Romantic Madrid on a budget !?
 

Hello,

Can anybody please give me some original ideas for romantic places/restaurants/bars in Madrid?
We booked a hostel, but perhaps you know an affordable romantic hotel for one night?

Thanks a lot!

Check out http://www.madridman.com for suggestions for budget accommodation. Do you mean you booked a hostal (with an "a", and these are more like pensiones) or an actual hostel? What is the name of the place?

Sign up for the special offers at http://www.solmelia.com . Depending when you're going, you may get an excellent rate for a 3* or 4* hotel.

Hi WillTravel,

I've been to Madrid before on a student exchange, and I booked again at the hostal we stayed back then. It's Hostal Goya on Costanilla de los Angeles (Metro: Santo Domingo). I remember their rooms being decent and clean with a private bathroom, but that's about it. It's 38€ for a double, kind of hard to beat that, huhm!

Thanks for your hints though.

So how about the romance, people? We're going in March, so it might be a bit too cold for a picnic in the Retiro Park...

ttt

Anyone?

Hi

You didn't say what time of year you are going which can make a difference on rates. Have you looked at - http://www.hotelinturpalacio.com. Good value for a 4 star.

As for dining, an evening meal at the Plaza Santa Ana is really atmospheric and very romantic. Finish off at San Ginés Chocolateria, Calle de Coloreros. It's at the end of the street and serves hot chocolate and churros (sticks of fried dough). Death by chocolate! My favourite tapas bar is Alhambra, Calle Victoria 9 (near Puerta del Sol).

Best of luck

I did have hot chocolate from San Gines, as also recommended in my Time Out guide, and I was underwhelmed. I know it must be popular, based on the recommendations, but it seemed very average to me.

As I'm leaving in 2 days, I'm giving this another chance. Still waiting for the web weekends specials from SolMelia as WillTravel suggested, and will try the churros con chocolate from San Gines.

Any other suggestions for romantic places to go, things to do? In the mean time I found this myself:

http://www.medianmayrit.com

It seems like a wonderful place!

What might be romantic is an overnight in Toledo.

My daughter is in Madrid right now and says it was 70 today and suggests the park - nice and free. She has been going to eat in the Chueca area for menu del dia - usually around 9E at lunch.

If you're there on a Sunday don't miss Retiro Park: beginning around 11 AM the Street Performers are doing their thing from el Puerto de Alcalá to the rowboat lake (pond?). Once we enjoyed a Cantaor de Flamenco tocando guitarra and cantando some familiar Canciónes for about a half hour. There are mimes, guitarristas and musical groups from South America etc., etc.

Sorry, I can't recommend Restaurantes & Bares: like kybourbon's daughter, we usually stop for a menu del día in tabernas. Sometimes one hits it lucky and encounters a romantic place

Hi stardust,

first of all, check the weather forecast. It is beautiful right now, but it seems that we will have rain next weekend (not so nice).

If you are looking for romance, forget about the Retiro park and head for the best sunset in Madrid at the Temple of Debod. It´s an ancient egyptian temple moved to Spain after the building of the Aswan Dam. It is located in the old Cuartel de la Montaña area, near Plaza de España and Calle Princesa. It overlooks the Casa de Campo, and due to its orientation it is really gorgeous there in the evenings.

Another good place would be the park by the Suances metro stop in the line 5. It is called "Parque Quinta de los Molinos", and all the almond trees are blooming right now. It belonged to an well-known architect, and after his death in the late Seventies it became a public park. Big, quiet and not something you would be expecting in Madrid. I find it far nicer than all the cheesy performers around the Retiro lake.

The "Parque del Capricho" near the metro stop Campo de las Naciones (in the airport metro line) is another of the small jewels in Madrid.

But if it is raining ... the Thyssen has a couple of good exhibitions going on : "Russian Avantgarde" and a Trecento italian paintings one, all around one of the Fra Angelico´s that went to the New York exhibition. The March Foundation has an Otto Dix exhibition going on (and this one is free).

For dinner, I like "Cafe Oliver" in Almirante. Maybe the food is not so spanish, but it is quite good. A small and interesting tapas-cum-restaurant place is Txueca, in Vazquez de Mella square, in the Chueca neighboorhood, near the Gran Via. The restaurants at the Hotel de las Letras and the Reina Sofia Art Centre are also quite good, but you should book in advance, at least before Thursday. For a pre-dinner cocktail, try the Glass Bar in the Hotel Urban, or the Chicote in the Gran Via (plenty of ambiance, lots of history from the time when Ava Gardner used to live in Madrid, but also quite good in the evenings and the night, it has come back like a phoenix).

Kind regards, Cova

Hola Cova!!!! Long time no see....(or read)

Thank you so much everybody!

stardust, when are you leaving? I have cards for some of the restaurants and addresses for the places at home, so I could post them tonight.

Hi Mari, I am swamped with work at the moment, but I managed to squeeze a great weekend in Venice. Back last Sunday, and I really loved it ;)

Bye, Cova

Hi cova, I'm leaving home tomorrow morning, so if you could still post them tonight, that would be great! Thank you so much!

We just came back from a wonderful week in Madrid. Thank you all for your suggestions. Unfortunately, we were not able to explore every place you suggested, but let me post now what I found to be the most romantic spots:

- We just loved all the parks. Retiro on Sunday was nice, enjoying the sun and the music from people with djembes, though not extremely romantic (too crowded for that). The templo de Debod was great, although it just got cloudy when we got there, so no marvelous sunset. But also the Jardines Sabatini, Campo de Moro, etc. were wonderful. We most enjoyed watching the Madrid skyline from the lake at the Casa del Campo (although the surroundings may be a bit dodgy).

- As for restaurants, we had a wonderful menu del dia (11€) on the roof terrace of El Viajero (Plaza de la Cebada 11), in the La Latina district. We also loved Finca de Susana (C/Arlaban 4 - metro Sevilla), great food in a wonderful surrounding, but cheap because the staff are students from a catering school. We also went to the opera in the Teatro Real (La Bohème, fabulous!), and the restaurant of the opera looked extremely romantic, but I couldn't see the menus so I don't know about the prices (probably expensive).

We ate at some other great places, but I'll have to look up the addresses before I post them.

Hi

Thanks for the feedback. Please do post a trip report. Keen to hear where you stayed etc.