Hello,

My family of 4 (2 grown daughters) will have about 3.5 days in Madrid in mid-December. I'd appreciate advice on neighborhoods to stay in that are close to the sights and good for restaurants, etc. I'm thinking about renting a small apartment instead of booking hotel rooms. I noted a nice sounding apt. near the Tirso de Molina square in the La Latina district. Any thoughts on this vs. other neighborhoods?

I'd also appreciate advice on not-to-be missed places. We love markets, shopping, small and unusual museums, and especially love good restaurants!

Many thanks in advance.

I would not miss a day trip to nearby Toledo - fantastic Toledo - romantically old with a churches galore that are highly recorated - Modern is basically a modern city with broad busy boulevards - Toledo has ancient lanes and heaps of history. Just an hour or less by train.

I stayed at an apt in an area bordering La Latina. I was lucky it was on a reasonably quiet plaza. But many streets in La Latina are very boisterous, with bars/ cafes, restaurants and people congregating on the squares and drinking (the latter is called "el botellón). I would ask for references of prior tenants and ask them if noise was a problem.

If you like lamb, I highly recommend the rest. La Posada de la Villa, on Cava Baja, near Plaza Mayor.

Toledo is nice, other people (like me) prefer Segovia. However, if you only have 3 days I suggest you concentrate having fun in Madrid.

Highly recommend that you check www.maribelguides.com and her Madrid guide.

Here is some info on restaurants, and sights, from my stay in Madrid earlier this year:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...k-in-spain.cfm

I second the recommendationof La Posada de la Villa for a Madrid restaurant.

A wonderful small museum is Museo Sorolla, which was the painter's home. Lovely garden. An oasis on an otherwise noisy thoroughfare in Madrid.

We were in Madrid for 3.5 days in September, our first time there. Really enjoyed it. We were in a hotel not an apartment and stayed near the Thyssen and Prado museums. found it to be a very convenient location, but we walked all over the city. Were in La Latina neighborhood and can see how one of the other posters said it could be loud and boisterous depending on the street you were on.
As for a good market, we loved the Mercado de San Miguel, right behind Plaza Mayor. A great place to try some really good food. Were in there at different times of day and was very crowded and lively. If you will be there on a Sunday, I recommend checking out the Rastro, right in the La Latina area. The ultimate street fair/market. A lot of the stuff is kind of touristy, but my wife really enjoyed looking at the jewelry, and it was just a lot of fun to walk around and check out what they were selling.
Good luck and have a great trip.

Plaza Tirso de Molina is very nice, central but a more local atmosphere than the famous and close by Plaza Mayor and Plaza Santa Ana.

Some nice cafés with outdoor terraces here, for example Taberna Tirso de Molina. Just off the square, you'll find Taberna de Antonio Sánchez from 1830. Used to be a meeting place for bull fighters and intellectuals in the 19th century, and still lots of atmosphere, great house red from the barrel and traditional Madrid specialities. http://11870.com/pro/taberna-antonio-sanchez

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

And, of course, Plaza Tirso de Molina is very close to one of the absolute best tapas and resturant districts in Madrid, in and around Calle Cava Baja (Posada de la Villa, mentioned above, is in Cava Baja). Txirimiri in Calle del Humilladero, 6 gives you an idea of why the Basque kitchen is considered among the best in the world. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ri-Madrid.html

I never leave Madrid without having had the famous cod at Casa Revuelta, also in the same area.
http://11870.com/pro/casa-revuelta

Experience world class flamenco at Casa Patas. One of the best - if not the best - tablaos in the city and close to Plaza Tirso de Molina. 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. http://www.casapatas.com/

The Chueca and Malasaña area, north of Gran Vía and 15 mins walking from Tirso de Molina, 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

Plaza Tirso de Molina is close to the main museums, within 15 mins walking of both Reina Sofía, Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza. I like the newly renovated National Archeological museum, also within walking distance: http://www.muselia.com/spain/madrid/...gical-museum/5

