Can anybody reccomend stuff to do while in Madrid?

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abuela Nany

Some of my husbands family live in Madrid, I've been there often...
There are so many things worth seeing you could stay for months and not visit everything...
If you like museums...You have
MUSEO DEL PRADO
MUSEO THYSSEN
MUSEO REINA SOFÃA (modern art)
All within walking distance of each other...

There is a smaller museum dedicated to the painter Sorolla
A Military museum and a Natural Sciences Museum, and another contemporary art museum.
Near the Prado (just next to it) you have the Botanical Gardens
And El Parque del Retiro, with its lake is just behind El Prado...
Then you have the Palacio Real and the Almudena Cathedral (where the crown prince was married 2 years ago)
The Plaza Mayor (if you go on a sunday morning there is a street market with philatelists and others collectors items), there are small restaurants all around the plaza and on the lower level on the streets surrounding, great places for typical spanish food...
On the Gran Via you have the chic shops, and at Callao there is a big department store called "El Corte InglÃ©s", great for shopping. This is within walking distance to the City Hall building in La Puerta del Sol. And the little side streets in this area are interesting with lots of nice shops too.
If your spanish is good there are plenty of theaters with excellent shows.
Then there is the zoo, and you have a Warner Bros. Theme park just on the outskirts of the city.
(Watch your purse and mobile phone, there are a lot of eastern european immigrants that have decided that Madrid is a great place to earn a living by purse-snatching. It's not really dangerous, but be careful anyway...)
Then you have nearby towns worth seeing...There is a beautiful palace in Aranjuez, the palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial, the whole of Toledo is magnificent, Segovia with the aqueduct. And many more.
Enjoy your visit...Madrid is one of the loveliest cities in Europe!
And in summer the nightlife is fantastic, the street cafÃ©s have a life of their own!...

crewchiefs-pitstop

Madrid Is wonderful I have been twice, last time I stayed at the Palace hotel directly across from the Royal palace, one of the finest Museums in Europe is in Madrid the Prada.
The Royal palace and armoury.
Shopping at Plaza de Ingles.
Some great Night clubs and fantastic restaurants.
It is a city rich with History and culture.
If you don't speak Spanish it can be a bit tough at times so just remember one simple phrase "yo quero una" (point at what you want) "Por favor"
The people are pretty friendly and most are helpful.
If you get bored you can take a trip to the old capital of Toledo they do history tours which I found pretty cool.
Oh and a little tipping goes a long way many European visitors don't tip if you do even once even small say 50cents the level of service increases greatly they will ignore other people to serve you. So give a little tip at a resturaunt after your drinks order then few euros when you leave they will bend over backwards.
I went with my company I tipped they did not, I and people sitting with me need only raise our hand and they were Juanito on the spot where as my boss was lucky to get a beer.

crispycrump

Go to the art galleries... go eating tapas around the bars... shopping is good... go and have 'chocolate con churros' for breakfast after you've been out clubbing all night - that's a very typically Spanish thing to do.

nige_but_dim

I agree with abuela Nany - there is plenty to see and do.

Maybe a good start would be to do an open-top bus tour around the city. It's a good way to see some of the highlights, and then you can go back to the bits that looked more interesting.

For getting around otherwise, I would recommend the Metro / Underground. You can (I think) buy a pass for a couple of days unlimited travel for a bargain price; it's clean and efficient and (usually!) safe. It's also the best way of getting into the city from the airport, imho.

Gordon R

good museums and some are free