguides.com/madrid_gui...ne.html#chueca

This site is great about Madrid. http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do

danon

Mid June should be rather warm. What is your price range for a hotels?
Are you interested in museums?
Is being close to nightlife important ?

AnilaB

There is easily enough in Madrid to keep you busy for a week. However, you can easily get to Toledo from Madrid Atocha - there is a high speed AVE train which puts the journey time at just over half an hour and there is one train every hour.

Segovia is also not too far by train, also taking around half an hour by high speed train from Madrid's Chamartin station. There are also slower regional trains that take about 2hrs but are a little cheaper.

Depending on where you're staying, transferring between Madrid's main stations isn't difficult (though it might make sense to be based near one or the other if you plan to make day trips). The easiest way to reach Charmartin from Atocha is to take the Cercanias local rail service. Chamartin is three stops from Atocha and the journey takes about 10 minutes. The cost of a ticket is about a euro.

You can book tickets in advance (up to 3 months) but you don't need to you can buy them at the station too.

ems101

Thanks for the responses, very helpful. Budget is about €100/night. Would be interested in museums, but not just maybe one or two in total. Being close to nightlife is not a must. Really just want to be a location that easy to get back to during the afternoon if heats gets too much and is pretty central. Close to either station also helpful but I don't know how central they are.

kimhe

Around Plaza Santa Ana/Plaza Mayor would be very central for all practical purposes (restaurants, museums, shopping etc), and it's only a 10-15 min walk to the Atocha train station (some 4-5€ with taxi). Plenty of accmodation in all categories and prices around here. I've been very happy staying at either Persal or Hotel Plaza Mayor the lest few years.

About the area:
http://www.gomadrid.com/sights/plaza-mayor.html
http://www.gomadrid.com/sights/plaza-santa-ana.html

Nepenthe

Love all the Madrid threads going on right now.

isabel

I agree the area around Plaza Santa Ana is good. This hotel is just one block from there and in your price range: Hotel El Prado. It wasn't fancy but I would stay there again. I liked Madrid but really loved Segovia and Toledo and agree that spending a night at least in each of them is worthwhile. They have a different feel in the evening. Here is my trip report from a trip I took that included Madrid, Segovia and Toledo - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tral-spain.cfm

1TracysTravel

Avila, with its 90 towers dating back to 16ththe century, along with Segovia, with its Roman aqueduct topped with 118 arches, makes a great day trip. The AVE high-speed train costs about 10 euros. If you'd like to stay in Segovia, Hotel Las Sirenas is nice for about 44 euros per night on average. A great place for Spanish and Portuguese food is Casa Duque where main courses cost between 12 and 24 euros.

cruiseluv

In Madrid check the hotel Prado, near Plaza Santa Ana. It might be right around your budget and their rates include breakfast.

Revulgo

Here is a map of Santa Ana and surrounding (wait while the map loads)
http://g.co/maps/4fvv6

kimhe

Revulgo,
he-he, telling map.

Luckyscout

I will be going to Madrid in two weeks! Can't wait! Not sure what to pack, a warm sweater and jacket for night time?? This is a great thread, lots of good info and links everyone. I was in Barcelona in Oct, and loved the aged ham(??) they carve right at the bar and the squid in sea salt and olive oil. What is the great treat of Madrid to eat?? Thanks for any ideas.

Castellanese

I stayed in Madrid for 5 nights and 2 nights in Toledo last July and thought it was the perfect amount of time in each.

I stayed at the Abba Atocha hotel in Madrid and in Hotel Santa Isabel in Toledo. The Abba is at a 30 minute walk to Puerta del Sol. It was definitely a bit away from the city center, but it was a nice and quiet area. As far as I know, there is a subway stop nearby. If I were to return to Madrid, I'd stay there again. The hotel itself was nice. I loved the Hotel Santa Isabel in Toledo, and I thought that the price and the quality of the lodging was very good.

I had always been reluctant to visit Spain. While I was not amazed by Barcelona, I have to admit that I really liked Madrid. I felt Barcelona to be touristy, while I never felt Madrid like that at all. Toledo was nice, specially the river walk, but I think two nights are more than enough.

As for the weather, I didn't think it was that hot. I heard a few of people complaining about the heat on the streets, but I thought it was the expected and usual summer heat. In fact, I had made sure to book a room with AC and I never felt the need to turn it on during the night.

Daniel

Pegontheroad

I'd like to suggest that if you are in Madrid on a Sunday you might consider spending a little time in Retiro Park. On my first trip to Spain in 2000, I happened upon the park and was delighted with all the music, puppet shows, and family activity. It was a lovely surprise.

BigRuss

Segovia's only worth about 1/2 day, not an overnight. Toledo might be worth an overnight, but you can see most of it as a day trip. Each is less than 45 minutes from Madrid by train, so overnighting and moving your stuff around is unnecessary. If you really want to go afield and stay somewhere overnight, you can reach Seville or Cordoba.