What Are the Best Things to See and Do in Madrid, Spain?

What's going on everybody, this is IslandHopperTV and today we've got the best things to do in Madrid, Spain. This here is the capital and the largest city in Spain with a population of around almost 7 million people in the metro area. First up, here we are at the Royal Palace of Madrid. This here is the official residence of the Spanish royal family here in Madrid, but nowadays it's only used for state ceremonies. There is around 3,400 rooms here. It is actually the largest royal palace in Europe. There is a lot of history to understand about Madrid, which I'll tell you more about as the video goes along. Basically it's built on the side of an old Muslim era fortress and right next to the palace is the Olmedina Catholic Cathedral and it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Madrid. Construction began in 1883 and it finished almost a century later when it was completed in 1993. Now here we are at Gran Via. This here is one of the main roads going right through the heart of Madrid. You can walk around here, check out some of the cafes, do some shopping and soak up some of the vibes around Madrid. Madrid is actually a city that is extremely underrated in my opinion. It's actually known as the street that never sleeps. It's probably the most famous street in all of Spain along with La Rambla in Barcelona. The Gran Via was actually completed in 1910. It's also known as the Spanish Broadway or the Golden Mile of Madrid and one thing you can find down here on the Gran Via is the hop on hop off bus. So this is a great way to see Madrid for first timers. Maybe you start around 10 in the morning and then you finish around three or four in the afternoon. Really a great experience and the cool thing about hop on hop off is you get on and get off at your leisure and the price is 27 euros for adults and 15 euros for kids. Now let's talk about nightlife. So you can find great nightlife along Gran Via but Malasana and Chueca are some of the best nightlife in Madrid. Madrid is actually known for its nightlife so don't miss out. Now here we are at the Sabelas area. This here is a fountain and a plaza. So you can see the history here dating back to 1782 and it depicts a chariot pulled by two lions. That's what the fountain is. Now here we are at the Retiro Park. So this is a great place to go for exercise, getting out in the sun, walking around. It does get crowded here especially in the sunny days of summer. It also gets really hot in Madrid so keep that in mind. In the park you can actually visit the Crystal Palace. This is the first time I went to a Crystal Palace and I thought it was pretty cool in there. I would say it's a nice place for sunbathing. But as you can see just outside of Crystal Palace they have these water features and some nice hikes and walks all around the Crystal Palace and Retiro Park. For me the weather in Madrid reminds me of Sacramento, California. Now we're off to the market. This here is the Mercado de San Miguel. So this was one of the first Spanish markets I ever went to back in 2018 when I came here also. And I would say that it really blew my mind and it made me interested in going to more Spanish markets as I went through Latin America. So Mercado de San Miguel is a great place to get fresh food. Also they have food that you can eat here that's ready to serve and prepped. Great desserts, lots of seafood, lots of pork, lots of beef. Great variety here at this market located right in the heart of Madrid. Although I'm not so sure I would enjoy eating the blobfish just because of the way this thing looks. As we continue to show you around Madrid, if you guys are enjoying this video please consider subscribing to this channel as we show you around the world and liking the video letting us know what you think about Madrid. Now here we are at Plaza Mayor. Yes they have Plaza Mayor here in Madrid and there's a lot of history associated with this place. Back in history it was a place where they did public executions but nowadays they do the annual Christmas market here. Also have some soccer games, occasional bullfights and lots of other events are taking place here right in the main plaza of Madrid. And outside the square where they host the events, you'll find bars, cafes and people come here to order a coffee or a glass of wine in the evening. Just people watch. If you can get a hotel around the area of Plaza Mayor I would highly recommend it. Now here we are at Atocha railway station. So Madrid has high-speed rail access that will take you to Valencia and Barcelona as well as other places around Spain. Atocha is where it all begins. This is a major train station for Spain. And along with having high-speed rail access they also have a metro system and underground and it's very efficient. Like I said when I came to Madrid I was blown away by the efficiency and the charm of this city and most of it has to do with things like the high-speed train and the metro all working very nicely together. And if you wanted to check out the Royal Botanical Garden that's also a nice place to walk around. You can see what kind of