"I made a spontaneous 24 hr trip to Madrid, here are some of my recommendations, by Rosa Fairfield."
Photographs by David Smith & Rosa Fairfield
Anyway... here are some places I recommend seeing:
Old Town - Jazz Bars and Art
I walked around the backstreets, from Buen Retiro Park to Puerto de Sol and found some really cool colourful buildings, artwork and jazz bars. I think a lot of the modern section feels very grey and industrial so it was nice to find somewhere that was lively and colourful and had more of an authentic feel.
Gourmet Experience View
You can get a great view of Madrid from the top floor. I found out about this online but when I got there I realised El Corte Ingles was a chain of department stores and that there are a lot of them. Try going to the one in Callao. They also have a mini supermarket in there, which sells packs of really good macaroons.
Buen Retiro Park
This was such a nice park. It was super quiet and had lots of off-the-road footpaths which were lovely to explore. It looked so nice in October because the trees were changing colour. Although, I'd recommend mid-late October if you want to see them at their best. There are also a lot of cool things to see in the park like: Palacio de Cristal.
Puerto de Sol
I think this was the best place I found for shopping... but it was more mainstream shopping than boutiques or vintage places but it was great to wander around and there were lots of eating places there. There were also a lot of European shops, that you don't get in England, which made it a bit more interesting.
The Station - Atocha
This place was super cool... maybe visiting a train station was pretty random, but it had a mini botanical garden inside and it just felt like a really inspiring place. Also, it's right next to the park, so it's good to pop in there and you can also use the toilet.
* I spent most of my time here just wandering around, like I always do. I think this is the best way to travel because you get to see things you wouldn't see if you are just hopping from metro to metro. It's funny, because even though I didn't follow a map, I somehow ended up finding all the places I'd planned to visit anyway.
Have you been to Madrid before? Please leave a comment - I always love to hear your thoughts.
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