Four Days in Madrid

Madrid

The Spanish capital was built exactly in the middle of the country, much to the chagrin of locals trying to get to the beach for their summer vacation. Yet when you visit, you won’t mind, because Madrid has everything you could want in a city. Great hotels, restaurants, boutiques and especially museums are everywhere. A huge old center is great to get lost in, with neighborhoods from swanky to multicultural to alternative. What really makes Madrid unique is its traditional character and its relationship to the rest of Spain. This has always been the go-to destination for people from all corners of the country, so Madrid has a little bit of everywhere. You’ll find traditional central Spanish restaurants serving country favorites, Galician seafood specialists, Basque pintxos bars, and Andalusian tapas bars that could be in Sevilla. Experience Madrid as the madrileños do, an electric combination that fuses the modern and the classic in the true heart of Spain.

A Few Days in Madrid

Madrid makes for a perfect starting or end point for your trip. If you start your trip in Madrid, in three or four days we can immerse you in the treasures of Spanish art, arrange a Michelin star dinner in a flamenco venue, organize a guided day trip to historic Toledo or Segovia, and introduce you to some of the country’s great restaurants, amazing wine bars and classic tapas. Here you will adapt to the Spanish eating schedule–lunch at 2:00 or 3:00 and dinner between 8:30 and midnight. We’d love to start you off with a wine tasting to show your palate the range of wines available or to help you learn about the wine region you will visit.

On the blog: Madrid Wine Bars


Day 1 - Madrid: The City of Art

Prado Museum & Reina Sofía Private Art Tour

Meet your art specialist guide at your hotel. Walk or take a taxi to the Prado Museum for a private guided visit. You may want to focus on Goya and Velázquez, or other artists in the vast collection. Spain’s great art museum and one of the finest in the world, the Prado Museum is a must-see for any art lover visiting Madrid. The sprawling 18th-century building holds an enormous collection of paintings, sculptures, and other works by the great masters and lesser known artists, including the largest collection of paintings by the Italian masters outside Italy. Spain’s greatest painters are well represented, including numerous works by Goya and Velázquez. Touring the Prado with a private art expert guide is the perfect way to make sure that you see the most important works housed in the museum and understand their context. Afterwards cross the Paseo del Prado to visit the Museo Reina Sofía to see Picasso’s Guernica as well as a fine collection of modern art.

Before dinner you may want to stop by a Madrid institution that’ll provide an introduction to the traditional bars of Andalusia: La Venencia. With close to a century of history, this is one of the last remaining bars in Madrid serving wine from barrels. Step inside and get your first chance to try sherry, the flagship wine of the Spanish South, straight from the barrel. The decoration feels exactly as it must have in 1928, and La Venencia remains as popular as ever.   

Day 2 - Madrid Walking Tour

Madrid Walking Tour & Spanish Royal Palace

Explore the historic districts of Madrid with a private guide before a tour of the magnificent Spanish Royal Palace. See the the Writers Quarter, where Spain’s great authors like Cervantes and Quevedo once spent their time. Then, head into the oldest part of the city, where narrow streets lead to hidden plazas lined with architectural jewels whose history is intertwined with that of the city and of Spain as a whole. Your stroll through the city will end at the Royal Palace, built in the 18th century as the home of the Spanish kings. This 18th-century marvel is the largest royal palace in Europe, featuring over three thousand rooms in total. The rooms you’ll visit feature decoration and furnishings contributed by past kings of Spain and a priceless collection of paintings from masters like Caravaggio, Goya, and Velázquez. The collection of arms and armor belonging to Spanish kings and notable historical figures is unmissable.

Dinner Option: Flamenco Show & Dinner

Corral de la Morería

Corral de la Morería has been hosting world-class flamenco performances for many years, and additionally houses a Michelin star restaurant. First, step inside the tiny restaurant hidden near the venue’s entrance. Inside you’ll find just four tables at which to revel in chef David García’s elegant seasonal cuisine. The tasting menu dinners served here are creative and surprising, but it’s not just the food that’s exceptional. Corral de la Morería has one of the largest selections of sherry wines in the world, including old bottlings dating back decades, and the diverse wine cellar has more than a thousand different wines available. You can opt for one of the wine pairings with dinner or order wines à la carte.

After dinner, it’s time to head into the main room for the best flamenco show in the city. For decades, Corral de la Morería has attracted the biggest stars in the flamenco world to its stage and the most discerning enthusiasts to enjoy the shows. The expert guitarists, singers, dancers, and other flamenco artists who perform make a night here an essential experience in the capital.

Day 3 - Madrid Wine Tasting & Wine Bars

Private Wine Tasting

Step inside one of Madrid’s exclusive wine shops for shop private tasting of Spanish wines accompanied by tapas. The owner has decades of experience working with Spain’s top wineries and carries a wide range of rare bottles. The tasting will provide an introduction to Spanish wine, or it could focus on one or two Spanish  regions. From iconic bottles to small-production experimental wines, you can taste them here.

