Madrid in 4 Days: everything you need to know

Although there is a lot to see and do in Madrid, four days is enough time to get to know the most important parts of the city. The secret is to be well organised, so I am sharing with you my ideal itinerary for a stay of this length in the Spanish capital.

The first day of your four-day tour of Madrid will be spent discovering some of the most important squares and palaces in the heart of the city.

Stroll around Puerta del Sol and the statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree

In the centre of Madrid is one of the city's most important squares, a favourite spot for locals and a must-see for tourists: Puerta del Sol. In addition to being a large square, it is surrounded by important buildings with unique historical architecture.

Here you will also find two very important points that every tourist should know about and which are included in most tours if you book a guided tour of Madrid:

• Kilometre zero of Madrid, which serves as the origin of the radial roads of the urban grid.
• The statue of the Bear and the Modroño, erected in 1967. A photograph next to the statue is a must for any visit to this city.

Explore the Plaza Mayor and the San Miguel Market

From Puerta del Sol, walking along Calle Mayor, the Plaza and the San Miguel Market are only five minutes away. It is a beautiful meeting place, surrounded by Gothic-style buildings. If you visit Madrid at Christmas, there is a fantastic Christmas market here that you should not miss.

The San Miguel Market is located right in the Plaza Mayor and is a fantastic iron and glass structure where you will find an enviable gastronomic offering. In fact, it is an ideal place to book a food tour.

My recommendation? Take a break for an early lunch here, enjoy the views of the Plaza Mayor and then relax with a coffee.

Visit the Almudena Cathedral

The city's most important religious building is located just a six-minute walk from the San Miguel Market. After lunch, the afternoon of your first day is the best time to book a guided tour of the Almudena Cathedral:

• Opening hours: from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday to Sunday. If you want to see the museum area and the dome, the opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.

• Admission price: Free to visit the cathedral; around £6 to go up to the museum area and the dome. The guided tour costs around £50.

• Duration of the visit: Approximately 2 hours with the dome. However, the guided tour is much more comprehensive and lasts 2½ hours.

Take a tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid

What was once the home of Spanish royalty is now one of the city's most important cultural and historical centres. If you want to know why it's on the list of Madrid's must-see places, spend the rest of your first afternoon exploring the grounds.

The best way to visit the Royal Palace and make sure you see everything important is, without a doubt, to book your tickets in advance.

Practical information

• Opening hours: Between October and March, from 10am to 6pm; from April to September, from 10am to 8pm.

• Ticket price: admission without a guide costs a minimum of £25, while the guided tour with all explanations and direct access without queuing costs £29.

• Duration of the visit: approximately 1 hour and a half.

Stroll through the Sabatini Gardens at sunset

Sabatini is the name of the gardens of the Royal Palace, located on the north side of the building. Designed in the purest neoclassical style, this green space is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Madrid.

After your visit to the Royal Palace, explore the grounds and the impressive fountains and sculptures. You can take photos of the palace as the sun goes down.

In the evening, take a gastronomic tapas tour of central Madrid

One of my favourite things to do in Madrid after sunset is one of the wine and tapas tours around the city, which you can book here. There are many options to suit all types of travellers.

Spend the second day of your trip to Madrid in the Paseo del Prado area, with its museums, gardens and numerous monuments.

Start at the Plaza and Palacio de Cibeles at sunrise

Start the morning of your second day in Madrid by watching the sunrise from one of the city's most beautiful buildings. The Cibeles Palace currently houses the city council and is one of the buildings most loved and cared for by the people of Madrid.

It's worth taking a trip inside to climb up to the viewing terrace, from where you can see the entire square and the beginning of the Gran Vía. And to make sure you don't miss a thing, you can book a tour of the Palacio de Cibeles viewpoint.

Continue on to the Neptune Fountain

Leaving Plaza de Cibeles behind, take the beautiful Paseo del Prado avenue to head to the next important photo spot in Madrid: the Neptune Fountain, located in the famous Plaza de Cánovas.

Here you will find a fantastic neoclassical monument with a marble sculpture of the famous Roman god. The square itself is surrounded by beautiful architecture dating back to the 18th century. It is one of the points of interest you will visit if you book a guided tuk tuk tour of Madrid.

