We're traveling to Madrid next week and are looking for advice on walking or personal tours of the major sites--more of an overview so we can explore on our own later. Thanks!

Historical Madrid is pretty condensed in a relatively small area, so it is pretty easy to wander out with a good guidebook. That said, there are many options to do this, including guided visit in your language. I heard good reviews about http://www.madridatuaire.com/ They keep the groups 4-30 max.

The Madrid Vision bus tour is actually good; I took the Barcelona version and I thought was a great way to get a feel for the lay of the land.

Have fun in Madrid! I love this unique city!

Here is one option, but I have no personal experience:


http://www.wellsoc.org/

bookmarking

maryindiana,
Ditto to the Madrid Vision hop-on, hop-off panoramic bus tours (on red double-decker busses with audio in several languages).

It's an easy way to get a good overview of the entire city to get your bearings. It costs €16 for one day. Madrid Vision offers 2 routes, historical Madrid and modern Madrid. You can buy your ticket on the bus at any stop. For the seasonal hours and more info see
www.madridvision.es

If you're looking for a very inexpensive walking tour with official guide, you might also consider one of the "Discover Madrid" tours run by the Tourist Board.

They offer 13 different guided tours in English for €3,20 (for 3 tours, the price is 2.85).

Tours depart from the Tourism Center in the Plaza Mayor (#27), open daily from 9:30-8:30. Groups are limited to 30.

The English tours are given Mon. at 10 am, and Tues-Sat. at noon and 4 pm.
See them all at
http://tinyurl.com/2jdyyj

Discover Madrid also has created some special guided visits for the Easter season.

Once again, terrific travel information from this forum

bookmarking for our May trip to France/Spain. Deborah

Thanks everyone! We leave tomorrow.