Madrid - quick city based must do attraction

arrowman

I am going to Spain next February for a business trip - location of meeting is about 1 hours drive from Madrid where I will flying into and leaving from.
Before the flight home I have about 4 hours to kill and will probably try and get back to Madrid early to spend the time there.
What one thing would people recommend as a must see to do in the city for that amount of time? You are talking late afternoon early evening - need to be in airport for 19:30

finbarrk

I'd go to Museo Del Jamon. Famous place. Butchers with beer and food.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/madrid/restaurants/museo-del-jamon/a/poi-eat/1095126/360770

NIMAN

If you are a soccer fan, I would do the Bernabeu tour.

arrowman

Thanks - yes I have checked out the Bernabeu tour - €25 it would want to be good!!

I think I'll go for it alright - only thing is that I don't think they have any lockers to store suitcases which will be a bit of a pain

NIMAN

It is a good tour to be fair, if you are a soccer fan at all.

MayoForSam

arrowman wrote: »

I think I'll go for it alright - only thing is that I don't think they have any lockers to store suitcases which will be a bit of a pain

Just drop your bags into a nearby Bagnb, should only cost about a fiver.

mfceiling

http://mercadodesanmiguel.es/


This place is well worth a visit for a bit of food and drinks.

arrowman

MayoForSam wrote: »

Just drop your bags into a nearby Bagnb, should only cost about a fiver.

I hadnt even heard of Bagnb - the nearest one seems to be 3.5 km away from the Bernabeu. I might just get an airport transfer to the airport from my business meeting in Aranjuez and stick the bag in a locker in the airport and then shoot out to the stadium.
Thanks for all the suggestions. The food and drink looks good but I don't think I'll have time for it all

pauliebdub

The Bernebau tour is great and will fill in the few hours. You can also do the tour at your own pace by following the arrows.

If you like art you could visit museo del Prado.

Alternatively you could stroll around Chueca relax and visit some tapas bars.

Muahahaha

Museo del Prado is free every day between 6 and 8pm. Very crowded for the freebie though so expect a queue to get in. Also probably not worth going for 2 hours as youll just be rushing around trying to find the masterpieces with no time to appreciate them.
Athletico Madrids new stadium the Wanda Metropolitana also has a tour though not as good as the Bernabau though it is close to the airport

fricatus

Madrid is one of my favourite cities. I had the pleasure of living there for half a year as a student, and I've never tired of going there since.

I'm sure you realise you don't have a lot of time, so you'll probably miss a lot of what's good if you just try to rush from one thing to another, so either concentrate on one attraction and see it in depth, or else just get yourself an overview of the city from a sightseeing bus, or walking tour.

There are sightseeing buses that run from Pza. Cibeles, which, handily enough is where the airport bus goes from. As I recall, the red buses have two routes that you can hop on and off, on a single ticket, one mainly the old city, and another of the more modern bits, including the new skyscrapers in the north of the city and the Bernabéu Stadium.

You could also just do a self-guided walking tour. This one that I found online, gives a good overview of the city IMO, and wouldn't be too taxing:

https://www.thevikingabroad.com/madrid/

If you're looking for attractions, the Prado and Reína Sofía are top-notch, but there's plenty of other more niche museums, or stuff like the Bernabéu as others have mentioned. The Retiro Park is near the airport bus stop too, and is very enjoyable. Really depends on what you're into, if you decide on one thing.

Personally, I would do the walking tour. If you get lost, you can find a metro station and either go back to Retiro for the bus, or else just straight back to the airport.