Madrid Wine Bars On Your Own

Dis Tinto

In a half basement near the popular tapas area of Calle Jesús, where beer washes down traditional dishes day and night, Dis Tinto offers a different experience: elegantly updated tapas and a killer wine selection. Step inside and you’ll immediately notice the wine botles covering the bar and the walls. You’ll find a few dozen by the glass, plus a few dozen more sherries and Champagnes. 

Sherry is one of the specialties of the owners, but the remarkable feature of Dis Tinto is its Champagne selection. You’ll find reasonably priced glasses from small growers alongside bottles at very reasonable prices. The extensive list of conventional wines helps make clear why this is a popular hangout for Madrid sommeliers. The food here equals the wine, making for a perfect match. Creative but respectful versions of Madrid classics like tortilla and ensaladilla exist alongside modern preparations influenced by Japanese and other cuisines. Get a few plates to share and some wine and enjoy a true gourmet food and wine experience right in the heart of Madrid.

La Fisna

Of all the places to drink wine in Madrid, La Fisna may be the favorite among the city’s wine professionals. In the central working neighborhood of Lavapiés, where artists mix with immigrants in retro bars and historic cafés, La Fisna’s exterior doesn’t look like much. Step inside, and you’ll be greeted by bottles of great wine. They cover the walls behind the tables and behind the bar, in addition to resting comfortably on happy clients’ tables. The partners behind La Fisna began distributing and selling rare and interesting wines before opening the bar, and La Fisna continues to have a wine store within it where you can buy bottles to take home. Most come to drink in though, for a few reasons. The environment is cozy and comfortable, a small taberna full of fellow wine lovers. The staff are wine experts who can guide you capably towards an interesting glass or bottle. You’ll find dozens of wines by the glass or half glass, including small Spanish producers, rarities from other countries (especially France and Italy), and great selections of sparkling and fortified wines by the glass. The prices are fair; they are beyond fair if you order a bottle. Every bottle at La Fisna is sold at store price, with a small corkage fee, so you can comfortably enjoy any of the hundreds of bottles available here. If you consider that there’s an extensive food menu which ranges from cheese and charcuterie to delicious specialties using seasonal ingredients that pair perfectly with fine wine, La Fisna becomes an obvious choice for any wine lover in Madrid.

La Venencia

It may not quite be the oldest bar in Madrid, but La Venencia is certainly one of the most traditional places in the city. Stepping through the door is to engage in time travel. The interior seems (and seriously may be) untouched since the bar’s creation in 1928. The products on offer are simple. As the word venencia, a tool for serving sherry from the barrel, might imply, this is a sherry taberna of the sort rarely seen anymore and even less so outside Andalusia. Sherry wine straight from the barrel, sourced from the best wineries of Jerez and Sanlúcar, is the only drink. It’s served in the traditional small catavino glasses and the bill is tracked in chalk on the long wooden bar. The decor is dark wood and old  posters for bygone bullifights and old bottles from disappeared sherry titans of Jerez who live on in the memories of sherry fans. Any regular at La Venencia will remind you of the most important rule: No photos allowed, you’ll have to remember your experience here the old fashioned way. To accompany your sherry, there’s quality charcuterie and cured fish available, but this is strictly a bar, not a restaurant. Gabriel, a young and motivated member of the family that owns La Venencia, has opened a special section of the bar in the basement which takes the secrecy of the bar to a new level. Head down a narrow set of stairs and you’re surrounded by more bottles of sherry and greeted by low tables surrounded by barrels. Gabriel’s passion for quality sherry drove him to open this section where some of the finest bottled sherries are available to those who want to taste sherry at its absolute best. Both parts of the bar are mandatory stops for wine and sherry lovers in the Spanish capital.

Day 4 - Day Trip to Historic Toledo

Take the high-speed train to the nearby town of Toledo. This Unesco World Heritage Site features monuments and artifacts extending back centuries, but its most notable heritage combines Christian, Moorish, and Jewish history. Narrow streets and impeccably preserved buildings make a visit to Toledo like stepping back in time. You’ll have a panoramic tour of the city before strolling the old streets and visiting historic sites like the Cathedral, the El Greco Museum and the El Tránsito Synagogue.

Lunch will be at Adolfo, a destination restaurant on the hill overlooking Toledo’s old town. Named for its chef and proprietor, Adolfo serves the best seasonal ingredients in a menu that changes according to what is available from sustainable local producers. The presentation is elegant and modern without obscuring the pure flavors of the products. Adolfo’s wine cellar contains thousands of bottles and is a draw in itself. This is the place to enjoy a leisurely Spanish lunch after visiting Toledo’s monuments.