Madrid

carolinespring

Myself and my husband are heading to Madrid on sunday for a week.

We are staying in Hotel El Coloso. Was wondering has anyone stayed in this hotel and what did you think? Also what should we really not miss in Madrid.
We love sight seeing, drinking wine and eating.

Any ideas welcome.

ArmaniJeanss

Spend a day in Casa Campo.
Its their equivalent of the Phoenix Park, but nicer, as its on the mountainside overlooking Madrid.
Its easily accessible on the subway system*.
Has a Zoo, parks, bike trails, picnic areas, huge funfair etc, and you can finish off with a 3 mile cable car trip back into the centre of the city.

One other idea is the Santiago Bernabeau footie stadium, its a good tour if either of ye are into football.

(*you should definitely be using the subway system to get around by the way).

another native

The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) - see it for free on Wednesdays.

Spent a bit of time there a couple of years ago.

I would recommend the following;

For the best hot chocolate experience you must try Chocolatería San Ginés
It gets busy after 2am on wards as the locals go in for their sugar hit after their night out.

If your up early on the Sunday morning, visit the Flea Market.

Indulge in an Arabic Bath.
I would really recommend this.
3-4 different temp baths and steam room etc, along with a massage with tea served from taps on the walls with Arabic music played in the background along with a strict quietness policy enforced, it is pure tranquility. If you wish you can avail of lunch in their restaurant next door, there is a package available for both. I did just the bath's and floated across the road to a cafe on the corner with an impressive wine list which returned me to a state of bliss.

Enjoy the food and drink, and the tapas.

carolinespring

another native wrote: »

The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) - see it for free on Wednesdays.

Thanks and we did get to see it for free. Was fantastic

carolinespring

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Spend a day in Casa Campo.
Its their equivalent of the Phoenix Park, but nicer, as its on the mountainside overlooking Madrid.
Its easily accessible on the subway system*.
Has a Zoo, parks, bike trails, picnic areas, huge funfair etc, and you can finish off with a 3 mile cable car trip back into the centre of the city.

One other idea is the Santiago Bernabeau footie stadium, its a good tour if either of ye are into football.

(*you should definitely be using the subway system to get around by the way).

Thanks for the tip and we had a lovely day and a picnic lunch.

carolinespring

NoDrama wrote: »

Spent a bit of time there a couple of years ago.

I would recommend the following;

For the best hot chocolate experience you must try Chocolatería San Ginés
It gets busy after 2am on wards as the locals go in for their sugar hit after their night out.

If your up early on the Sunday morning, visit the Flea Market.

Indulge in an Arabic Bath.
I would really recommend this.
3-4 different temp baths and steam room etc, along with a massage with tea served from taps on the walls with Arabic music played in the background along with a strict quietness policy enforced, it is pure tranquility. If you wish you can avail of lunch in their restaurant next door, there is a package available for both. I did just the bath's and floated across the road to a cafe on the corner with an impressive wine list which returned me to a state of bliss.

Enjoy the food and drink, and the tapas.

We didnt get to do the flea market as we arrived and left on a sunday. Also the Arabic baths will have to be for next time but the chocolate was yum!!!

bennyx_o

I've been living in Madrid for he last year now. There is quite a lot to do, it depends on the type of holiday you're looking for. As ArmaniJeanss said, Casa de Campo is nice (except at night, but I wont go into that), and has a theme park (Parque de Atracciones), Water park and the zoo. (Big enough for you to rent a golf cart to get round if you so wish) The Palace is amazing aswell, and, again, as mentioned is free on Wednesdays.

Retiro park is another good spot to walk around in to kill a few hours, fantastic lake in the middle of if where you can rent a boat and row around it if that's your type of thing.

Atocha train station has a large garden inside it. I wont ruin it in case you do goto see it, but it's spectacular.

What I would entirely recommend though, is a trip to the la Castafiore restaurant. Absolutely amazing, great food with opera performed between courses. It's a whole nights entertainment with people required to be at the restaurant before 9:30pm (I think) and not getting out before 12:30am, a truely enjoyable experience though. Some videos on their website, too. Can be quite hard to get a table in, but with Madrid completely empty in August it should be easy enough.

Bernabau was mentioned too, amazing stadium to get a tour of, as well as going to the bar which is good if expensive (around 10e a drink) The outdoor part of it may still be open too, which covers part of the stand behind the goal.

Outside of Madrid there is an indoor Ski Slope if the weather gets too hot for you. (August is a killer over here, 44c recorded last weekend in the center)

If nightclubs are your scene, there are plenty to chose from, with Pacha, Joy Eslava and Kapital being the larger ones. Kapital having 7 floors, open roof terrace, 10 or so bars and an amazing light/sound system.

Metros are really simple to use, cheap (€1 a trip, €9 for a 10 trip) and pretty frequent. There were a few strikes last month, but I think all them problems have been sorted.

Hope this is of some help to you, if you need more assistance, feel free to PM me.

EDIT: after writing&posting this, I just noticed the date on the OP and the post above this, you're probably back from Madrid by now, how did you find it?

Millie

Benny, what's the temp in Madrid these days??

Is the city very quiet in Aug?? Good quiet or lacking a bit of a buzz??

arch_stanton

It's been very hot for the last few weeks, daytime maximums 35º and over 20º at night. It's supposed to cool down a little over this weekend, max 30º and min 15º. It's usually not humid so higher temperatures are more bearable.

August is quieter, especially in the residential areas as so many people take the month off, but as a visitor in the centre I don't think you'll notice the difference.

bennyx_o

Millie wrote: »

Benny, what's the temp in Madrid these days??

Is the city very quiet in Aug?? Good quiet or lacking a bit of a buzz??

Sorry, only getting back to this now. Temperature hasn't been too bad, no where near as warm as last year though. Quite cool in the mornings then heating up during the day, still probably reaching the 30s. Been a lot more humid too.

City is quiet enough in August, was in Kapital a few weeks ago and it wasn't as busy as what it would be, so I would say it was missing a bit of buzz alright. Even the Opera restaurant I mentioned above was almost empty at the start of August.