Things to do:

• Stroll around “El Retiro” in the afternoon. Specially the pond and the “Palacio de Cristal”.
• Stroll around “Barrio de Salamanca” and have lunch in some of their fancy restaurants. I specially like the area going directly east from Colon, the “Jorge Juan” street.
• Have dinner and some drinks in “Calle Ponzano”, really cool ambiance.
• Do a tour of the “Bernabeu” if you’re a football fan.
• Eat tapas in “La Latina” (a neighbourhood).
• Stroll around “Chueca” for a cool ambiance. If you’re a guy ignore the stigma of the “Gay Neighborhood”, I had some friends tell me they had the most pleasant treatment in its bars.
• If you liked Money Heist (the Netflix series) you can see where it all happened at “Nuevos Ministerios”.
• Day trip to “El Escorial”, really nice historic place.
• Day trip to “Segovia”, I love this place, the Cathedral and the Roman aqueduct are beautiful and the food here is incredible.

My favorite walking route

<aside> 💡 You can do this in one day or split the areas in several afternoons

</aside>

1. Start in Puerta de Alcala (That was the entrance to the old city when it was walled a long, long time ago).
2. Head west to “Plaza de Cibeles” where you can see the City Hall and the national bank.
3. Continue west and you will see my favorite building of all of Madrid, the “Metropolis” building.
4. To your left you can find “Circulo de Bellas artes”, it has a nice rooftop and have a drink while admiring the views of the city. I recommend coming here at sunset.
5. Continue west and up, towards “Gan Via”, this is the main street that crosses Madrid from East to West. Pretty cool buildings around. Don’t, I repeat, do not eat at any place of this street, you’ll get ripped off and the food is probably crap. Otherwise there’s a lot of big stores like Uniqlo or Primark which are nice if you need to get any clothes.
6. Continue to “Callao”. Here you will find the famous “Schwepes” building. If you head into the mall “El Corte Ingles” and go up, they have a nice rooftop bar as well.
7. Now from Callao head south to “Puerta del Sol”. This is KM0 (kilometer 0) of Spain. Where all the roads are measured from. There are some historic buildings here but Google will tell you more about them. Here’s also the building with the big bell that we all watch in new years eve and eat grapes to the rhythm of it’s ringing (not kidding, look it up).
8. Now go a bit south to “Plaza Mayor”, this place is really really nice in Christmas time with the Christmas markets. You can get lost around its streets and find a nice place to have a beer. Here’s also the typical place to have a “Bocata de Calamares” (calamari sandwich) not the best thing in the world but it’s weird enough to try it.