I will be in Madrid for a Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, I'll be in a meeting all day Friday and half day on Saturday. This is my first trip to Madrid and I'm looking for suggestions on must see things -- yet I'll only have Friday evening and Sat. afternoon/evening. I'm considering spending Saturday afternoon at a museum -- maybe the Prado? Any other suggestions? thanks!

I am always amazed at how many people who post here say they are "disappointed" with Madrid and direct you to rush off to Seville, and other spots. If you want to be in one of the most important museums ANYWHERE then you won't be disappointed with the Prado. You might also consider touring the royal palace (especially if you're into marble adornment). Be prepared for the fact that folks in Madrid like to eat LATE...like 10 or 11 PM...and it can be magic, especially on a Friday night at an open-air place. Try to sneak out of that Saturday meeting EARLY

I was in Madrid last weekend and, although it's very much a matter of personal taste, I don't think I'd want to spend my time in a museum on such a short visit, I'd much prefer to see something of the city.<BR><BR>An excellent way to do this, especially if the weather is good, is to buy a day ticket for the Madrid Vision open top buses. They have 3 circular routes which cover most of the city and cross each other at several points. You get a running commentary of what you're seeing through headphones and can hop on and off wherever you please. Good places to stop and enjoy a drink are the Retiro park and the Plaza Mayor. The Retiro is particularly good on a Saturday afternoon, when the locals come out for a stroll and there are street entertainers all over the park.

What a coincidence- I just found out I will also have a free Friday &amp; Saturday to spend in Madrid prior to the start of a work trip...&amp; its next week! Normally I'm someone who obsessively reads &amp; studies lots of guidebooks but at such short notice I won't be able to do too mcuh so I would appreciate any suggestions for nice &amp; central areas to concentrate on in trying to find a hotel &amp; any other tips for things to see &amp; do - the hop on-off bus sounds ideal. Many thanks!

Lucy, we stayed at the Best Western Aorsa and thought it was a pleasant hotel in an ideal location. It's on a side street, just off the Gran Via, which is great for shops, cinemas, bars and restaurants. The Puerta del Carmen - a pretty and relatively quiet square - is a minute's walk from the front entrance and Puerta del Sol (the heart of Madrid) just a couple of minutes further on.<BR><BR>Because the weather was so glorious the weekend we were there, we preferred to spend most of our time outdoors, rather than visiting galleries and museums, etc., but we felt that we should take the time to see at least one &quot;cultural&quot; site and decided on the royal palace. Although it was reasonably interesting, I suppose that, coming from a country with more than its fair share of historical palaces, mansions and castles, our palates are somewhat jaded and we probably didn't appreciate it as much as someone might who has nothing like that in their home country.<BR><BR>Incidentally, if anyone has been to the Crystal Palace in the Retiro Park recently, I'd be interested to hear their opinions. We first thought that they were in the process of turning it into some sort of &quot;planted greenhouse&quot;, with the freshly dug earth floor and bits of scaffolding. It was only when we saw the signs that we realised that it wasn't a work in progress, but a finished &quot;art installation&quot;. Are we total philistines?

Sorry for the typo - the hotel was the Arosa!

Def. visit either the Prado or the Reina Sofia, depending on your taste in art. Prado has older works, R. Sofia, modern works including Guernica by Picasso. Both were amazing and as long as you are focused on what you want to see, pretty easy to pop in and out of. Enjoy!

Thank you so much Xenos - the Arosa sounds ideal for my purposes &amp; so I've already booked a room.<BR>I love art traveler212 so will definitely make it at least to the Prado if not both....I can't wait!

I hope you enjoy your stay Lucy. BTW don't be put off by the hotel entrance, which is tiny at street level. The real reception is on the 2nd floor and is reached by a pair of slightly eccentric lifts.

I'm sure I'll love it Xenos!<BR>Did you catch their airport shuttle bus from the airport? And if so did you have to let them know beforehand or just turn up at gate 2 where I think it picks up from?<BR>Thanks again...

ps. in case it wasn't clear I meant the Arosa's shuttle bus.

I'm just back from a quick visit to Madrid. I agree with the fodorites who recommended that you get out into the streets and walk - particularly in the evening. The most enjoyable experience I had was an evening &quot;tapas crawl&quot;: a local acquaintance took me on a walking tour, with frequent pit stops in tapas bars for refreshments. Unfortunately, I can't specify the itinerary (those little drinks add up!), but it was mostly south of Gran Via. I do remember &quot;La Casa de Abuelo I&quot; (grandfather's house). There are actually three and we visited two. Number 1 serves amazing peel-and-eat shrimp, and it's listed in the recent Rough Guide. So head out in the evening, and come home at dawn.

Lucy, yes we used the shuttle bus. You don't have to let them know in advance - officially they leave every hour on the hour from the bus stop outside Terminal 2. In practice (on our trip anyway), this means that one bus will turn up at about 10 to the hour, find out who is going where and then call for as many other buses as they need. <BR><BR>The bus company was called &quot;Julia's&quot;, I think, and they seemed to run mini-buses for lots of different hotels. We stopped at a couple of other Best Western Hotels on the way to the Arosa, but on the whole it seemed to us a lot less hassle than having to negotiate the metro with luggage. The journey to the hotel was free (paid for by the Arosa) and cost us 6 Euros each for the return, which does have to be booked and paid for in advance.<BR><BR>I don't know if you got breakfast included in your room rate (we didn't), but if not, we found a little cafe close to the hotel which served great coffee with either pastries or churros for about 2 Euros and seemed to be a favourite breakfast venue for local people. Just turn right out of the hotel entrance, walk through Puerta del Carmen keeping the square on your left, go straight down the little street at the far side of the square where the church is and the cafe is directly opposite you when you come to the end of that street. There are lots of other cafes that serve breakfast, but this one was handy because it was on the way to Puerta del Sol, where we seemed to start from every day and it had a good &quot;local&quot; feel to it.<BR><BR>Lastly, I second Kate's recommendation to get out and walk around. We didn't use the metro at all during our visit, just walked everywhere, or used the open-top buses to venture further afield.

Re: museums: Although Guernica was quite impressive (must have spent 20 minutes at that piece alone)I was otherwise quite disapointed with the Reina Sofia and much preferred the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum and would tell anyone going to madrid not to miss it.