no more public executions and other Madrid, Spain Things to Do Tips

This is the most famous square of Madrid and the truth is that is a beautiful rectangular square that was built in 1617 during the Hapsburg period.

There are a lot of open door cafes to sit and enjoy the sun, kind of expensive and touristic to me but nice if you like to see people passing by. The previous centuries you could see here public executions, bullfights and other nice sports like those :)

What you can see now is the statue of Felippe III riding a horse in the middle of the square. The three-story buildings that surround the square are also beautiful with nice balconies. The small pathways along the square leads you outside and it was very funny getting lost in some of them.

The square is beautiful during the night too (pic 2)

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Address: Main square of Madrid
Directions: Metro Sol & Opera

Puerta del Sol isn’t beautiful as Plaza Mayor but it’s occupied by people day and night! This is the “point zero” of spanish road network. What you can see here except the large ugly Tio Pepe sign are:
-the statue of Carlos III riding a horse
-the big clock on the red building, it’s the clock where many locals gather on new years eve. The custom says that they count down the last 12 seconds while eating 12 grapes!
-the historical Post Office of the city that was built in 1766 and housed the Franco’s ministry of Interior and Security. Now, it houses the offices of government of Madrid Community. In front of the building is the sign of “zero point”
-the statue of the bear reaching for strawberries from a madrono tree, a symbol of Madrid because once Madrid had a lot of bears and madrono trees.

From here you go and enjoy the nightlife at the nearby pubs or do shopping during the day. El Cort Inglés department store is right there but also two pedestrian streets that will satisfy your wife’s desire for clothes and empty your wallet :) I noticed many street artists at these streets. The area is also full of budget hotels and hostels. Some of them are nice, some others are…oh my god :)

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Address: The "center" of Madrid
Directions: Sol metro station is under the square

I don’t like to visit palaces so much for many reasons. Two of them are that they always been built to impress and they are symbols of monarchy etc From the other side I wanted to walk till here –not far from the center anyway- and explore the nearby gardens and see the huge Royal Palace that has almost 3000 rooms!! The palace is now officially a museum and no longer the royal residence but some times some official ceremonies take place there. The palace was built on 1738 on the site that was an old castle (it burned on 1734)

There is an entrance free except Wednesdays but I’ve been told that there is no tour guide on Wednesday.

I enjoyed walking at the surrounded area of the palace. Plaza de Oriente is located at the east(orienta) side of the palace. It was formerly the site of a theater but then the royal theatre replaced it. Now, you can see a nice fountain and a big statue of Philip IV that was erected in 1850. If you like monarchs you can see many statues of them at the plaza. They were supposed to decorate the rooftop of the palace but they were too heavy to be placed there!

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Address: Bailen street
Directions: estern part of downtown, get out at Opera metro station

Parque del Oeste is near the royal palace so I went there after my visit to the palace. The park is nice but the most amazing is the ancient Egyptian temple inside the park!

Templo de Debod is very old, it was built in the early 2nd century BC!! But not in Madrid, in Egypt! :) Spain was one of the countries that helped when the construction of the dam of Aswan in 1960 put in danger many monuments of the area around Nile so the government of Egypt donated this temple as a gift to Spain in 1968. It was originally built to honor gods Amon and Isis in the town of Debod.

It is very weird to see it, there is a small museum inside with scale models of the original location of it etc What I enjoyed most was the view of the city (the palace etc) in the distance

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Address: Parque del Oeste
Directions: in Parque del Oeste, in close distance from metro Plaza de Espana
Website: http://www.munimadrid.es/templodebod/

Retiro is a great park in the heart of the city! It’s always a big relaxation opportunity when I’m tired from the busy streets of Madrid. You can stroll around the paths or just rest on the grass under the blue sky. There are some cafes inside but the park is great for picnic. I noticed too many statues in the park, some of them are very nice like the one of the fallen angel.

Of course, don’t miss the Crystal Palace and the great big lake in front of it. Some times there are exhibitions inside the palace but the best thing you can do here is rent a boat and chase the swans! :)

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Directions: At the east side of the downtown in close distance from Prado Museum. From the north side is near the Puerta de Alcalá

One nice half day in the city can be done with a visit to Casa de Campo, the biggest park of Madrid that was formerly a hunting spot. The best way is to use the cable teleferico that rides for about 15 minutes over the park and the Manzanares river and you can enjoy the nice view from up there. The windows weren’t clear enough though for great pics. The park is peaceful with only a few people that cycle or running. There is a lake with some cafes, an aquarium and a zoo (a big one, with pandas, snakes etc).

