4 Days in Madrid: Looking for Confirmation/Suggestions From Those Who Know
 

Hi,
We are spending 4 days at the end of the month in Madrid. We (actually, she doesn't yet know that this is our destination) are looking for a mix of must-sees/eats and local non-touristy gems, realizing that most of the things to see, at least, will be touristy. Based on a review of this forum, a couple of guides and other sites, I have come up with the possibilities below for the limited time. Any confirmations, alternative suggestions and especially daily itinerary recommendations based on time, location, distance, etc. would be appreciated. We are staying a bit north of the center and will metro or taxi there.
Thanks in advance!

MUSEUMS TO SEE
Buy Abono paseo del arte
Museo de Prado (Bourbon Area)
Museo de Palacio Real (Old Madrid) (closed on Mondays?)
Museo Thyssen Bornemisza (Bourbon Area)
Museo Reina Sofia (Bourbon Area)
- See Guernica (Picasso)
Sorolla Museum (home/studio of painter Joaquin Sorolla)

SITES/PLACES TO SEE
Palace Hotel (Westin)
- Breakfast or Brunch under lobby cupola
Plaza Mayor
El Escorial
Parque del Retiro
Palacio Real de El Pardo

THINGS TO DO
Sunday
- a stroll through El Rastro, the city's big street flea market, can be fun (though it's also a pickpocket favorite, so keep a level of awareness up if you come here)
Flamenco evening
- Flamenco at La Solea
Bullfighting (not likely to happen)
- Ventas Bullring

FOOD TO EAT/RESTAURANTS TO GO TO
NO LAMB IN WINTER OR SPRING
Bar-Restaurante La Panera, at Calle Arenal 19, Metro: Opera.
Tapas
- Tapas Crawl on Cava Baja
- Txirimiri in Calle del Humilladero
- Casa Labra Tapas Bar
- El Tigre
- Stop Madrid
Paella
- El Arrozal
- Kupela (Super meaty and near primitive Basque oxen and cider)
Seafood
- Goizeko - Hotel Wellington
- La Broche
- La Manduca de Azagra, Calle Sagasta, 14
- El Combarro (Galician seafood not stuffy but swank -- and pricey-pricey)
Cafes
- Cafe Comercial
- Cafe Barbieri
- La Lolina on Calle Espiritu Santo
Cocido Madrileño is Madrid's most famous dish
- Restaurante Doña Juana, on Calle Postigo de San Martín, just 30 seconds' walk from Gran Via
Moroccan Tea Houses
- Moroccan Teahouses on Calle Ave Maria
El Botin (Hemingway's favorite restaurant and the oldest restaurant in the world)
Dessert
- San Gines Chocolateria
Bars/Nightlife
- Calle Ave Maria (street with good bars)

POSSIBLE DAY TRIPS
Trip to Segovia (aqueduct, castle) and Avila (walls)?
Trip to Toledo (private car or train?)
- El Greco Trail
- Cathedral?
- Watch the craftsmen make damascene and/or swords

?

Spring is the time to eat lamb.

Have you seen these threads--they might be helpful:


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

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...of-arrival.cfm

Also, Maribel's online guide is essential reading:

http://maribelsguides.com/mg_madrid.pdf

as you listed, there is a lot to do in the city.
If you are interested in seeing parts of Prado or some paintings in Sofia, the Palace and Retiro, you'll be very busy .
From the north of the city Segovia is a good day trip, if you must do one ( the train station Chamartin is in the north) The elegant, upscale area Serrano- Salamanca ( very expensive shops) is to the north.
It depends on what you are interested in...
I would not spend a minute at a flee market, but some people love it.

El Escorial is out of town ( a day trip)
Plaza de Oriente in front of the Palace is one of my favorite spots in Madrid .
Cava Baja is known for tapas bars and restaurants (as well as Plaza Santa Ana).

