Fusty
09-10-2006, 03:52 PM
Was on a short trip to Madrid last week so said I'd knock together a few tips and thoughts for anyone thinking of heading out there.
1. Weather & time of year
Late September is an excellent time to go as its not too hot. Last week it was in the low twenties – sunny t-shirt weather but not a where's-the-next-place-selling-water type of affair. Even the locals leave Madrid in August and lots of museums close because everyone takes their holidays to get away from the heat.
2. Parque La Buen Retiro
An enormous expanse of green parkland in the heart of Madrid (east of Puerta del Sol), this is where the Madriolinos come to chill out at weekends from the heat of the city. It’s a bit like Central Park in New York but much prettier. In the northern part of the park you can hire a boat and go rowing on the lake (4 euro for 45 minutes) and there are lots of places with lakes to balm out and giant monuments to see including the Crystal Palace .
3. Chueca
The best area for bars and cafés is Chueca to the North of Gran Via. It’s a bit bohemian with nice bars, cafés, clubs, shops etc. Bit of a Haight-Ashbury buzz there and a distinct lack of tourists. Fuencaral is the street to do your shopping on instead of traipsing up and down the main Gran Via street. Colby on Fuencaral is a nice cafe with friendly staff.
4. Club Boqui (Barquillo, 29)
By far the best venue we found on our trip. It was very busy last Tuesday night (open 7 nights a week) and there was a fantastic six piece jazz/blues act on. It was only 3 quid in (against 7 euro for a sleepy piano/alto sax duo in the jazz bar in the mainly touristy Puerto del Sol area). 4 euro for a bottle of beer which is standard in Madrid.
http://www.boguijazz.com/
5. Real Madrid
Look up Real Madrid’s home matches before you decide to go and buy a ticket online. We didn’t get to a match but the tour of the stadium is well worth 9 euro. You can even sit on the team benches, walk out through the tunnel and visit the dressing rooms. The club museum isn’t bad either – they’ve won so much it all becomes a blurr but there’s loads of TVs with loops of great Real goals. Real means ‘royal’ by the way which I never knew.
Not the best website in the world but has all the info:
http://www.realmadrid.com
6. Eating out
Not a patch on Italy or Barcelona but still good especially if you like paella. You really have to spend more time than anywhere else looking for a good place to mangle. The Spanish eat late at night but this is often insubstantial tapas which can be expensive in certain areas. Watch out for Menu del Dia around 2-5pm where you’ll get three course meals for less than 10 euro.
Stand alone restaurants are few and far between – most bars serve food but its mainly standard tapas which seem to be the same brand everywhere and lots of the bars have bright fluorescent lighting and noisy gambling machines which is a bit off putting.
If you’re into sushi we found an excellent Japanese place on the Puerto del Sol side of Placa Mayor. Placa Mayor itself is worth a visit and the bars there serve great seafood platters for two for 20 euro.
7. Nightlife
This is where it gets very good. From around 11pm you’ll be bombarded with flyers from various bars and clubs – usually the ones that stay open until 4 or 5am. Often those giving out the flyers will bring you to their bar nearby and get you a free shot to get things rolling.
Booze is about as expensive as it is here – wine and sangria can be cheap though and vodka measures are comically large. Didn’t visit any Irish bars but if it’s your thing there’s a big one called O’Connell Street in Puerto del Sol. There were people roaring aggressively at the Liverpool V Bolton match mid-afternoon when I passed…
On Lonely Planet’s diabolical recommendation we went to Kapital on Sunday night – a seven floor club “with something for everybody”. Sunday night was supposed to be the big night there – we got there shortly before 1am and it was empty and only the bottom and top floors were open. The top floor was empty and there was no music – downstairs was horrific trance shite and a small bunch of local poseurs sat pouting in the shadows.
15 euros in and 7 euros for a bottle of beer is a rip off so after our quick survey we got our money back and headed back into the city centre.
