Carlota, we are going to be in Madrid for 3 nights on 9/6, 7, 8, staying at the Westin Palace. We'd love to hear your restaurant recommendations, shopping tips, etc. Thanks!

Thanks for the explanation, annabelle, good tips not to forget !!

Glad it may help, kenderina!

We stayed for 3 nights in Madrid in 2002 and had no trouble in finding interesting things to do and see in the city and vicinity. Its easy to spend just a day on the major art galleries.

We stayed in a small hotel near the Plazamajor (http://pics.paganel.eu/image_plazamajor.html) and found Madrid an easy city to get around.

Cheers,

Bill

Hi!!! I'd like to Know budget and expectations...but anyway I'll begin my suggestions and then you can tell me your "needs"...
In madrid there are GREAT restaurants, but they obviously depend on your budget. One of the best restaurants is "Goizeko Wellington", but is PRICEY. You can find many places to eat Tapas, around your hotel, there are many places which I dont know the name...Of the places well Known, One of the most traditional is Jose Luis, where you can eat the best spanish omelette! For the best ham you can try Meson 5 Jotas. (If you want to take some ham back, at a place called "La Garriga" in Paseo de la Castellana (Madrid's longest street) they slice it and prepare it for travelling and the quality is EXCELLENT!! they let you try it before slicing it all) For rice, there is a place they put the best rice with lobster. It's called "Gerardo". For Fresh Fish you can try "La Trainera", There are typical places like Botin (the oldest restaurant in Spain), Casa Lucio (where all the celebrities go when visiting Madrid)But please notice that they are quite expensive..I don't Know, tell me what you like and I'll continue...
For Shopping Serrano Street and area is the best!! you can find everything: Zara, Massimo Dutti, El Corte Ingles, as well as smaller chic shops, as well as the more expensive ones: Hermes, Loewe, Gucci, Prada, etc. For more modern stuff you have to go to the area around Fuencarral Street. It's like "Soho" and you can find really nice things and cool places to eat too! It's a fun area!!
I have to work now, but tell me what you think and I'll continue...

Thanks, Carlota, for all that fine information. We had been told that you can't go wrong with food in Madrid and Barcelona--we get breakfast at our hotel, so we are interested in lunch and dinner. Tapas intrigue us. Re: shopping--what would you recommend for us to bring home for ourselves and for gifts--i.e. representative of Spain but not available in the U.S. (or available in Spain at much better prices.) You sound like our kind of woman--we like to eat and we like to shop! (We also love the museums, and we really aren't terribly self-indulgent, but we only have 3 days, and we want to touch on all we can in that brief period.) Thanks for all your fine suggestions, and if you have anything to add, we will be checking.

For Tapas I'd try Jose Luis (there are several of them in calle Serrano, another near Bernabeu Stadium...) there you have to try the spanish omelette and their lemon tart Another place to have some tapas is "Lateral" (for example filet mignon with caramelized onion, or spanish morcilla, or spanish ham with tomato and olive oil, croquetas and a lovely chocolate cake. It's not very expensive
There is a nice (not expensive) restaurant called "Las Tortillas de Gabino" which is now very popular and the food is not bad...
You also have the really expensive "nouvelle cousine type" if you need info on those..
I can also recomend you asiatic (the asiatic in your hotel is one of the ebst in Madrid) italians, etc. if you prefer...
It all depends on your budget and idea :formal/informal...if you want a good dinner and then ordinary the rest of the days..
I'd take back some spanish ham and other typical products and invite your friends over when you're back...
the euro is higher than the dollar, so I'm not sure about clothes and stuff...It probably depends on the shop..I'd buy spanish brands that you cant find in USA...

I went with 5 other people for a long weekend earlier this year : we all loved it & said we'd go back.

There are also really good meat restaurants like the A"sador donostierra", (where all madrid's players go to..)or "De Maria"...
do you like sea food?

Add me to the group of people who were not impressed with Madrid. Madrid has a few streets which are charming. But for the most part Madrid is a modern city, much of which made me think of Manhattan. It has the least "European" feeling of any city I visited in Europe.

That said, I did have a few wonderful experiences:

1. Bullfight: I do not know if there is any bullfighting in September. But if there is, I recommend going. Seeing a bullfight is a fascinating cultural experience.

2. The Convento de las Descalzas Reales: beautiful wall paintings.

3. Museo de América: a wonderful collection of art objects the early Spanish explorers of America brought back to Spain

Madrid is also a good base for daytrips to other interesting cities. A visit to Toledo is especially worthwhile.