Don't miss a visit to the Prado Museum

Continue along Paseo del Prado to reach the city's most important museum. Famous throughout the world for housing one of the most impressive collections of paintings from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Due to the size of the museum, the best way to visit the Prado Museum is to book a guided tour, which will show you the most important works. However, you also have the option of buying your tickets for the Prado Museum in advance and visiting at your own pace.

If you want to buy a souvenir, the Prado shop has some really attractive items for art lovers.

Practical information

• Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Admission: approximately £18 for an adult ticket.
• Duration of the visit: You will need about three hours to visit the museum's most important rooms and works.

Lunch nearby: There is a wide variety of places to eat in this area, so after your visit to the museum, I recommend taking a break for lunch at one of the restaurants near the Prado Museum.

Spend the afternoon in the Retiro Park

After spending a few hours inside the museum, the best way to clear your mind and get some fresh air is to take a stroll through the city's most beautiful and famous park: the Retiro Park.

Covering an area of 118 hectares, the park is not only beautiful but also huge, so my advice is to focus on the most interesting areas. To do this, you can book a tour of the Retiro. The essentials are:

• Visit the Crystal Palace: originally used as a greenhouse, this fantastic structure is now used to host temporary exhibitions from the Prado Museum.
• Discover the Paseo de las Estatuas: on a beautiful walk through the Retiro's vegetation, you can explore the statues representing important Spanish monarchs.
• Take photos of the sunset at the Retiro Lake: the beautiful artificial lake in the Retiro Park is considered one of the best places in Madrid to take photos of the sunset. Don't miss it!

Practical information

• Opening hours: from October to March, the park is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; the rest of the year, it is open until midnight.
• Entrance fee: Access to the park is free, and you can enjoy a guided tour from £13.
• Duration of the visit: As long as you like.

And in the evening, attend a flamenco show

One of the best things to do in Madrid at night is to attend one of its famous flamenco shows.

Live shows can be enjoyed at numerous entertainment venues in the old town, always featuring talented local artists. Here are some options:

• Flamenco show at Torres Bermejas in Madrid, from S$43
• Flamenco show at the Teatro Flamenco in Madrid, from S$111
• Flamenco show at Corral de la Morería in Madrid, from S$87
• Flamenco show at Essential Madrid, from S$60

Practical information

• Price: between £32 and £70.
• Duration: can be from one to three hours depending on the option you choose.

Spend your third day shopping in the centre of Madrid and discovering the city's most exclusive areas.

Stop off at Plaza Callao

The best way to start a morning of sightseeing in the north-west of Madrid is undoubtedly Plaza del Callao. Considered a symbol of Madrid, it is the equivalent of New York's famous Times Square.

Three important streets converge at this point: Preciados, Calle del Carmen and Gran Vía. Take the opportunity to take a few iconic photos before continuing your exploration. And remember that you can easily reach this area by booking your ticket for the Madrid tourist bus.

Morning coffee and shopping on Gran Vía

No trip to Madrid would be complete without a visit to the city's most important and famous boulevard and shopping street. Whether you like fashion, gastronomy, history or architecture, Gran Vía has something for everyone. It's the ideal place for a private shopping tour of Madrid.

Here's a sample of what you'll find:

• Cafés on Gran Vía: Faborit San Bernardo, Celicioso Hortaleza, Granier, Prioritè Art Coffee Shop, Noma.
• Fashion shops on Gran Vía: New Balance, Stradivarius, ZARA, Salsa Jeans, Grassy España.
• Famous buildings on Madrid's Gran Vía: Metrópolis Building.

and the Carrión Building.

In the afternoon, visit Plaza de España and the Cervantes Monument

If you walk along Gran Vía to the end, you will find Plaza de España and the famous Monument to Miguel Cervantes, accompanied by his two legendary characters: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Around Plaza de España you will find some important buildings, such as the Compañía Asturiana de Minas, the Edificio España and the Torre Madrid. I recommend booking a bike tour of Madrid to get to know this area of the city in detail.

Go to the Temple of Debod at sunset

From the centre of Plaza de España to the Temple of Debod, it's only a 10-minute walk, so I recommend exploring this important Madrid gem and waiting for sunset while strolling through its gardens.

