Madrid is a gigantic city, and we can say that, at the same time, it’s clean, organized and has a lot of touristic attractions to visit. And for who likes arts, there are a lot of museums that have all-important works and have even been called ‘Golden Triangle of Art’.

Here we’ll describe what we visited in the city and show some attractions you must know when you go to Madrid, just reminding that the entrances to the museums, temples and even the palace of the king are free in all over the city. Check it out below.

Royal Palace

Visiting a royal palace is very interesting. Precious few places in the world provide that kind of access and, what’s more, free entrance. That’s it, one of the few cities we saw in our trip that provide culture and leisure for free to visitors, but we just had to wait up to 6PM to enter. The line starts beside the main street, we got there at about 5:30 and there were already 200 people before us, but the attendants ensured that everyone there would enter, and at 6:15 we were already inside, with no euro paid! But for who has no time to wait, the entrance is 13 Euros (55 Reais).

That place has 4,318 bedrooms. It was built in 1734 and, so far, it’s much used by the king Felipe VI of Spain, who holds a lot of gala events, meals, awards and much more. But the royal family lives in another palace, a little simpler, located in somewhere in Madrid.

The stairway right at the entrance is magnificent, leaves you flabbergasted with so many details, where we took a lot of photos, because the guards don’t let us do it inside the rooms, once there are many rare items, totally made of gold.

We could see Stradivarius violins and cellos, huge clocks made of solid gold and which have a lot of details, a gigantic table for meals all prepared, the royal throne, lusters with very delicate crystals and much gold. That experience was very worthwhile!  Click here to learn more details on the official site.

El Retiro Park

That park is gigantic. We spent a lot of hours there, relaxing, seeing kids playing in groups and the daily routine of Spanish people, a lot of ones practicing physical, sporting activities, yoga, practicing with their musical instruments, walking their pets and even celebrating their birthdays, all very clean and organized for the population to make the most of their Summer and leisure time.

There are a lot of masterpieces such as statues, or the big monument of Alfonso XII beside the huge lake, where you can rent a little boat and have fun with family and friends. We also saw that there are electric boat rides for free. The park has existed since 1630, it’s well centralized and close to a lot of touristic attractions. Be sure to pass there, take some sandwiches or sweets and have a smart picnic.

Click here to learn more details on the official site.

Prado Museum

That’s a museum for who likes paints and sculptures, once it keeps countless and valuable collections. Built in 1819, its structure is very beautiful, the most important one in Spain. To visit it, program at least one hour, once there are countless galleries with very beautiful pictures and sculptures. That museum also has free entrance from 6 to 8 PM, at other hours, it’s 15 Euros (63 Reais).

Click here to learn more details on the official site.

Plaza Mayor and Market Of San Miguel

That square has existed since the 15th century and is located right in the center of the city. It’s a rectangular square surrounded by buildings that has restaurants and stores. Nearby, there are countless options of places to taste the local cuisine, many ones do sales promotions in the late afternoon, the so-called happy hour time. I’ll mention some places that we enjoyed, where you also should go to:

100 montaditos: There are many ones around the city, it has very cheap dishes starting from 1 euro and hours when you buy a beverage and get another one. Click here to learn more details on the official site.

El Museu del Jamon: It has a lot of seasonings. It’s worthwhile to taste the hams, salamis and cheeses, always in pair with a great beer, many dishes up to 5 Euros. Click here to learn more details on the official site.

Market of San Miguel: That place is full of options of dishes to taste, where you can find a lot of tourists, and it’s a gourmet center that has a lot of sophisticated options. Click here to learn more details on the official site.

Temple of Debod

How come a temple from Egypt could get to Madrid?

That temple was built in the 4th century B.C. in Aswan, next to Nile river, once a dam, which would be under the water, was being built. As Spain had helped restore other temples, to thank for the help, Egypt decided to present Spain with that temple. And now it beautifies the city and Parque de la Montaña, great place for a tour and the entrance is free too. Click here to learn more details on the official site.

Where to stay

We chose to stay with Airbnb, and we found an excellent place, a complete apartment, just 2 km from Parque El Retiro, very close to the center of Madrid, where there are countless sights, we still had full attention by our host. Let’s leave here our Airbnb link, so you can get a discount too, thanks!

https://abnb.me/e/goNilApbcU

Means of Transport

We arrived via Alsa bus from Barcelona, ​​worth 17 Euros (72 reais) each ticket. Once inside the city, we walked to our Airbnb, as it is 1 km from the bus station. The means of transport are great and very comfortable, it is very easy to use, and tickets can be purchased directly from the driver at 2.00 Euros.

Safety of the City

For the period we stayed we found it very safe, and we saw a lot of policing in the streets and in the tourist spots. We walked a lot throughout the city during the day and it was very quiet, people are super friendly and helpful. We also avoid walking alone after 9 pm. We love walking around here.

Travel Insurance

For you to travel in peace, it’s important to have a travel insurance which keeps you safe and has a comprehensive coverage. We always ensure with April Brasil Seguro Viagem,  which covers all around the world, it has an app that is easy to access, for you not to keep all that paperwork when you need to use it, the best part, you can access it from everywhere in the world with service in our language.

So, don’t waste time and hire something safe, and we have a discount coupon, we’ll leave the link below too! Run and use it.

DISCOUNT COUPON: COUTRIPS10%

https://www.aprilbrasil.com.br/coutrips

Internet For Your Trip

To keep your connection during all the trip, you need a great SIM card, with a worldwide coverage, internet 3G and 4G. For that, we used Easysim4u, the best internet SIM card in the world for your trip. And see that we have been through some countries and we always had the coverage of the plans of Easysim4u. Don’t waste time, run and hire your SIM card for your next trip.

Here’s the link for you to access and ensure your connection to the internet in the world.

https://www.easysim4u.com/?sourceCode=coutrips

Kind of Currency

The local currency of Madrid is the Euro, and the exchange rate in June / 2019 is $ 1.00 to 0.90 Euro. We recommend changing the currency in a safe place such as an airport or an Exchange, bank in the city. It is good to always have the local currency.

Expenses in Madrid

Our expenses in currency (REAIS) in Madrid during 5 days for the couple were the following:

Feeding: R$128,00 (market, snacks)

Trip: R$9,00 (event)

Transportation: R$179,00 (bus, train)

Lodging: R$453,00 (Airbnb)

Madrid is a magnificent city. It has the profile of a big city, full of attractions all around it. We concluded that a week there is not enough if you want to visit everywhere in that city.

The main touristic attractions are wonderful and have wide areas to visit, it takes some hours, we did almost everything on foot, but it was in a fast lane. But we liked the places and the weather very much.

The city of Madrid is famous worldwide, and has its charms. Each moment there, having a good time in the streets of Madrid, was very worthwhile.