Welcome to Must See Madrid!
If you’re planning a trip to the Spanish capital, you’re in for a treat. As a Madrid local after 12 years of living here, I’ve crafted the perfect 3-day itinerary to help you experience the very best this city has to offer.
From iconic landmarks to hidden gems, this guide has you covered. Let’s dive in to our 3 days in Madrid itinerary!
My Tips For A Perfect 3 Day Madrid Itinerary
Day 1: Exploring Madrid’s Historic Heart
Morning:
Start your day with a Spanish breakfast at a local café.
Go for “tostada con tomate y jamón” (toasted bread with tomato and ham), a very traditional breakfast in Spain. Pretty much any bar you come across will serve breakfast, so you won’t have to go far.
Afterward, head to Plaza Mayor, a historic square dating back to the 17th century. The Mercado San Miguel food market is just off the square, you can taste some amazing food here.
Using Plaza Mayor as a central point, there are a number of arches on the square. Each one leads to a different part of the center. You can walk down to Puerta del Sol, get a picture with the iconic bear and do a little early shopping. Theres an exit leading to La Latina, a very vibrant neighborhood with a lot of theatres and bars.
Take a walk in each direction, you just need to find your way back to Plaza Mayor if you drift off too far.
Lunch:
There are so many options for food in Madrid, it can be hard to make a choice. If you want a local experience, look for a traditional restaurant that has a ¨Menu del dia¨. A daily menu you can expect to pay anywhere from €12-25.
You will get a starter that can be croquettes, a small salad, some ham and cheese maybe. The main is usually a steak, a fish dish or maybe a pot dish. Then you get a number of dessert options, and a drink comes with the menu.
My favorite thing to eat in Madrid at the moment though are the burritos at Tierra Burrito. They are the best burritos in Madrid, trust me.
Afternoon:
Want to see a Palace with over 3500 rooms! Take a tour of the historic Royal Palace. You will see some of the most stunning architecture, and artwork by the most famous Spanish painters. After the tour, you should check out the Sabatini gardens, part of the palace which is surprisingly a very quiet spot to take a load off.
Don’t forget to visit the nearby Almudena Cathedral as well whilst in the area, its a short walk away from the Palace. Then if you want to get a little shopping in, take a walk up Gran Via, the main high street of the capital.
You will find the biggest Primark in Europe, and a host of other fashion chains. Then I would check out the Malasaña neighborhood for some really cool vintage clothing stores and bars.
Evening:
No trip to Madrid would be complete without seeing a Flamenco Show. There are quite a few places you can catch a Flamenco show in Madrid, and they all have something a little different to offer. I can safely say that any one you choose will be a unforgettable experience.
From here you may want to extend the night, go for dinner, maybe a nightclub. All of the Flamenco Taverns are right in the center of the city, so you won’t have any trouble finding a place to eat, and many Spaniards eat dinner really late at around 10pm, so restaurants stay open late.
Day 2: Art, Parks, and Tapas in Madrid
Morning:
Beat the crowds, and start your day with a visit to the world-famous Prado Museum, home to a vast collection of European art. You’ll find works by Goya, Velázquez, Picasso and so many more artists. My favorite painting here is the ´Las Meninas` by Diego Velazquez.
If you see the painting, you will notice that one of the girls faces doesn’t quite match the rest of the painting. There was a fire at the Museum a while back, and a lot of paintings were damaged and had to have some restorations done on them.
If you like Art as much as I do, it will take you a good 2-3 hours, or more depending on how much you linger to get around the Museum. Still, you’ll have a little time to kill before lunch. A few minutes walk from the Prado, you have the buildings of congress.
The architecture is stunning, everything is oversized and their are many giant carved statues, each a piece of art. From here, take a walk around the Barrio de las Letras. You will find the homes of Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes and many other famous writers of the past.
Lunch:
By now, you have surely worked up a good appetite. I would suggest popping into any local supermarket like Dia or Carrefour, and heading off to Retiro for a picnic.
You can find fresh bread in pretty much every store, grab some ham, cheese, hummus, carrots, snacks and enjoy a little time in the sun. There a lot of shaded areas with trees around the park so you wont struggle to find a good spot.
On a hotter day, I like to hang out not too far from the lake. Firstly becuase the water keeps this area a little cooler, also becuase you can grab cold drinks and ice cream from the bars around the lake.