However, it's important to note that if you book your ticket for the tourist bus, one of its stops is the Temple of Debod.

The structure that makes up the monument is over 2,000 years old and was a gift brought to Spain from distant Egypt. Needless to say, its historical and aesthetic uniqueness make it a monument that stands out from the other structures that make up the Madrid landscape.

Practical information

• Opening hours: closed on Mondays; Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm.
• Admission: free.

At night, head up to the rooftop of the Círculo de Bellas Artes

From the Temple of Debod, you can take the Madrid bus that runs along Gran Vía to reach the Círculo de Bellas Artes in approximately 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can book your ticket for the night tourist bus and take the opportunity to discover other interesting destinations along the way.

This important Madrid building, constructed in 1920, has clear influences from neoclassical architecture; however, the best part is its panoramic terrace, which offers fabulous views of the Gran Vía, the Plaza de Cibeles and the entire historic centre of Madrid.

Practical information

• Opening hours: Monday to Thursday from 12 noon to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.
• Admission: approximately £5.

The fourth day is for discovering the rest of Madrid's monuments and iconic sites, as well as the city's second most important art museum.

Start at the Puerta de Alcalá

The last day of your tour of Madrid begins at one of the city's most iconic monuments. Get up early to visit the Puerta de Alcalá before continuing with your day's itinerary. This is a must-see if you book any type of guided tour of Madrid.

Visit the Madrid Botanical Garden

From Alcalá, take Paseo del Prado to reach the Royal Botanical Gardens of Madrid in approximately 15 minutes.

The garden is especially beautiful and pleasant if you visit the city in summer or autumn. Today, it is home to approximately 5,000 different species of plants and trees and four beautiful terraces where you can sit and relax. My favourite plan is to visit it as part of a bike tour of Madrid.

Practical information

• Opening hours: it opens at 10 a.m. It closes at 6 p.m. from November to February, at 9 p.m. from May to August, at 7 p.m. from March to October, and at 8 p.m. from April to September.
• Admission: €6 for adults.
• Duration of the visit: as long as you wish.

Discover the iconic Atocha Station

Just 10 minutes from Madrid's Botanical Gardens is Atocha Station, one of the most beautiful train stations you'll find in any city, thanks to its stunning, perfectly maintained tropical garden, which is home to over 500 species of plants.

Once you've explored the station, you can stop for lunch at any of the restaurants located around the Prado Museum, although I recommend enjoying a private gastronomic tour of Madrid with 10 tastings, a delicious experience you won't forget.

Visit the Reina Sofía Museum

The second most important museum in the city is the Reina Sofia Museum. If you like art, especially modern art, spend a few hours of your afternoon exploring this important historical monument and the works on display here. The collection mainly comprises works by Spanish artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró.

Possibly the best way to get to know the museum is by booking a guided tour of the Reina Sofia Museum, which will take you through the museum's most important works. If you prefer to visit on your own, you can book your ticket to the Reina Sofia Museum.

At the end of your visit, don't forget to visit the beautiful Reina Sofia Museum shop to pick up a few souvenirs.

Practical information

• Opening hours: from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 9 p.m. depending on the time of year; in summer, opening hours are usually extended.
• Admission price: approximately £15 for an adult ticket and £30 for the tour.
• Duration of the visit: 2 to 3 hours, depending on how leisurely you take your time.

Enjoy a Segway or bicycle tour at sunset

As you can see, there is a lot to see and do in Madrid. Now I suggest you say goodbye to the city in the most fun and unique way you can imagine: by booking a bike tour of Madrid or a Segway tour of Madrid at the end of the day.

One of the best excursions you can do in the city, these tours are very popular with tourists and offer a last chance to see and discover the monuments and places that, for one reason or another, you didn't get to visit during your four-day tour of Madrid.

Practical information

• Price: from approximately £27.
• Duration: depending on the itinerary and the company.

Are you in Madrid for a shorter stay?

Please note that this activity plan does not include the day of arrival in the city or the day of departure. If you would like to see some shorter itineraries, I recommend taking a look at the following guides:

• Itinerary to see Madrid in 3 days.
• Itinerary to see Madrid in 2 days.
• Itinerary to see Madrid in 1 day.