Top 7 tourist attractions in Madrid

In Madrid there are a lot of attractions recommended by guidebooks. Part of them is truly interesting but not everything - some places are disappointing. Today I want to present my favourite places, but I warn you that it's veeery subjective post :)

1. Old Town streets (Centre of Madrid)
In my opinion it's the most beautiful part of Madrid, perfect for walking. There is calmly during the day, without crowd. A lot of nice cafés and shops. I reccomend you to "lose" yourself in the labirynth of alleyways and discover not quite touristic view of Madrid. On sunday morning you can visit El Rastro - the most popular flea market in Madrid (I will write another post about it).

2. Museo del Prado
No need to write much about this - obligatory place for fans of art (and not only) :)

3. Palacio Real and surroundings
Important and nice place - Royal Palace. I recommend to visit also its sorroundings - Plaza de Oriente, Almudena Cathedral, Ruins of  Muslim wall, Palace Gardens: Jardines de Sabatini and Campo del Moro. Popular destination of our walks.

4. Parque del Retiro
The most known park in Madrid situated near the Prado. Nice place for rest at the picnic or more active form of relaxation. We can run, roller skate, ride a skateboard, bike, scooter, work out at outdoor gym, boat at artifical lake, walk or simply go to the one of many restaurants. Oh, I forgot to mention that we can visit several buildings, for example The Crystal Palace.
You can come to Retiro with your dog. There is a special fenced square for dogs with some agility obstacles.

Cristal Palace

5. Plaza de Santa Ana
My favourite square in Madrid. I love its atmosphere. There is a lot of pubs, bars and restaurants. I like it more than other squares like Plaza Mayor which is always crowded.

6. Atocha railway station
I know it may seem strange but I think that Madrids railway station is really worth to visit. It's a combination of traditional station with... tropical garden. I love this idea! :) If you want to see more flora, there is a Royal Botanical Garden near the Atocha.

7. Gran Via
Something for fans of representative streets and crowds. This street is often compared to alleys of old New York. There is a lot of shops, restaurants and theatres (you can see here The Lion King musical!). Centre of Madrid's nightlife, supposedly this place is the most impressive exactly at night.

I didn't mention about many important places, monuments and buildings, but as I said, it's not typical guide post. I described only my favourite places :)

Madrid

I live in Madrid for four months now and for the long time I didn't know what to write about it, I know only one thing: life in Madrid isn´t so turquise.

After two years in calm andalouse coast it´s hard to live in the big city far away from the sea! We changed turquoise water, seagulls and calmness to sea of cars, fumes and noise. ¨

After all I don't judge Madrid completly negative. If you like big cities you should be pleased. I have several favourite places here, the most I like walking through old streets and parks.

This blog post is only introduction to series about Madrid, so I put some photos of my favourite places.