Madrid (Spain) > Reviews > Madrid, The City that shouldn't exist....

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Sightseeing
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around

Advantages:	Lively, great for culture, food, shopping
Disadvantages:	Extremes of temperatures, can be noisy all night

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Madrid is one of those cities, like Brasilia or Islamabad, which were invented for political reasons, rather than springing up organically because it had a natural harbour, or was on a confluence of rivers, or a fertile plain. It shouldn't really exist, perched as it is deep in the dusty interior of Spain, intolerably hot at the height of summer, and often bitterly cold in winter. It's the artificial capital of a maritime nation, a seafood loving nation, stranded as far from the sea as is possible on the Iberian peninsula.

Yet despite everything, including the still recent dull, soul sapping Francoist interregnum, Madrid is a thrilling city to visit, with something for everyone (except beach lovers, obviously).

It's possible to stay cheaply in Madrid in one of the many hostales lurking in places like Fuencarral off the Gran Via. These are usually clean enough, often with private facilities, and much better than anything you could get in London for the price. They offer a glimpse of what it's really like to live in the Spanish capital (including constant noise!). But finding a good deal at a 'proper' hotel is often easy enough, either online, or at the hotel booking desk at Barajas Airport.

You can get the lowdown on Madrid's glorious museums and galleries from any guidebook, though my favourite is the Reina Sofia, for what it's worth. But guidebooks don't tell you how to get a good meal! Don't despise the cheap Menu Del Dia at lunchtime - it's what every self-respecting Madrilleno eats. It's a guarantee that the food is fresh and freshly cooked, and often gives you 3 filling courses with wine or beer for as little as 6 Euros all in. I look for any bar or cafeteria with a Menu Del Dia and a queue of people in overalls at the bar waiting for a table. That's a guarantee of authenticity!

Spain had a sizeable empire even before Britain, and if I can't recommend imperialism, the good aspect of it is that it ensures a cosmopolitan population. That's great when you realise it means live Latin music almost everywhere!

Recently I've noticed that Madrillenos have been changing their drinking habits. It used to be that young people drank soft drinks, beer or spirits and mixers, and only really old men drank wine, usually out of a tumbler. These days many bars are wising up to the excellence of Spanish viniculture and offering great wines by the glass. On a hot evening try a glass of chilled Rueda, preferably a Verdejo, a white wine that at its best challenges the likes of Sauvignon Blanc, or Pinot Grigio. But don't forget to end a meal with a coffee and a chupito, a tiny glass of hierbas or other liqueur. Often the waiter will give you a glass and dump the bottle on the table for you to help yourself! Don't be a Brit and drink the lot!

Shopping in Madrid is good, though increasingly the best shops are in out of town malls on the motorways. Some of these can be reached by bus or train, but as in the UK, it helps to have a car. Designers like Adolfo Dominguez are much cheaper in Spain - even chains like Zara and Mango are cheaper over there.

Madrid isn't beautiful like Paris, nor does it have the spendid location of Barcelona. It had some monumental buildings, but there no special monuments that are of world class. Rather it's the city as a whole, as a kind of organism that makes it worth visiting.

I've been going regularly to Madrid for years, and though it's often noisy and crowded, there's rarely the edge of danger you get almost any night in the UK's city centres. Some reviews here have warned about places like Chueca, but I love the place. Some side streets may have the odd dodgy looking addict to frighten you off, but in the many busy thoroughfares it's a pretty safe place at any time of day or night unless you're wearing a T shirt with 'MUG' written on it and have a state of the art digital camcorder around your neck and a Louis Vuitton bag in your hand. So enjoy!