Maribel, I downloaded your files on Madrid, Barcelona and Seville. I can attest that they are truly amazing resources and you definitely have a profound love for Spain. I have picked all my hotels from there and will follow many sightseeing tips you have.

Carlota, thank you for the recommendations so far. My meal budget is usually 25-50E for my big meal of the day, but I will splurge once on vacation and pay more than that too. I just want good, authentic local cuisine in a nice atmosphere. I figure I'll live on tapas later in the day!

I can't agree that Madrid is like Chicago. All you have to do is wander a little way of the Grand Via and you'll find lots of old buildings and plazas. Try Chueca, Plaza Mayor, Lavapies etc.

i'll also be in madrid next week- staying at the villa real- and as usual i've found the fodors boards to be an invaluable resource when planning a trip. just wanted to thank carlota for her great insider tips! i know its pretty touristy but i'm looking forward to dinner at botin and will also try some of the tapas places she recommends. kate_W's tips on dealing with jet lag and adjusting to madrid timings when flying in from the US are also real helpful..i'll be arriving at about 7:30 on a weekday morning..will traffic be brutal? and about how long should it take to reach the villa real and do cabs add a baggage surcharge? i'd appreciate any input..thanks

amyb,
Thanks for your very nice comment. I truly do love the city, especially in the fall.
clove1,
Our recent taxi ride from the airport to the Plaza Neptuno (a block from the Villa Real) in 7:30 traffic took a little under 20 minutes and cost 21 euros, including the obligatory 4.60 airport supplement. There is no surcharge for bags carried in the trunk. That was eliminated in Madrid several years ago.
Hope you have a wonderful time. I like the Villa Real very much, and the location is so handy to the museum triangle. And the staff is great.

re: Tapas. What helped me get into "Madrid time" was to eat my biggest meal around 2-3 and squeeze in a little siesta later, maybe 6-7 or so. Then I felt ready to take on the night. I would meet my local friend and we would spend the next hours walking everywhere, stopping in different places to try tapas and have a drink (pace yourself!) and maybe listen to some music. You can stay out all night if you are so inclined, but I was usually beat by 1:00 or 2:00!

Madrid has a lot of different faces - it depends a LOT on which one(s) you share! ;-) My daughter did a university study year in Madrid & we could hit the ground running with her as our occasional guide. It's funny that you don't often hear comments on Fodor's about the near absence of English fluency in the Madrillenos. From shops & restaurants, to basic sightseeing, a modicum of Spanish is required and, outside of the Azores, it's pretty hard to find a population as seemingly insulated from the American tourist assault as the Andalucian region. I loved the metro & the busking musicians, the kooky Museo's de Jamon... we even took the metro out to the 'burbs to get my pals back home the requisite Harley of Madrid t-shirts! The Rastro market was fun - still have my faux-morrocan leather footstool - and little things like churros'n'chocolate at midnite near the Plaza Major, walking into Ignacio Rozas' guitar shop on Calle Major, Casa Patas flamenco tablao, the Prado, staying at a tiny hostal in the lavendar disco neighborhood, the Retiro on Sunday afternoon... I almost didn't mind the incessant smoking... Take daytrips, or over-nighter's if you find the cosmopolitan thing isn't for you - nothing's really that far, particularly if you're from the west coast and used to our travelling distances! enjoy the difference.

thanks so much maribel- i should have just checked out your incredibly informative guide instead of posting a question! i've just been getting stuck into the madrid section of your guide and it really is as exceptional as everyone says..the layout makes it really accessible and your tips are spot-on. i wonder how many tourists can be found wandering around various cities in spain at any given time, clutching well-worn printouts of the maribelguide!

clove!
Thanks very much. I'm just glad that some folks find these things helpful!
This forum is a truly amazing travel resource. I couldn't plan my trips without it.

Maribel, the only travel guide I take to Madrid is yours!! I found my way to the museo Sorolla and the Lazaro Galdiano (?) foundation and LOVED them. They were not mentioned anywhere else.

Also under your guidance, I had an AWESOME cocido madrileño at La Bola last year (it was summer and I almost fainted in the metro aftwards but that was entirely my fault for overeating )

Ronin, as Spanish is my first languange, I had never noticed the low percentage of English-speaking people in Madrid until multiple co-workers pointed it out. The really good part was that it certainly accelerated the speed at which my friends learned Spanish!

maribel, I hadn't seen your guide! very well done!!