I'm a locaL. My comments are next to your text:

MUSEUMS TO SEE
Buy Abono paseo del arte // Read Maribel's Guide to Madrid about this.
Museo de Prado (Bourbon Area)
Museo de Palacio Real (Old Madrid) (closed on Mondays?) // Open daily except a few days when used for state functions. Don't miss the Royal Armoury. Changing of the Guard on Wednesday.
Museo Thyssen Bornemisza (Bourbon Area)
Museo Reina Sofia (Bourbon Area)
- See Guernica (Picasso)
Sorolla Museum (home/studio of painter Joaquin Sorolla)

SITES/PLACES TO SEE
Palace Hotel (Westin)
- Breakfast or Brunch under lobby cupola
Plaza Mayor
El Escorial // It is around 50 kilometers far from Madrid.
Parque del Retiro
Palacio Real de El Pardo // located at the outskirts, IMO, not much interesting. Suggestion: the Cerralbo mansion & museum and then, in nearby, the Templo de Debod.
http://rarurl.com/2zSAuZ
http://rarurl.com/v0FDVP

THINGS TO DO
Sunday
- a stroll through El Rastro, the city's big street flea market, can be fun (though it's also a pickpocket favorite, so keep a level of awareness up if you come here) // after El Rastro have a typical "vermut" (vermouth from the tap) in a bar: "Bodegas Ricla" at Calle de los Cuchilleros 6, "Mercado de San Miguel" (a must) close to Plaza Mayor or others.
Flamenco evening
- Flamenco at La Solea
Bullfighting (not likely to happen)
- Ventas Bullring // no bullfights in winter.

FOOD TO EAT/RESTAURANTS TO GO TO
NO LAMB IN WINTER OR SPRING // (Why not?)
Bar-Restaurante La Panera, at Calle Arenal 19, Metro: Opera. // I like this venue for 'raciones' (sharable platters) at the counter: lacón (boiled shoulder of pork with paprika), pulpo (slices of boiled octopus with paprika), chopitos (deep-fried baby cuttlefish), chorizo a la sidra (chorizo cooked in cider)...
Tapas
- Tapas Crawl on Cava Baja // don't miss Txakolina (Basque tapas), Taberna Tempranillo (wine bar) and La Perejila (atmosphere).
- Txirimiri in Calle del Humilladero
- Casa Labra Tapas Bar // as for battered cod, I prefer 'Revuelta' at Plaza Puerta Cerrada.
- El Tigre
- Stop Madrid
Paella
- El Arrozal // rather fitful. I like best Marina Ventura at Calle Ventura de la Vega 13.
- Kupela (Super meaty and near primitive Basque oxen and cider) // order the 'menú de sidrería'
Seafood
- Goizeko - Hotel Wellington
- La Broche
- La Manduca de Azagra, Calle Sagasta, 14 // Specialized in vegetables as they grow and bring their own veg from Navarra.
- El Combarro (Galician seafood not stuffy but swank -- and pricey-pricey) - Shellfish is always pricey. My recs are Casa Rafa at Calle Narváez 68 and Bar El Cantábrico at Calle Padilla 39 (where locals go to eat shellfish at the counter).
Cafes
- Cafe Comercial
- Cafe Barbieri
- La Lolina on Calle Espiritu Santo
Cocido Madrileño is Madrid's most famous dish
- Restaurante Doña Juana, on Calle Postigo de San Martín, just 30 seconds' walk from Gran Via
Moroccan Tea Houses
- Moroccan Teahouses on Calle Ave Maria
El Botin (Hemingway's favorite restaurant and the oldest restaurant in the world)
Dessert
- San Gines Chocolateria // and La Mallorquina at Puerta del Sol.
Bars/Nightlife
- Calle Ave Maria (street with good bars)

A hidden (till now) gem with authentic local atmosphere: the unpretentious Bar Muñoz at Calle Salamanca 28, tapas, great tortilla and chuletón (huge steak).

POSSIBLE DAY TRIPS
Trip to Segovia (aqueduct, castle) and Avila (walls)?
Trip to Toledo (private car or train?) // AVE (high speed train)
- El Greco Trail
- Cathedral? // a must see.
- Watch the craftsmen make damascene and/or swords // Don'know if possible.

Sounds like you'll need 2 weeks for that itinerary. If you have time squezze in Los Caracoles, a place that serves nothing but snails.

Although there are no bullfights at that time, you can still tour Las Ventas. Go to the website: www.las-ventas.com. On the right hand side is a box marked "Tauro Tour". If you click on that you can see an English summary of the tour.

