Hey fodorites,

I have researched Madrid and the following are the key places:

Plaza Mayor
El Rastro Market
Museo Del Prado
Plaza de Oriente
Warner brothers movie world (?)
Night Life (any recos?)
Puerto del Sol
Mercado de San Miguel
Palacio Real
Plaza de Cibeles
Santiago Bernabeu
Las Ventas Bullring

I was wondering if people who have been to Madrid could give me their ideas of a practical 3 day itinerary.

If you like art besides the Prado there is the Reina Sofia and the Thyseen.

Puerto del Sol, Plaza Mayor and Ciebeles will not take much time.

Otherwise many people make an easy day trip to Toledo with many buses and trains from Madrid.

Hi rt,

Have you looked up Madrid under "destinations"?

A practical itinerary would not include a visit to Warner Brothers. That's really not Madrid. You might want to take a look at esMadrid (www.esmadrid.com) to see what's happening over the three days you'll be in the city. You can also download a copy of Maribel's Madrid Sightseeing Guide (www.maribelsguides.com) to see what she recommends.

a few suggestions:

-consider a relaxing afternoon at Retiro Park. It's enormous and showcases Madrid's beauty.

-eat at Sobrino de Botin: The oldest active restaurant in the world

-If you want a GOOD taste of Spanish architecture, turn around after you're done checking out Plaza Cibeles and walk down Gran Via. It wil take you all the way to Plaza de Callao

-Check out the Prado after 6 when it's free

have fun

A stroll in central Madrid (google map)
http://goo.gl/maps/o52q6

For nightlife, I recommend the vibrant Letras district around Plaza Santa Ana. Here you'll find great bars, clubs, jazz and flamenco venues long into the night. http://www.barrioletras.com/

I especially like Café Central for jazz and Casa Patas for flamenco. Only great artists at both places, changing all the time. Concerts every night at Café Central at 10pm, 15€. Stays open to 3am, 5am in the weekends. Great atmosphere. At Casa Patas, go for the midnight performance.
Café Central: http://www.cafecentralmadrid.com/
Casa Patas: http://www.casapatas.com/

Sevetral other options close by: Populart for jazz and Cardamomo, Villa Rosa and Las Carboneras for flamenco.

Several great places long into the night in Calle Echegaray, just off Plaza Santa Ana. Start the night with a sherry at small La Venencia in no. 7: http://guiriguidetomadrid.com/2010/0...rry-in-madrid/
Great vibe into the night at El Burladero in no. 19. Several other places only meters away. http://www.elburladerocopas.com/index2.html

Be sure to start the next day with breakfast at a local bar/café. Usually fabulous atmosphere and ten times more interesting and more affordable than a dull hotel breakfast.

I strongly recommend 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.
(And of course Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza museums)

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

Mercado de San Miguel is perfectly fine, but it's now more packed with excellent small stalls serving all kinds of goodies than a proper food market. If you're looking for a food market Spanish style, go to Mercado de la Paz: http://www.marketmanila.com/archives...e-ayala-madrid

I could go on and on about Madrid, a fabulous city. Last: the greatest flamenco artists perform in Madrid theaters all the time. Mostly a local and knowledgeable crowd on these events, and this could be a highlight of a stay in Madrid. Always updated program here (not much until October because of the September Bienal de flamenco in Sevilla): http://www.deflamenco.com/agenda/events.jsp?barrio=1

3 days - OK -

Day 1 - take that Red Bus thing around the city for a couple of hours to get oriented. It is convenient and passes many of the places you list that really don't require any time (eg Cibeles, Sol). Hop on, hop off.

Then I would go to the Prado. Do not miss the Prado. You could spend your entire 3 days there but keep moving. Afterwards go see San Jeronimo church just up the hill, or Retiro, since you're on that side of town. Then drinks in Las Letras / Santa Ana.

Day 2 - Royal Palace, then walk through Las Austrias to San Miguel market and Plaza Major and have lunch. Fill out the day with whatever you feel like - more walking, maybe another museum, maybe retiro if you didn't make it on Day 1.

Day 3 - day trip by train to Toledo.

I would take out El Rastro and spend time at beautiful Retiro park.

Forgot to add, El Rastro is only there on Sundays , so it would be n/a unless one of your three days is a Sunday.

I agree about the on/off bus-it has 2 routes and gives you a great overview of Madrid.You will see that you can easily walk from the Royal Palace up to the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol.Then pick up the bus when you are ready to continue.At the Plaza Mayor there is a Tourist Office-free to use the computers for 15 minutes but no one has ever told me to stop!They offer great walking tours for very little money.Just sign up for the ones that interest you.I've done quite a few of them-the guides are fun and full of facts you would never find out on your own.
Forget the Rastro on Sunday-it is nowadays just cheap junk and pickpocket heaven!
The restaurant Botin is now strictly for tourists and just not worth the money!
Rather than Toledo I would go to Segovia!Get an early start by bus ,walk down to the aqueduct,stop by the tourist office and follow the map up to the castle and swing around and go back down a different way back to the bus station.If you have time take the local bus there out to La Granja-beautiful gardens with fountains free,open to the public-the tour of the palace is long and boring!Then wander around until it's time to go back to Madrid!
You could actually also visit Toledo but the trick is to get an early start!

Check out the Madrid tourism website, www.esmadrid.com.
There is a lot of information. The tourism office offers several walking tours at a very reasonable price from the Plaza Mayor. You can find info about the tours on the website and you can even book them online. The tours are excellent.
To get to the tour section click on "Always' on the front page of the website and then on "Tourist Services". The website will give you information on current happenings in Madrid also.

Wow! So many amazing responses. Thank you to each one of you for bearing with me and being patient in sharing the valuable insights(I know the inernet is full of info but nothing like hearing it from the fodorites' mouth )

I am taking notes and would post my trip report depending on what I end up doing given that I am going with a group of friends.

a trip report would definitely be a good "thank you". we look forward to it

Hi all. I spent splendid three days in Madrid and the city just stole my heart. It's so magnificent. I'm going to go back to this city many times, I feel. Trip report will definitely happen!

Please, do follow up with a TR! I also love Madrid, have been back many times and never get bored of it.