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Address: west side of madrid
Directions: by Metro to Lago station or by funicular (at Paseo Pintor Rosales, near parquet del Oeste).

Cibeles square is always busy, day and night! There is a very useful info spot here and also the start of many interesting routes for you. At the square you will notice for sure the strange shape of the Palacio de Comunicaciones (a post office building from the early 20th century) that looks like a palace or as others say like a wedding cake! :) Check also the building of Banca de Espana, the palacio Linares (from 19th century, now houses the casa de America for Latin culture)

At the center of the square there is a nice fountain (built at the late 18th century) of Cybelis, the greek goddess of fertility, famous also in the east at prehistoric period. Cibeles is on a chariot that being pulled by lions. I liked it during the night too.

I passed many times from Plaza Cibeles because here is the starting point of all the night buses and also the starting point of many walking routes for you:
1)you can go down Paseo del Prado for the famous museums Prado, Reyna Sofia, Thyssen until the Atocha train station
2)you can walk to Plaza Independencia for Puerta de Alcala, Retiro entrance is also close
3)you can walk at the other side of calle de Alcala and see the Circulo de bellas artes, the church of San Jose has some interesting paintings (but most of the valuable objects are now at Prado museum). Now you can continue till Puerta del Sol or turn to the Gran Via avenue. Before that check at the intersection of the two avenues the beautiful Metropolis building

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Address: Alcala street and Paseo del Prado
Directions: city center, take the metro to Banco de Espana

This beautiful gate situated at plaza de Independencia is even more beautiful at night but its location next to one of the Retiro’s entrances will bring you here during the day too. It was the monumental gate on the road to the historical city Alcala de Henares. There was another smaller gate there that was built in 1599 but king Carlos III ordered a big one that was built on 1769 by the Italian architect Sabatini.

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Address: next to Alcala street
Directions: At plaza Independencia close to one of Retiro entrances, Metro:Retiro

Paseo del Prado is a large road that starts from Cibeles square with a big pedestrian pavement at the center. The nice gardens with beautiful flowers along the way, some interesting fountains (check the Neptune close to Prado museum) will make your walking even more interesting but the basic reason for you will be the three major museums of Madrid that are situated along Paseo del Prado.

Prado
The Prado museum is probably the most famous museum in Madrid. Its huge collection used to be a royal collection but in our days you can find so many interesting paintings that you need a lot of hours to enjoy it. El Greco, Velazquez, Goya and so many others are there to impress you. Amazing collection, don’t miss it!
Entrance fee: 6 euro Free admission on Sundays(17:00-20:00) Tuesday to Saturday (18:00-20:00)
Opening hours 9:00-20:00. closed on Mondays

Reyna Sofia
The Museo de Arte Reina Sofía was the first one I ever visited in Madrid. It’s located on a building from 18th century (San Carlos Hospital). There are 2 glass elevators that takes you up. Most of the items are from the 20th century. The highlights of the museum include masterpieces of Picasso and Salvador Dali. When I saw Guernica for the first time I was shocked because I didn’t know it was so big!
Opening times: 10.00 - 21.00, Sunday till 14.30, closed on Tuesday
Entrance Fee: 6euro Free on Sunday(10-14:30), Saturday(14.30-21.00), May 18, October 12, December 6

Thyssen Bornemisza
Although I was tired when I visited this one I have to admit that the collection of paintings is great! The museum opened in 1992 and it is housed in the Palacio de Villahermosa from 19th century. Baron Thyseen Bornemisza’s father started to collect paints in 1920 and Hans Heinrich continue to collect more paintings. You can see amazing paintings from all over the world. The museum is much smaller than Prado so probably you will enjoy it more.
Opening times: 10.00 - 19.00 Closed on Monday
Entrance fee: 6 euro

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Address: from Cibeles square to Atocha train station
Directions: take the metro to Banco de Espana and walk down paseo del Prado

Colón square is dedicated to the famous Columbus and has a statue of Columbus standing on the top of a tall column. The monument was built in 1885 but the square took the name Colon in 1893. Columbus points west towards the lands he discovered.
There is always traffic around square with cars and buses but the waters will attract your attention for a while. Under the plaza you can visit the Cultural center of Madrid city. Check also the sculptures of Turcios on calle Serrano.

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Address: Plaza Colón
Directions: city center, take the metro to Colon stop.