Yet, since I wanted to make this trip happen using points for flights, I started getting creative in my searches when I couldn't find flights from Denver to Lisbon for the point price I was willing to pay. Thus, Madrid came on my radar as a major city we haven't been to and that is relatively close and easy to get to Lisbon.
We flew Lufthansa from Denver through Frankfurt to get to Madrid. I thought I'd found the perfect flight, a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt, enough to give us a cushion of time for delays as well as initial customs. Of course, our flight from FRA-MAD ended up getting pushed back, so we had a 6 hour layover in Frankfurt instead. Not ideal IMO (I'd planned on us using the sleeping pods at FRA that I'd found online, but in reality they would have required us to go through two more security lines and we decided it wasn't worth it). But hey! We survived!
We arrived at Madrid airport around 8:00p local time Monday, 5/22. Knowing that we were going to be arriving this late and jetlagged, I had prearranged a private transfer from the airport to our airbnb through our airbnb. While I'm glad we didn't have to think, only to look for someone holding a sign with our name, we TOTALLY got ripped off. The ride cost us $60eu and an Uber would have been $30 or less. Oh well.
We booked this airbnb about 2 months ahead of time. We chose it based on location, private outdoor patio, air conditioning, and honestly the elevator as a positive too - again knowing it was 5 floors up and we were travelling with two young kids. The airbnb was fine... but I don't know that either of us would recommend it? The layout is a bit funky. Both kids were a bit scared to share a room away from ours as we originally planned, so I ended up sleeping with Parker upstairs with the low slanted ceiling and Ben/Grayson on the main floor. The first night, the main floor bedroom smelled overwhelming of airfreshner and the next night we realized that was probably to cover up a mildew small. Anyways, on to the city!
How We Spent 3 Nights/2.5 Days in Madrid
Night 1
That first night it was late and we were all starving by the time we checked into the airbnb. We were right off of Plaza De Sol, so a well populated location. The downside of not having researched too much was that we had no idea where we wanted to eat and it was 10p, so places were closing. We ended up eating at Tapa Cafe Madrid, which as you can guess from the google reviews, was so-so.
Day 2
The next day we all slept in until 11am. I had debated booking a tuktuk tour for us, but ultimately decided against it, not knowing how we'd all be feeling. We decided to go with the back-up plan: Madrid City Tour hop on/off bus. Once we were all awake and ready to go, we opted for a coffee shop breakfast. Feliz Coffee was perfect for the job. Once fueled, we continued walking to Museo Nacional del Prado to buy tickets (which we could have done online) and hop on the bus.
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| San Jeronimo el Real |
We've never done a hop on/off bus before, but I have to say, it actually worked out quiet well! Kids under 6 are free. A one day pass was $25eu and two-day was $30eu, so we opted for two-days. We rode around the city for several stops, until inevitably someone wanted water and someone needed to go to the bathroom. We got off at Plaza de Espana and hopped in a Faborit for a drink and bathroom (which also had some delicious light-meal food. The kids got smoothies). We wandered over to the plaza and found the most amazing playground by happenchance, Parque infantil Plaza Espana. I would say this is a must visit if you have kids toddler age or older. My kids were beyond excited for a playground (and this was the favorite of our entire trip).
From there we wandered more, looking at the Real Palace (from the outside), finding gelato, and then hopping into Taproom Madrid to avoid some rain. We were all feeling pretty good at this point that we decided to go to an "early" flamenco show.
I had researched flamenco show options ahead of time. Knowing Madrid is a late night city, I had bookmarked a show I found via Airbnb experiences that started at 6:00p. I also got lucky that I had found the same show via Viator. Airbnb wanted to charge for the kids, whereas Viator listed kids under 6 were free. On top of that, Viator sent me a $25 off $50 booking. So in the end, we all 4 went to Essential Flamenco for $50, including a drink for everyone.
The show was an hour long, which was close to too long for the kids, but it held their attention. I'm glad we went (and also glad we didn't do a full-on production with dinner and show)! From there we walked over to Las Bravas, a spot I had bookmarked in my research, for dinner. But it was completely closed. Instead we ended up at Bandida Tapas. We got there at 7p and the restaurant was fairly empty, but the time we left it was full. It didn't seem the most welcoming of kids; but the food was good and we managed just fine! We stopped at mas que cervezas on the way home, which is an excellent beer and wine shop.
Day 3
With no major plans for the day, we started with a walk to a coffee shop for breakfast to see what the day had in store. Alchemy Coffee was incredibly quaint, but also delicious (my best iced latte of the trip). The clerk was so friendly; he chatted with the kids and made them little chocolate milks on the house - plus gave them a cookie to share when we left. From there we walked up to Plaza Mayor to look around and over to Mercado de San Miguel.
It was a beautiful building, but inside was a bit intense and chaotic for us. Ben doesn't do well in crowds in America, let alone a foreign country with a different language and wrangling two kids. We weren't all that hungry, but there was no where to sit either. We grabbed a few pastries and found a spot outside to eat.
We continued to walk around the city and explore, but decided we should get to Takos for lunch. Ben's friend had visited Madrid in recent years and Takos was the only food recommendation he offered. He was right. There was a line when we got there (waiting for it to open) and a line when we left. They have delicious street tacos if you're in the mood!
After lunch, since we had the bus passes, we decided to hop on the bus again to Retiro Park. This was another highlight of Madrid for our family. We explored some of the gardens and statues, got a drink by the pond, and then waited inline to rent a paddleboat. It was a picturesque afternoon! We got back on the bus, found some empanadas (not really memorable), and walked to Oso Brew Co (to be honest their beer Ben bought in cans the night before was better than what they had on tap!)
We went to Brew Wild Pizza Bar for dinner. This was a spot Ben had found in his beer research and they had the coolest/yummiest "volcano pizza"; almost like a calzone, that they sent on fire. I would recommend giving it a try to break up all of the croquettes!
Day 4
Departure day already! We had enough time before our check out to grab breakfast. We walked over to a different part of town we hadn't been to and got a real sit down breakfast at Nomad Cafe. It was as delicious as it was adorable. I would definitely recommend!
Remember how I said above that we got ripped over paying $60eu for our transfer from the airport to our airbnb? Yea, we ordered an Uber to pick us up and take us to Madrid airport.... it cost $19. Sigh.
On to Lisbon!