There are a lot of really nice parks in Madrid, but Retiro is the largest one with the most activities in the center of Madrid. After you’ve eaten, maybe you take a little nap, or go sit at one of the bars on the lake for a cool beer.
Me and the kids love to rent bikes, and go around the park, especially when it’s hot out. There are many statues and monuments around the park that are worth seeing. Make sure you have a water bottle with you too, there are water fountains all around the park for you to refill.
Afternoon:
I love spending an afternoon in La Latina. If you are here on a Sunday, you should definitely check out the Rastro Market. It’s a very colorful neighborhood that reminds me a lot of London.
There one street that is just full of Indian restaurants, just like Brick Lane back home in London. Then you have another area where you can get some amazing Senegalese food, and traditional Spanish bars lining the streets for as far as you can walk.
Evening:
For a true local evening, I would say go on a tapas tour in Madrid. You get to meet some new people, and you visit a number of bars and neighborhoods and try some really great food.
For an alternative plan, a cooking class in Madrid is also something really fun to do. I really enjoy cooking at home, and have been to a few of these cooking classes. The quality of my Paella has really stepped up, and it’s nice to impress people when I go back home to London.
Day 3: Modern Madrid and Cultural Delights
Morning:
Today will start with what I think is the best food market in Madrid. the San Miguel Food Market. The market is just off of Plaza Mayor, has been here for over a hundred years and widely recognized as one of the best food markets in the world.
Theres no need to book anything, just walk in and do what I normally do. I will grab a drink, usually a craft beer and do a circuit of the market first to get an idea of what is on offer that day. Then I will go back and try all the things that looked nice, topping up my drink whilst doing the rounds of course.
For an alternative breakfast, another must try when you are Madrid are Churros with Chocolate. If they are not eating toast with tomato, you’ll see most locals dipping this much loved pastry into a cup of thick chocolate. Check out some of my favorite places to get churros in Madrid.
Lunch:
If you don’t want to be indoors, taking a walk down to the Madrid Rio is a great way to spend a few hours at lunch. It’s just on the other side of the Royal Palace, and has a huge amount of recreational activities.
It’s runs alongside the Manzanares River, there are 17 children’s play areas if you have the little ones with you. Theres even a Madrid Rio Beach made up of water enclosures and jets spraying out water on the hot summer days. My kids absolutely love it here.
Oh and not to forget lunch, there are a number of bars and restaurants along the water front, they may be a little pricer becuase of location, but you can’t go wrong if you get a ´Menu del Dia´. For €15-20 you can have yourself a great lunch.
For an alternative lunch plan, a trip to the Matadero Madrid is also a great idea. It is a former slaughterhouse that has been turned into an events and cultural center. It’s a huge space as well.
They recently had an exhibition on Egypt that I went to, one of my favorites so far. There are also outdoor food markets, bars, countless exhibitions, artisan stores, music and even an outdoor cinema.
Afternoon:
Sped the afternoon in Casa de campo, a huge park just on the other side of the Palce. You wouldn’t be able to see all there is in the park in a day, but a few things you can do is take the cable car that provides panoramic views of the city and a unique perspective on Madrid’s landscape.
You can also go to the Madrid Theme Park for some thrills, or just sit down and relax by the lake with a drink and an ice cream.
If you prefer to stay indoors, I would suggest taking a tour of the National Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. It’s home to some of the most important collections of art in Spain. My favorite are the Gothic collections of paintings, but they have something for everyone, all the way up to twentieth-century pop art.
Evening:
Before it’s time to pack up the suitcases, my top pick for dinner on your last day in Madrid would be at La Castafiore. It’s a restaurant where the waiting staff are also Opera singers, and the food is amazing.
Though the restaurant has been here for decades, I only had the pleasure of going here in 2023, and it has since become one of the best places for date nights.
Conclusion:
There you have it, the ultimate 3-day Madrid itinerary from a local’s perspective. I really love Madrid and everything in it. I live here in the city, I work on Gran Via and spend most of my days and evenings right there in the thick of it.
I hope this guide helps you get the most out of the city, and would really like to hear of your experiences in the comments. If you need to alter anything, or are here for a shorter time, check out my guide for 2 days in Madrid.
If you have any questions or need more local tips, feel free to reach out. Safe travels!
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