The website of the Madrid Tourist Office: www.esmadrid.com has very detailed listings of what's going on in Madrid. They offer cheap tours. The Madrid Itinerary I is good.

Revulgo I am glad that you brought up the lamb question and I apologize to the OP for intruding here for a moment.

I was told recently, here or on a food forum, that winter was not the season to eat lechazo (suckling lamb). This advice corresponds to what I had always thought--that lambs were born in the spring and therefore the spring was the season for baby lamb. (I had originally expressed a desire to eat lechazo in Madrid)

So while perhaps older lamb can be eaten all year round, is it not true that lechazo would only be found in springtime? Or is the demand for this delicacy so great that the lambs are bred all year round?

Many thanks for helping me understand this mystery!

Hola

Yes, chopito, boquerones and churros at San Gines :) Also why not try the Cava - Spanish champagne.

Another easy day trip is Aranjuez. Check out the Royal Palace - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_Real_de_Aranjuez

I would skip a museum or two and go to Toledo (or Segovia - my second choice, but other folks like it better).

I think it may be interesting to take a day trip out of the city, but you cannot do that with your packed itinerary. I personally lover art museums but go to only one a day or your head will begin to spin.

We chose Toledo for our day trip. It is a short train ride from Madrid and there are many trains every day. Actually, I did not care for Toledo. I found it drab and the streets poorly marked. Many folks differ with me.

Pat

I think you'll be able to see the museums and other attractions you've listed in four days. Didn't get a chance to visit the El Pardo palace -- am not sure how long a visit there would require, and if memory serves, it's a bit of a hike away (not quite a day trip's distance away, but further out than one might expect).

Four days is a bit tight to include a day trip, but if you want to do one, I'd consider (in descending order of preference for me) Toledo (yes, the cathedral there is wonderful, as are the El Grecos in the Santa Cruz Museum and elsewhere), El Escorial (skip Vallee de los Caidos if it's open, though), Segovia, and Aranjuez (all are well worth it, though). Note that as fine as the palace in Aranjuez is, it may be palace overkill after Madrid's Palacio Real and El Pardo.

Incredible. I appreciate the feedback from everyone, particularly the detailed responses and local (thank you Revulgo2) advice. The above are options and we plan to relax some (no kids!) and try to do some of each (wife loves art museums though...) and you are helping me to prioritize. I will look at more formal guides again to compare to your feedback, but thank you! I did look the forum with Madrid in the subject...you may note blatant cut and pastes.

I have another question. How is the wifi availability? I've read that it was pretty widely available. With a few great apps (TextFree, Skype, I plan to avoid ATT on my iPhone the entire time unless absolutely necessary.

For a flamenco night, I would have started with a performance at Casa Patas. 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. http://www.casapatas.com/

In the end of December Auxi Fernández (25) and Kelian Jimenez (29) dances at Casa Patas. They have danced in the companies of two of the world's most famous flamenco dancers, she with Sara Baras and he with Antonio Canales. Here, Fernández, in a previous performance at Casa Patas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq2CJjGia4g

After the performance, I would suggest the flamenco bar La Candela in C/ del Olmo 2 (Close to Casa Patas) over La Soleá which has become somewhat touristy after it moved to the popular "tapas street" Cava Baja.
http://www.travelinginspain.com/madrid/lavapies2.htm

To get you in the Andalucía mood, you might want to start the night at Casa Granada. Restaurant on the 6th floor of an apartment building just off Plaza Tirso de Molina (Close to Casa Patas). Hard to find and a great terrace. http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Vide...ada-Video.html

I second Revulgo's recommendation of genuine Casa Revuelta over Casa Labra. http://11870.com/pro/casa-revuelta

You should visit 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. Watch sunset from here, and you would never want to leave. http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarApl...ntificador=179
http://11870.com/pro/circulo-bellas-artes

Fabulous!! Thank you! The video links are perfect.

El Greco's famous painting "View and Plan of Toledo" is on display at the Prado through February 27, 2011. It is usually at the El Greco Museum in Toledo.

"You should visit Café del Círculo de Bellas Artes in down town Calle Alcalá, 42. One of the city's most emblematic cafés. '

Another great spot . Loved it !