Here you'll also meet the about 2500 years old sculptures of Dama de Elche and Dama de Baza, some of the most famous archeological finds in Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Elche
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Baza

This site has all kinds of updated info on Madrid: http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do

Thank you all for the helpful information. We plan to finalize the apartment near Plaza Tirso de Molina having received assurances from the owner that the apartment is quite quiet, around the corner and down a few buildings from the Plaza. The location seems terrific. We really appreciate the information on restaurants and places. One additional question. In many of our travels, we've hired a guide/driver for the first day to get a sense of the city, some history, local stories, etc. Is this something you recommend for Madrid? And any recommendations for a guide company?

Many thanks!

If you make a daytrip, Segovia is more suitable for kids than Toledo.

Walking tours arranged by the Madrid Tourist Board
http://www.esmadrid.com/descubremadr...2?IDM=127&NM=1

<< We love small and unusual museums >>
Costume Museum
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1257&tipo=1

Thanks for all the information from everyone,
I will be in Madrid Spring 2012 and have made many notes.

We recently returned from Madrid, and enjoyed the city a lot; much more than we thought we would! While it's a "modern" city, having been founded much later than the other well-known cities in Spain or in other countries, it's still pretty old by U.S. standards, and we found the inner city very scenic. It seemed we came upon yet another lovely plaza filled with cafes every other block.

Even though the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is on many lists of museums in Madrid, it's not huge, and we liked it's diverse and quirky collection. It reminded us (except for being in a modern building) of the Frick (in NYC) or the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum (in Boston) - pictures not necessarily in order, so that we'd rather unexpectedly happen upon an early Van Gogh, or a Whistler, and similar.

We took a tour of the Prado with Madrid Museum Tours. It was very interesting, and the guide pointed out things about paintings and artists that didn't appear in any of our guides. A friend (that's who recommended the company to me) took a day-long tour with them, that included a walking tour of the city, and couldn't have spoken more highly about their day.

Thanks so much for the responses. One follow up question: Revulgo recommends Segovia vs. Toledo for a day-trip? Why? My kids are grown (22 and 20) so maybe Revulgo was referring to younger kids? In general, which do people recommend if we can't see both? I'm also having trouble figuring out train schedules. The schedules leaving Atocha (at least for Toledo) aren't posted for December, and my Spanish isn't good, but I think I'm reading notices that there are schedule changes underway? Any insight on that?

We only visited Toledo, which we enjoyed very much (me, DH and 12yo DD). I'm guessing that Revulgo was thinking your kids were child-aged, not adults.

On the train schedules, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Looks like the trains to Toledo run pretty frequently, and even if there are schedule changes, they would still run pretty frequently, just maybe at slightly different times.

3 days in Madrid will go by so fast there's not really sufficient time for a daytrip. Although Toledo is my choice because I love El Greco and the museum is back open again.

Oh and download Maribelsguides.com for tons of great restaurants, shopping, etc. Madrid is a pretty cool city.

Thanks again,

Our plans have changed a bit and we'll now have 4 full days in Madrid, so we were thinking that a day trip would be ok, especially to see a more 'traditional' city. But another question: is everything shut down on Sundays, even in big cities like Madrid? If so, do you have any special suggestions for Sundays?

Don't know what you mean by shut down, Sundays are very lively in Madrid and should be experienced! Many shops would be shut, but you can get anything you want in huge shopping centers such as El Corte Inglés just off central Puerta del Sol. Perfect for museums or a walk in the lovely Retiro park, and Sunday is a huge day for going out for lunch with family and friends all over Spain. In Madrid people flock to bars to drink vermouth (vermú) and have some tapas before going for a several hours lunch at about 1.30-2pm.

The famous Rastro market are held on Sundays, and bars and restaurants all over the Plaza Mayor/Latina area will be full of people. http://www.whatmadrid.com/sunday-madrid.html