• Start Here
    • Get Inspired
    • How to Save For a Trip
    • How to Plan Your Trip
    • Get the Right Gear
    • Find Cheap Airfare
    • Find Affordable Accommodation
    • Deal with Life on the Road
    • Save Money on the Road
    • Couples Travel
    • Solo Female Travel
    • Family and Senior Travel
  • Blog
    • Latest Posts
    • My Favorite Hostels in New Zealand
    • My 7 Reasons to Visit Iceland
    • How You Can Help Create the Next Generation of Responsible Travelers
    • Popular Posts
    • Everyone Says I’m Running Away
    • The Ultimate Guide to Traveling Cheap
    • Why Travel Makes You Awesome
  • Destinations
  • Resources
    • Accommodation
    • Flights
    • Travel Insurance
    • Guidebooks
    • Favorite Companies
    • Travel Courses

The Top Things to See and Do in Madrid

June 5, 2013 / By NomadicMatt

view of the city of madrid
My first time in Madrid was a failure. I got sick and only ended up making it out for half a day before retreating back into bed, cursing a cold that kept me from experiencing one of Europe’s great cities.

On my train trip through Europe last month, I entered Madrid tired from an overnight train but in wonderful health, and I set out to right a wrong. Madrid would be explored, dissected, drank, and eaten through.

A couple of weeks ago, I took you on a food tour of Madrid. This week’s Wednesday video highlights the top six things I loved about the city.


(Want more travel videos? Subscribe to my YouTube channel here and get free videos!)

Madrid has a lot more to offer than what’s included in this video, from food tours to flamenco dancing to outstanding nightlife to a growing gin-and-tonic obsession.

You’ll never be bored in Madrid. There are so many things to do there, but the activities mentioned in this video will give you a good starting point.

Recent Posts

  • My Favorite Hostels in New Zealand
  • My 7 Reasons to Visit Iceland
  • How You Can Help Create the Next Generation of Responsible Travelers
  • 13 Great Reasons to Visit New Zealand
  • How to Be More Interesting While Traveling

Categories

  • Africa
  • Airlines
  • America
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Caribbean
  • Central America
  • Couples Travel
  • Europe
  • Family Travel
  • Female Travel
  • Interviews
  • LGBT Travel
  • Middle East
  • New Zealand
  • Random Musings
  • Saturday City
  • South America
  • Travel Advice
  • Travel Gear
  • Travel Lists
  • Travel Tips
  • Unusual Places

My Books & Guides

My New Print Guide

My Other Awesome Books

Want to share your tips and advice? Got questions? Visit the community forum to ask questions, get answers, meet people, and share your tips!

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • google+
  • email

Related Posts

  1. Taking a Delicious Food Tour in Madrid
  2. How to Spend Four Days in Madrid
  3. What’s It Like Taking a Night Train in Europe?

Get this free travel case study guide - and my best tips!

Enter your email to see how I helped real readers plan, save, and go on the trip of a life time. You'll get actionable steps you can use to travel anywhere - no matter your income or where you're from!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.
  1. Josh

    June 5, 2013 at 10:41 am

    A place I’d highly recommend in Madrid is the Joaquin Sorolla Museum. It’s a beautiful building with his paintings and his studio preserved and still active. Sorolla was a great underrated Impressionist painter if you don’t know. Highly recommended!

  2. Shaun

    June 5, 2013 at 1:46 pm

    Great video Matt! I like that you’ve been doing more of them.

    Madrid gets undeserved bad rep when really it’s a world class city. Thanks for sharing and I’d like to see more videos like this of other cities.

  3. Cat

    June 6, 2013 at 2:36 am

    Dude, agreed on the allergies in Spain – mine have been RAMPANT this year down South! Madrid is a city that has really grown on me, particularly because each neighborhood has such a different feel. I usually spend weekend in La Capital just wandering around and grabbing camas with friends.

  4. Glen Tibaldeo

    June 12, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    Awesome tour of Madrid! I have to admit it conjured up a little envy as I sat here watching it behind my laptop. And I just got back from two weeks in Hawaii. No matter how much we travel, we always want to see more :-).

  5. Phil

    June 13, 2013 at 7:44 am

    Dude, what about barrio Chueca, barrio La Latina, mercado San Anton, parque Retiro? All these places definitely deserve to be mentioned.

    According to the places you visited, it seems that you stayed in the same square mile in the city centre.

    To my opinion, Madrid is the most complete city in Europe: great history and many monuments, big boulevards, very clean, green area’s, great food, awesome party locations, bars and disco’s, nice hotels, friendly people, perfect public transport (metro), etc. The only downside is that it has no beach. That’s Barcelona’s one advantage!

    • NomadicMatt

      June 14, 2013 at 11:46 am

      I only had three days so I did only stay in the city center. There’s only so much time in a day!

  6. Si

    July 2, 2013 at 3:50 am

    My first trip to Madrid was a failure, too – I had my backpack stolen on the way there! As a result, I have only very bad memories of my time there, moping around and feeling sorry for myself. I think I’ll have to get back on the horse, so to speak, and give it another go.

  7. Ross

    August 28, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    I like the list. I didn’t see the navel museum but the Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace are great spots. A super city with great architecture.

  8. NomadicMatt

    May 3, 2017 at 8:15 am

    Hey everyone! Due to the age of this post and the difficulty in moderating lots of posts spam, comments here have been turned off. If you would like to continue the discussion, head over to the forums at http://forums.nomadicmatt.com and chat there! I post frequently and reply to threads on the boards! See ya there! Thanks! – Matt

About Us

  • About Matt
  • Copyright
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Community

  • Travel Forum
  • Book Club
  • FLYTE
  • Guidebooks

Travel Tips

  • Start Here
  • Travel Blog
  • Destination Guides
  • Travel Resources

Media School

  • Blogging Course
  • Photography Course
  • Travel Writing Course
  • Travel Video Course

Book Your Trip

  • Accommodation
  • Cheap Flights
  • Travel Insurance
  • Suggested Companies

Search

Follow Me on the Web

Copyright © 2018 · Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site