When consumers think about visiting Spain, Barcelona is always the top choice. But I recently visited Madrid, which is the largest city and capital of Spain.
I found Madrid to be much quieter and easier to navigate compared to Barcelona.
Many streets in Madrid’s Old Town are pedestrian only, and major tourist attractions like the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor, Puerto del Sol and Almudena Cathedral are all within 10 to 15 minutes walking distance from each other.
There is a multitude of great hotels in the Old Town.
We stayed at Hotel Madrid Montera, Curio Collection by Hilton, which is steps away from the Gran Via metro station and which has an amazing rooftop bar called Le Cielo de Montera. See my review of this hotel here.
A must-see attraction in Madrid is the Prado Museum.
Madrid is full of museums worth seeing, but the Prado Museum has some of the finest works from Velázquez, Goya, Rubens, El Greco and Raphael.
One of its most famous paintings is Las Meninas, an oil painting created by Diego Velázquez from 1656. I enjoyed walking around the Prado even more than the Louvre Museum in Paris, as the Prado Museum is not as crowded.
One thing I enjoyed about the Prado Museum is that no photographs or videos are allowed within the museum, so you can focus on the beauty of the paintings and sculptures presented in the museum.
I was fortunate to book a ticket at Corral de la Moreria, a famous Flamenco show that is also home to a one-star Michelin restaurant.
You can book a dinner and show package where the food is prepared by the same kitchen as the one-star restaurant. For my review of this dinner and show package, see here.
Spain is known for its food culture. A wonderful and inexpensive tavern is El Anciano Rey de los Vinos.
The restaurant is right across from Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace and has been serving patrons for more than 100 years.
Along with traditional Spanish tapas like Patatas Bravas, their specialty is Regalitos de Torito (or bull’s tail in phyllo dough with red peppers). Although the ingredients may seem adventurous, it is a delicious dish.
For quick eats, you can’t miss the Bocadillos de Calamares (or Calamari sandwich) at Bar La Campana.
It is amazing that freshly fried calamari on a bun can be so delicious without any extra accompaniments.
For chocolate lovers, you must try churros and hot chocolate at Chocolateria Sin Gines. Their hot chocolate is more like a chocolate dipping sauce, but so good with churros and porras (churros are thinner and crunchier whereas porras are thicker and doughier).
Whenever I travel to a destination, I try local wines that I cannot drink in B.C.
Madrid and its surrounding areas produce many wines with unique grape varietals. I had a glass of red wine made from the Garnacha grape at El Anciano Rey de los Vinos for 2.70 Euros, and tried a glass of white wine from the Albillo grape.
I found these wines paired perfectly with the food I was eating.
May and September are great shoulder seasons to visit Madrid when the weather is mild and the tourist season is not in full swing yet.
Until next time, happy eating, drinking and travels.
Tony Kwan is a Richmond News columnist. Lawyer by day, and a food and wine lover by night. Kwan is an epicurean who writes about wine, food and enjoying all that life has to offer.
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