vegetation and plant life live here in this area of Spain. And here's the Puerto de Alcala. This is a historical landmark you can check out while walking around the city. Now here we are at the Temple of Dibod which basically translates to the Temple of Blood in Spanish. It was originally erected in Egypt just south of Aswan and then they moved it here as a donation to Spain in 1968. Now here we are at Madrid Stadium. This area is where Real Madrid plays its football or soccer as some of you may call it. It has recently undergone a facelift and it looks a lot more modern as you can see. Now here we are at Plaza de Torres. So as you come to Spain you'll hear about it might not be for everybody but it is still a cultural activity that dates back many many years. Although this activity is controversial so you may look into it before actually deciding to go. Now we're actually going to check out some of the museums. Madrid has many of them. I'm just going to talk about Museo del Prado. This here is an art museum. Many famous artists come from Madrid and the area of Spain so don't pass up Spanish art. Now by this point I'm sure you've got an appetite and Spanish food does not disappoint. There's so many different foods that you can try while you're here. Tortilla Espanola. They also have paella and many different cuisines. Lots of meats. I like to get the lamb shank when I come here or the lamb chop. Very good food. Spanish tapas which are basically appetizers. There's so many varieties and they'll bring out a mix plate and you can pick and choose which ones you actually like. And Spanish food is going to remind you a lot of Mexican food because of the influence but also a little bit of Italian as well and then they have that soup that gazpacho. It's kind of like a tomato puree. It's like a salsa almost but it's a soup and it is quite famous. I know as you're watching this you're probably thinking I just want to sip on that soup right now. At least that's what I'm thinking right. Here is a look at that finished product. You can see it's lacking meat. Another thing you can do is flamenco dancing whether watching a show or actually participating as a dancer. Flamenco is basically where a man sings with a guitar and a woman dances or a woman and a man dance or a man dances. Flamenco is actually a form of Spanish folklore so it does have a cultural essence to it that is very significant to Spain. And if you're up for a little bit of a trip getting outside of town you can either take the bus or the train. I actually recommend taking the train out here to Toledo. It takes about 30 minutes. You can get here from Atocha or you can get there from Renfe but coming out here to Toledo you're going to experience a beautiful rustic Spanish town. I would say this one is quite nicely situated along the river. Rivers out here in central Spain are a significant part of the culture. Now here we are at the nexus. I would call this the business nexus or the nexus financial center. So this is more of the modern side of Madrid. In case you're wondering where that is that's going to be out here in the nexus area. This is where they have a few different skyscrapers. Lots of commerce going on out here. They also have the four skyscrapers that are famously known here in Madrid. They have a name for them. They're called the Cuatro Torres Business Area. The name of the towers are the Torre Caja Madrid which is the tallest at 250 meters and there's the Torre Sakhir Velumoso and then the Torre Cristal and the Torre Espacio. Have a look at that snow in the backdrop there. Now here we are at the airport. The airport in Madrid is one of the biggest airports. From here you can easily get to Barcelona. You can go towards Portugal and France or you can fly back to your country wherever you're coming from and from here you can fly out to the islands or Barcelona. So visiting Barcelona from Madrid takes about five hours by train or car and you probably wouldn't want to miss Barcelona while you're in Spain. I would say there's the big three when it comes to Spain. Madrid, Barcelona and then the islands called the Balearic Islands where Mallorca, Ibiza, those islands there but Barcelona definitely has its charm. It's a very quaint city. I really love Barcelona. It's one of my favorite cities because of the weather and explore around the Golden Coast also known as Costa de Arata. But getting back to Madrid, the key attractions are going to be the Prado Museum, the Royal Palace, Retiro Park, Puerta del Sol. They also have the Matadero which is an area that I would explore that we didn't mention here but that's along the riverfront. The best time to actually visit Madrid is probably around March to May. That's the ideal weather for outdoors. Not too hot and not too cold. Autumn is also very nice with mild temperatures and fewer crowds so if you're looking to avoid the crowds you can get that. Summertime is very hot but it's great for late evenings, nightlife and then there's expect cooler temperatures, possible snow up in those mountains. We did a full travel guide of Barcelona. We'd like to show you guys that one next so click this link right here.