Madrid / Pamplona

allin-king

Heading to Madrid then Pamplona for the running fo the bulls (Two nights in each), anyone got any tips on the nightlife in either / both? Also let me know what touristy things are must do....

arch_stanton

You should have a great time in Madrid. On the touristy side you can cover a lot just by walking around. The most interesting part of the centre of the city can be covered on foot. Alternatively there's an open top bus tour called Madrid Vision that costs €16 for a day ticket.

The main sites to visit are probably the Royal Place, the Plaza Mayor, Retiro Park, Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the Prado or Reina Sofia Museums if you're into art. I think the Bernabeu tour costs €10. It's open all day and self guided. You walk through different parts of the stadium, trophy rooms (they have a lot), the away dressing room and you can sit in the dugout.

As for nightlife, there are probably more bars per head than anywhere else. The area around the Plaza Santa Ana in the centre is a bit like temple bar with narrow streets and lot of little bars and tapas places. A lot are a bit on the touristy side. The area called La Latina is more popular with the locals. A street called Calle La Cava Baja there has the best tapas. Another popular and slightly more offbeat area is called Manuela Malasaña, again it´s very central.

Most bars are open until 3am. I'm not too well up on the clubs. One of the most famous is called Kapital. It's near Atocha station and has 5-6 floors and different styles of music. Another well known place is Joy Eslava, just off the Puerta del Sol.

Apart from all that just wander around and enjoy the city. Pickpockets can be a problem. Be careful with your bags, phones, cameras etc. but other than that it´s very safe. Let me know if you want info on anything in particular and I'll try to help.

backboiler

You should have no problems finding entertainment in Pamplona. The party is all over the streets and in the main square, Plaza del Castillo, there are thousands of people in the white and red outfits (buy one when you get there - only about 30 or so quid for trousers, shirt, sash and bandana - just shop around for a few minutes). The most popular drink seems to be a mixture of tetrapaks of cheap red wine mixed with coke in a plastic pint glass. Little Spar-like shops are your friend for this kind of thing.
Drinking in pubs is very, very expensive around the centre. Expect to pay €10 fro a pint of local beer. Despite this the places were jammed but maybe it was just people loitering on their way to use the toilets.
City buses run 24 hours a day during week of the festival.

Sr. Pirotecnic

backboiler wrote: »

You should have no problems finding entertainment in Pamplona.

Quite! The problem is more avoiding it when you want some shut eye. Good for you if you have accommodation booked, I slept in a campervan and in the park when I was there. Worth getting the white/red gear, was too skint myself/ First run tomorrow (monday) morning 8am. A man died today after falling from the city walls and some reports say he was Irish...

CrazyirishBoy

Hey, old enuf thread but anway. I wanna go to the running of the bulls this year to start off our interrailing trip and i hear i would have to be 18 to take part. Im seventeen and i was just wondering how strict they are on this and is there any chance of taking part.