Got 5 hours in Madrid, what to do?

Amp and Deck said:
any additional Madrid tips would be cool - heading back on Wednesday for the first time in 21 years!
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I went three years ago with the girls but we were sight seeing not clubbing.
Spent evenings here -
http://www.mercadodesanmiguel.es/en/ and around Plaza Mayor
did a walking tour and a Tapas tour in the evening
the Prado museum is free entry after a certain time (6pm?) and i enjoyed that
We walk a lot too so just followed a few online tours and stopped off for food and drinks. In fact this city break we didnt use any public transport at all, just walked.


@cunninghamali is your best bet
 
diver said:
I went three years ago with the girls but we were sight seeing not clubbing.
Spent evenings here -
http://www.mercadodesanmiguel.es/en/ and around Plaza Mayor
did a walking tour and a Tapas tour in the evening
the Prado museum is free entry after a certain time (6pm?) and i enjoyed that
We walk a lot too so just followed a few online tours and stopped off for food and drinks. In fact this city break we didnt use any public transport at all, just walked.


@cunninghamali is your best bet
Click to expand...


cool, cheers Diver. Just there one night then getting the overnight train to Lisbon for easter
 
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attra...-Reviews-Devour_Madrid_Food_Tours-Madrid.html

We did this tour on the first evening we arrived – we found it a really good way to get to know the city as you will walk around different parts on the tour. It is a little steep but it does include all food and drink and you’ll go to about 5 or 6 different places and have some food and drink in each one. They’ll give you a bit of history as you work your way around as well. Nice way to spend an evening.

If you decide not to do the tour, my favourite place that we visited on the tour was this place:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187514-d2323730-Reviews-Taberna_Real-Madrid.html

It’s a bit spit and sawdust but very Spanish and they do food and drink that is traditional and reasonable in price.

http://en.restaurantealbora.com/

This place has a Michelin star, but I wouldn’t book the restaurant and just get tapas in the taperia downstairs as it was much more buzzy. It is in quite a flashy area but is handy if you are going to the Bernabeu as it is on the way there.

Retiro park was lovely to visit too
 
Yeah I loved it there - but you're probably exposed to that kind of place quite regularly so may not impress you as much but great for a vermut and some jamon!
 
@diver ....you remembered i live. In madrid;)

Things to do....all of the above....gran via nice for shopping and walk
Chueca.. nice for drinks and shops
Retiro park
El sol...nice buildings..food...shopping
 
RENFE (spanish trains) catering staff on strike this week so pre-packed bocadillos and warm vino it is...

had been hoping to lord it up in the restaurant car with all the poshos

looking forward to the Lisbon part of the trip too. will probably stick to English as I've heard they don't like the Spanish assuming they understand Spanish!
 
Madrid/Lisbon Easter mini-tour, mini-review

We flew to Madrid stayed a night and then got the train to Lisbon

Madrid LIKES
Cuevas Sesamo – awesome bar with a live pianist, a lanced bull's head and proverbs adorning all the walls / ceilings
Amargo Place To Be bar – interesting fusion food in basement with live music. Very intimate vibe. Superb.
Botanical Gardens / Retiro park at Cibeles – amazing amount of green space in Madrid (something criminally missing in BCN) + the astonishing indoor jungle at Atocha station – nice to remember it for something other than bombs/destruction
Charmatin railway station – an actual indoor water cascade down the walls
The neighbourhood between Atocha and Anton Martin – endless fun (the idea that BCN is inherently more surrealist is increasingly I think a myth)
Top views from the top of the Centro Centro building at Cibeles – even if Madrid doesn’t quite have the BCN skyline
Caixa Forum – top design, especially the part building/part-shrub (see Instagram feed)

Madrid DISLIKES
People on the rob – we’d been in town 5 minutes. my gf luckily managed to grab her bag back and get a punch in
Buskers playing deafening half-arsed renditions of the LAMBADA on accordions. On Repeat. PLEASE f*** OFF!
English football hoolies in town for the Atletico game, letting the side down (as ever) jeering about Spain/Gibraltar and keeping us awake at The Palacios Fuencarral. PLEASE f*** OFF!
The Palacios Fuencarral not providing towels
Prado queues/gormless tourists – don’t even go there
Congreso de Diputados - wanted to get a picture of the coup d'etat bullet holes in the ceiling but they wouldn't let us in

Lisbon LIKES
The 10 hour night train from Madrid to Lisbon – my lifelong love affair with sleeper trains continues
Bairro Alto – a dense warren of narrow cobbled streets where all the fun is. Cheesy fado and bars with crooners trying to be Chris Isaak or Astrud Gilberto.
Our AirBNB – the owner Anasus (a slightly eccentric actress from Porto) was so lovely and welcoming. Details on request.
The Time Out Food Market – special mention to the Henrique Sa Pessoa stall. Suckling pork from heaven.
You can smoke cigs in bars. And weed is more or less legal. [Yet oddly we didn’t notice much of either being smoked. Not clear what lessons to be extrapolated there…]
The Tuk-tuks and trams. Tourist cheese but tat quotient refreshingly low compared to BCN.
People are so relaxed and nice.

Lisbon DISLIKES
The smell of piss everywhere + steepness of hills (although the multi-escalator route up from Chiado station is a work of art in itself).
Missing LX club – wanted to check out Tiago et al – but chose the wrong weekend

You obviously see next to nothing on a whistlestop 5 day tour but really enjoyed both cities. I hadn’t been to Madrid in 20 years and I can’t quite believe it was a first trip to Portugal at the age of 42…!
 
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