Recently, we enjoyed our first visit to the Capital of Spain. We only had time for a quick trip to Madrid, but we tried to squeeze in as much fun as possible. We chose to save Museo del Prado for a future vacation, because you need a significant amount of time to explore its 270,000 square feet of gallery space. Instead, we focused on iconic Spanish dishes and jaw-dropping architecture.
The Sites:
Puerta de Alcalá & Parque del Buen Retiro
We started by seeing the gate in the Plaza de la Independencia. With its glorious arches, intricate sculptures, and lovely gardens, the Puerta de Alcalá certainly spices up a traffic circle!
Adjacent to the gate is Retiro Park, a lush green space that spans almost 350 acres. The public park features a rose garden, a crystal palace, and lots of statues. The must-see section is the spectacular artificial lake with the Alfonso XII monument standing tall behind it.
Palacio de Cibeles
Next, we walked to (in our opinion) the most impressive building in Madrid — Cibeles Palace. The stone, iron and glass structure is over 130,000 square feet, and features a white Neoplateresque façade. Surprisingly, the breathtaking building was not a royal palace. Rather, it was built in 1909 to house the city’s post office, telegraph, and telephone headquarters. Now it is occupied by the City Council of Madrid. We just took photos of the exterior, but if you are interested in touring the city hall, you can find information on Madrid’s Official Tourism Website.
Edificio Metrópolis
Our next photo-op was the Metropolis Building, an ornate Beaux-Arts styled office building. It has a rounded cupola covered with 24-carat gold, topped with a statue of a winged goddess.
Gran Vía
We continued walking down Gran Vía, a central street full of architectural wonders. Everywhere we looked there were fabulous façades in a range of styles, including Art Deco, Plateresque, and Neo-Mudéjar. You will find stores, theaters, hotels, and restaurants along the avenue.
Puerta del Sol
We ended our journey at Sol plaza. The large public square is home to the Carlos III monument, the stone slab marking the geographical center of Spain, and an adorable bronze sculpture of a bear climbing a strawberry tree. Since we visited Madrid during the holiday season, Sol plaza also had a gigantic Christmas tree.
We still have lots of museums, palaces, and historic sites to explore. On our next trip to Madrid, we will also try to see an authentic flamenco show. If you have the stomach, Madrid is also the place to watch a bullfight.
The Food and Drinks:
Joselito’s Charcutería & Restaurante
The highlight of our trip to Madrid was our ham tasting paired with a glass of Cava. Six generations of the same family have spent more than 150 years perfecting pork products. Expert carvers cut paper-thin slices off of giant Iberian ham legs. We sampled a trio of vintage hams aged since 2019, 2018, and 2017 respectively. We also tried a delicious Iberian ham sandwich on focaccia bread. Had we had more stomach space, we would have tried some other Joselito meat products such as Coppa, Panceta, and Chorizo.
Hotel Fénix Gran Meliá
This beautiful hotel is one of The Leading Hotels of the World, and boasts one of the best cocktail bars in Madrid. We walked through the foyer with its grand staircase, took a photo in the lounge underneath an amazing dome made of blue stained-glass, and made our way to Balmoral. Hotel Fénix’ elegant bar is a treat for mixology lovers. They serve perfectly-mixed classics such as old-fashioneds, sours, and daiquiris. We also tried some unique concoctions — one of which was almost eggnog-like (appropriate given the festive season).
Maison Jaguar
We enjoyed a meal at the Instagram-worthy Mexican restaurant Maison Jaguar. The jungle decor is amazing, and we were entertained by live singers and dancers during our meal. The dishware is especially unique. You can drink cocktails from huge mugs shaped like lions, toucans, peacocks, and more. If you order tacos, they arrive in a Jaguar sculpture with taco slots cut into it.
Sagardi Castellana
For our traditional Spanish dinner, we chose Sagardi Castellana. The steakhouse specializes in Basque cuisine. We started with some tasty cured-sausage, similar to chorizo. The main event was a 1-kg T-bone steak (to share) perfectly cooked and salted. We ended our meal with a creamy Basque cheesecake with the traditional “burnt” top.
Madrid has so many restaurants to choose from! Had we stayed longer, we would have gone for paella, attended a Cava wine tasting, and sampled other Spanish delicacies. The city also has some of our favorite restaurants from France, such as Restaurante Bel Mondo (delicious Italian food from Paris’ Big Mamma Group) and L’Entrecote Café de París (steak frites in the iconic butter sauce). If you have some favorite places in the city, please add them in the comments below.
We enjoyed our brief introduction to the Spanish capital, but would love to return to see more. Overall, we found the city to be quite affordable, especially compared to other Western European capitals. It is also easy to get around on foot or using the metro. If you are planning a vacation in the EU, Madrid is certainly worth visiting.
If you need travel advice for short getaways, you should also read our articles Best of Vienna in Only 24 Hours, How To Spend A Stopover In Panama City, and 24 Hours In Brussels: The Ultimate Guide.