#they should hang it in the louvre and also in the prado

[nostalgia-tblr]

“Yet,” I amended quickly. “He's done nothing wrong yet.”

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

Hola, a friend and I are thinking about doing a sightseeing trip to Madrid in the middle of november. Do you have some insider tips what we should see? :)

hi anon, yes of course !!!

so, one thing about madrid, it isn't a monument city but a walking city. i'd say walking through the city center, centered around the two main squares, puerta del sol and plaza mayor (both also massive tourist hotspots so expect a ton of people). just walking around that area, around arenal street, calle mayor (main street), carretas street and others is enough to get a feel of the oldest part of the city (also called 'madrid the los austrias' or 'austrian madrid', when spain was ruled by the habsburgs). it's my favourite area honestly, alongside the barrio de las letras, which you can get to walking or in a few metro stops. its name translates to 'neighborhood of the letters' because a ton of writers lived here, and you can find phrases from spanish literary classics engraved on the streets, it's lovely.

apart from that central area, other cool spots i would really recommend you should check out is gran vía (busiest street in the city, it literally translates to 'broadway', it has a ton of theatres as well), malasaña (hip arts district, love the vibe, also it's so beautiful and there's always stuff going on, really nice place to go out at night as well), chueca (next to malasaña, it's the queer district!!! also very beautiful), debod (my actual favourite place in the city!!!!!! it's this hill that holds an egyptian temple - the temple of debod - that was gifted to spain after the aswan campaign, you can visit it and also the views from the city from here are lovely, you can find the best sunset here), el rastro (the largest flea market in the country, you can visit it every sunday, you can find anything here. also nearby, in the cuesta de moyano, there's a book fair also open only on sundays), retiro park (our main park, really pretty, it's very nice to just chill; it also has a lake you can row on, and cool statues and stuff), and the royal palace (it's open to the public if that's your thing, but the area around it is very very nice, i always end up here when i hang out with my friends).

now let's talk museums!!!! madrid has a ton of museums, i'll tell you the ones i recommend but depending on what you're looking for there's probably something for you. important to note is that at least the prado and the reina sofía museums are free everyday one hour before they close !!!!!! important !!!!!! check in case there's other museums that do this, but i'm unsure, i think it's those two and maybe the thyssen?

so. the main three art museums in madrid are the prado museum (the counterpart of the louvre, that sorta vibe), the reina sofía museum (our modern art museum, only stuff from picasso onwards), and the thyssen museum (ngl i haven't been here, it's a private museum made out of the collection of this one countess). all of them (more or less) are in the prado boulevard, which is also very nice to walk by so it's always lovely to go there even if you don't enter the museums. nearby there's also the national archaeological museum, my personal favourite one.

other smaller but also cool museums that i love are the madrid history museum (the facade is insane, also has tons of cool maps of the city), romanticism museum (an old romanticism-era palace with romanticism-era paintings and other stuff), cerralbo museum (underrated af; it is the personal collection of this one noble, the building itself is absolutely insane), and the sorolla museum (if you like sorolla this is your place!).

(i'm nearly done i swear)

if you have time and want to visit a nearby city, my recommendations are: alcalá de henares (really close to madrid, it has the second oldest university in spain, with a medieval feel to it, it also has the madrid archaeological museum - it was a roman foundation under the name of complutum - and most importantly, it's known for being the birthplace of miguel de cervantes, writer of don quijote!!!! you can visit his house, it's now a museum :), el escorial (deep in the mountains, it has the monastery of el escorial, maximum icon of spanish renaissance, it was the winter palace of the monarchy and holds the royal crypt, where most of spanish monarchs have been buried), toledo (oh if you love medieval cities you'll love this one. it was the first capital of spain, and it is most known for being the city that during the medieval times had christians, muslims and jews living peacefully. there's tons of churches, mosques and synagogues to visit, and it is very well preserved, with narrow steep cobblestone streets, cannot recommend it enough), and segovia (toledo is to the south of madrid, and segovia to the north! it is most famous for its roman aqueduct, the best preserved and highest in the country, and it also has a ton of historical buildings, including its alcázar, a palace that inspired the sleeping beauty castle !!!!!). also it's not a city but there's a national park in madrid, the sierra de guadarrama national park and it's super beautiful, it's this lovely mountainous area perfect for hiking or just chilling, and depending on when in november you come, you might see snow!

as a final warning!! i don't know where you're from but in november madrid is probably colder than you are expecting so make sure to pack some extra layers just in case !!!