I’d love to tell you the name of the small club / late bar we went to after that in Puerta del Sol but unfortunately I forget (something which could very well be related to how good it was and leaving there close to Bright O’Clock). Bia Bar had the friendliest ticket tout outside who escorted us to the bar for our free shot - needless to say we were still at the bar when he came back with his next rake of punters. .There are lots of cute little late bars around though and are usually hopping from midnight on so go for these rather than the bling-bling clubs where you have to pay in – read the fliers!
8. Internet cafés
Almost impossible to find for some strange reason so if you need one, look them up before you go and get an address. Both city centre cafés mentioned in the Lonely Planet book have closed down. Most hotels have wi-fi though which might explain why there’s a lack of them.
9. Metro Tickets
Buy a 10 trip metro ticket for 6.15 euro as soon as you get there. The metro system is reliable, frequent and covers the entire city very well (unlike Rome). A taxi from the airport to the city centre is about 30 euro but its only 61 cent on the metro!
10. Accommodation
We stayed in a great hotel in Puerto del Sol which is really central and modestly priced - very handy at night as the metro stops from 1-6am and lots of the good nights spots are only a short stumble away. Well recommended: http://www.adrianohostal.co m/
11. Museums
Art museums are the big things to go see in Madrid. There are 3 big good museums within spitting distance of each other- the prado, the rein de sophia and the thyssen. you could use one day and go see them all but but we weren't really up for marathon traipsing sessions so picked the Thyssen (one of the worlds biggest private art collections - the owners made their money from elevators!). Get the audio guide which really enhances the experience - especially if you know nothing about art.
12. Bring earplugs
Madrid suffers from terrible noise pollution so it is unlikely you will get away from the racket if you are staying anywhere central.
13. Theme Park
There is a theme park in Casa de Campo (a scrubland area that you can get a cable car out to). We went to Casa de Campo but the sounds of general torture and screaming from the rollercoasters didn't appeal on that particular day (slightly hungover from night before) but if you're into vomit-inducing rides it's worth checking out.
1. Weather & time of year
Late September is an excellent time to go as its not too hot. Last week it was in the low twenties – sunny t-shirt weather but not a where's-the-next-place-selling-water type of affair. Even the locals leave Madrid in August and lots of museums close because everyone takes their holidays to get away from the heat.
2. Parque La Buen Retiro
An enormous expanse of green parkland in the heart of Madrid (east of Puerta del Sol), this is where the Madriolinos come to chill out at weekends from the heat of the city. It’s a bit like Central Park in New York but much prettier. In the northern part of the park you can hire a boat and go rowing on the lake (4 euro for 45 minutes) and there are lots of places with lakes to balm out and giant monuments to see including the Crystal Palace .
3. Chueca
The best area for bars and cafés is Chueca to the North of Gran Via. It’s a bit bohemian with nice bars, cafés, clubs, shops etc. Bit of a Haight-Ashbury buzz there and a distinct lack of tourists. Fuencaral is the street to do your shopping on instead of traipsing up and down the main Gran Via street. Colby on Fuencaral is a nice cafe with friendly staff.
4. Club Boqui (Barquillo, 29)
By far the best venue we found on our trip. It was very busy last Tuesday night (open 7 nights a week) and there was a fantastic six piece jazz/blues act on. It was only 3 quid in (against 7 euro for a sleepy piano/alto sax duo in the jazz bar in the mainly touristy Puerto del Sol area). 4 euro for a bottle of beer which is standard in Madrid.
http://www.boguijazz.com/
5. Real Madrid
Look up Real Madrid’s home matches before you decide to go and buy a ticket online. We didn’t get to a match but the tour of the stadium is well worth 9 euro. You can even sit on the team benches, walk out through the tunnel and visit the dressing rooms. The club museum isn’t bad either – they’ve won so much it all becomes a blurr but there’s loads of TVs with loops of great Real goals. Real means ‘royal’ by the way which I never knew.
