Madrid (Spain)

Madrid

Madrid is Spain’s capital and also the largest city there. It is situated practically slap bang in the middle of Spain and is a favourite hotspot with the British for weekends away. It is populated by approximately 3.3 million people (as at December 2009) and is fast becoming a more powerful city. Madrid has quite a modern infrastructure and I was surprised to realise that they are listed (as of 2009) the 9th on the list of countries by GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Madrid is made up of districts and the most common to tourists are Centro and Retiro but all in all it has a total of 21 Districts.

Climate

The climate in Madrid is quite predictable having very cool winters and occasional snowfall. However in summer it isn’t unusual to see temperatures in the 30’s although they rarely hit the 40’s which some southern parts of Spain see in summer months. I visited in April and the weather was beautiful. The temperature remained somewhere in the 70’s for the whole 3 days and when the sun is out it can feel incredibly hot.

Travel

Getting to Madrid from the UK is incredibly easy but depends on your preference for the mode of transport you use.

Air

The main airport is Barajas which is roughly a 20 minute drive from the centre of Madrid. It is in the top twenty busiest airports in the world. Flights from the UK are frequent and you can fly from the majority of UK airports in Madrid with many different airlines. We flew from London with Ryan Air one way on a Thursday night and paid a ridiculously low fare of £75 for the two of us. Search the web to try and find different prices as the can fluctuate quite a lot depending on the time of year, day and flight time.

Road

You can actually drive from the UK, hop on to the Eurotunnel and drive through France and into Madrid if it takes your fancy. Just be totally aware that the drive from Calais to Madrid is just over 1,500km. This route would probably be quite enjoyable with a couple of overnight stays en-route.

Sea

You can alternatively get the boat across from Portsmouth or Plymouth to either Santander or Bilbao. Both of these crossings are overnight and you can expect to be on the boat for between 20 and 24 hours. In addition to this you can expect a 500km drive to Madrid from either port.

Rail

Admittedly this is the longest route, but one that I think would be fun. You can jump on the Eurostar to Paris and then connect to an overnight train that takes you to Madrid overnight, taking around 11 hours I think. You can choose to have a reclining seat or a room of your own. For more information, check out www.elipsos.com.

Areas

My own personal opinion regarding areas is that they seem to be split into a few divisions focusing around the centre of Madrid. Slap bang in the middle is the Plaza Mayor (PM). To the west of PM you have the area where the Royal Palace is, to the east of PM you have the Prado Museum and The Botanical Gardens and to the North is Gran Via which is the most commercial part of town. If you start at the Botanical Gardens and decide to walk to Plaza Mayor, be warned that it is all uphill. Madrid is easy to get around and if you don’t mind walking then it will be no problem.

If you do however want to cram a lot in to your days, take my advice and pay €5 for an adult Metro ticket which is the equivalent of a Travelcard. You can use it all over the city as much as you like and there are hundreds of stations dotted everywhere. The maps in the stations and on the trains are all very easy to read but if you get stuck there are plenty of staff dotted around that will help. There are also self serve machines which translate into English, German and French.

Hotels

We actually stayed in the Gran Via part of town but if there is one thing that Madrid is not short on, it’s hotels. Depending on where you stay will largely affect the price you pay. It is very difficult to give much more information that this but what I would say is try to stay near some of the attractions you are interested in.

The closer the hotel is to Plaza Mayor it seems the more expensive the price, although I am sure there are some exceptions. We paid around €180 for two adults for 3 nights and it was a three star hotel. It was perfectly adequate for our needs as we were only staying for a weekend.

Places to see

Madrid is a city steeped in history so if this is your thing then you will be very happy. Museums are also a firm favourite with the Prado and Reina Sofia seeming to be the most popular. The Plaza Mayor is a lovely place to visit where there always seems to be something going on. You also have the Royal Palace, the big flea market and the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

In addition to the above there seems to be a pretty square around every corner. My husband and I found ourselves stopping at an awful lot of squares for a “quick drink” because it was too pretty to just walk past. There are hundreds of restaurants and bars that seem to cater for every taste so nobody would go hungry. In addition to the bars there seems to be a Starbucks on every corner in Madrid (handy for me as I am a tea fiend).

Nightlife is one thing Madrid is not short of. Bars and restaurants seem to be the starting point at around 10pm onwards. It is not unusual to see the Spanish going for their meals at 11pm and not leaving until 1am where they then wander to a nearby club or bar featuring live music. Gran Via also has plenty of theatres and show productions of some sort. If you wander around the town in the early hours of the morning you would be mistaken for thinking the evening was only just starting.

Shopping is not something I would associate with Madrid but there are many High Street shops as well as smaller Spanish boutiques. There are also some nice bargains to be had at the local market.

Do you speak Spanish?

One thing I do want to mention is the language. I found that even though Madrid is a very popular city, the majority of locals speak very limited English. Of course you will find the odd person who can but as a whole they speak not only Spanish, but very quick Spanish. I can manage to get by with my Spanish but found I struggled a little bit. It may be worth taking a little translation book with you for those that maybe don’t speak any Spanish at all.

Overall I enjoyed my stay in Madrid but feel that now I have visited and seen it for myself, there are other places I would like to see rather than re-visit. Madrid can also be incredibly expensive. Beware when hitting the major tourist attractions such as Plaza Mayor, because you can expect to pay more than €10 for a couple of drinks. There are plenty of smaller places in the little side streets that charge very reasonable prices for both food and drink.