What you can’t miss in a quick visit to Madrid
The ideal thing when you visit a big European capital like London, Paris, Rome, Berlin or Madrid is to have at least 5 days in order to truly enjoy the essence of the city, without having to be constantly looking at your watch. However, this is not always possible. Maybe you have to share your holidays with other destinations, or maybe the reason you visited the city is not purely leisure. Today we’re going to show you what we think are the things you must visit in Madrid, especially if you’re time is limited.
Things you must visit in a quick visit in Madrid
Art Walk
The Art Walk (Paseo del Arte) is a clear must in your visit. In addition to it being a beautiful area to go out for a walk, in its over 1,000 metres you can find some of the most important museums and art galleries in the world. If you don’t have much time visit, at least, the Prado Museum.
One shoe after the other
The good thing about a city like Madrid is that you can go all over the city comfortably walking or by metro. If you’ve already invested some of your limited time on visiting the Prado Museum, the following musts are going to be much quicker as you can do them without having to physically enter somewhere.
Retiro Park
You can’t come to Madrid and fail to visit one of its main green areas. This is one of the most emblematic parks of the city. Additionally to being able to rent some rowing boats in a pond, go and see the exotic plants in the Palacio de Cristal (Cristal Palace) or the only statue in the world consecrated to The Fallen Angel.
Debod Temple
This real Egyptian temple was built on 2 b. C and was handed over to Spain in 1972. You can find it in Plaza de España, just next to Paseo del Pintor Rosales. In the Summer season you will discover one of the most beautiful and impressive sunsets in Madrid.
Plaza Mayor
Main meeting point in Madrid (competing very close with Puerta del Sol). Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is a perfect example of the Spanish Architectural Renaissance. First opened in 1580 and re-built in several occasions; Plaza mayor is a symbol for local people.
Puerta del Sol
This is where every year thousands of locals and tourists celebrate New Year’s Eve. Here you can find the main emblem for local people: the statue of the bear and the strawberry tree. There’s also a plaque that indicates km 0.
Puerta de Alcalá
This construction chosen by Carlos III in 1778 as a part of some works that had the purpose of making Madrid prettier and is an example of neoclassicism.
If in the end you have some time to spare, you might want to visit the football stadiums of Santiago Bernabeu and Vicente Calderón, or if you’re in Madrid on Sunday, don’t hesitate and go to El Rastro Market.