Not the best website in the world but has all the info:
http://www.realmadrid.com
6. Eating out
Not a patch on Italy or Barcelona but still good especially if you like paella. You really have to spend more time than anywhere else looking for a good place to mangle. The Spanish eat late at night but this is often insubstantial tapas which can be expensive in certain areas. Watch out for Menu del Dia around 2-5pm where you’ll get three course meals for less than 10 euro.
Stand alone restaurants are few and far between – most bars serve food but its mainly standard tapas which seem to be the same brand everywhere and lots of the bars have bright fluorescent lighting and noisy gambling machines which is a bit off putting.
If you’re into sushi we found an excellent Japanese place on the Puerto del Sol side of Placa Mayor. Placa Mayor itself is worth a visit and the bars there serve great seafood platters for two for 20 euro.
7. Nightlife
This is where it gets very good. From around 11pm you’ll be bombarded with flyers from various bars and clubs – usually the ones that stay open until 4 or 5am. Often those giving out the flyers will bring you to their bar nearby and get you a free shot to get things rolling.
Booze is about as expensive as it is here – wine and sangria can be cheap though and vodka measures are comically large. Didn’t visit any Irish bars but if it’s your thing there’s a big one called O’Connell Street in Puerto del Sol. There were people roaring aggressively at the Liverpool V Bolton match mid-afternoon when I passed…
On Lonely Planet’s diabolical recommendation we went to Kapital on Sunday night – a seven floor club “with something for everybody”. Sunday night was supposed to be the big night there – we got there shortly before 1am and it was empty and only the bottom and top floors were open. The top floor was empty and there was no music – downstairs was horrific trance shite and a small bunch of local poseurs sat pouting in the shadows.
15 euros in and 7 euros for a bottle of beer is a rip off so after our quick survey we got our money back and headed back into the city centre.
I’d love to tell you the name of the small club / late bar we went to after that in Puerta del Sol but unfortunately I forget (something which could very well be related to how good it was and leaving there close to Bright O’Clock). Bia Bar had the friendliest ticket tout outside who escorted us to the bar for our free shot - needless to say we were still at the bar when he came back with his next rake of punters. .There are lots of cute little late bars around though and are usually hopping from midnight on so go for these rather than the bling-bling clubs where you have to pay in – read the fliers!
8. Internet cafés
Almost impossible to find for some strange reason so if you need one, look them up before you go and get an address. Both city centre cafés mentioned in the Lonely Planet book have closed down. Most hotels have wi-fi though which might explain why there’s a lack of them.
9. Metro Tickets
Buy a 10 trip metro ticket for 6.15 euro as soon as you get there. The metro system is reliable, frequent and covers the entire city very well (unlike Rome). A taxi from the airport to the city centre is about 30 euro but its only 61 cent on the metro!
10. Accommodation
We stayed in a great hotel in Puerto del Sol which is really central and modestly priced - very handy at night as the metro stops from 1-6am and lots of the good nights spots are only a short stumble away. Well recommended: http://www.adrianohostal.co m/
11. Museums
Art museums are the big things to go see in Madrid. There are 3 big good museums within spitting distance of each other- the prado, the rein de sophia and the thyssen. you could use one day and go see them all but but we weren't really up for marathon traipsing sessions so picked the Thyssen (one of the worlds biggest private art collections - the owners made their money from elevators!). Get the audio guide which really enhances the experience - especially if you know nothing about art.
12. Bring earplugs
Madrid suffers from terrible noise pollution so it is unlikely you will get away from the racket if you are staying anywhere central.
13. Theme Park
There is a theme park in Casa de Campo (a scrubland area that you can get a cable car out to). We went to Casa de Campo but the sounds of general torture and screaming from the rollercoasters didn't appeal on that particular day (slightly hungover from night before) but if you're into vomit-inducing rides it's worth checking out.