As with many of our trips, we let the deal guide our destination. Now that we have a middle schooler, we try to pull the kids out of school less than we used to. Travel is an education unto itself, but sometimes the workload missed isn’t worth the struggle for him to catch up. Nonetheless, we’re still going to take the trips, we just have to be more strategic about it. School was in session for only Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week and we knew learning would be at an all time low before a holiday so it was a perfect opportunity to use that week to get away. We took off work in advance and set out to find a steal.
Searches for Mexico and the Caribbean were turning up $700 flights at best. Hotels were hard to come by. So we deployed our (not so) secret weapon: points search engines (pointsyeah.com, seats.aero, points.me and google flights with the points path extension). We found a deal from Chicago nonstop to Madrid that was made even better with the Chase to Iberia Airlines 30% points transfer bonus available at the time. With the help of transferable points we were able to get round trip tickets for 5 for 30K points and $220 each.
Being a low season for tourism in Madrid, we were able to get a great AirBnb in the hipster Malasana neighborhood. We were fortunate to have low competition for tourist experiences and tours too. Per our guide at the Prado, most of the tourism dies off in the fall and picks up again around the New Year. We were lucky to have temperate weather (sunny and 50s-60s) and low volume crowds. Madrid is a very walkable city we were perfectly comfortable in sweaters and jackets.
Food
We had a few recommendations ahead of time, but most of our consumption was on a walk by and pop in basis. There are tiny hidden gems everywhere! On our street alone, we found several amazing coffee shops and a cool little restaurant that, to the kids’ relief, had the best lemon pancakes until 8pm!
On our street in Malasana, Calle de Palma:
Gosto: coffee + brunch
El Gordito: coffee, brunch all day, savory food til 8pm
Toma: coffee + GF pastries
Masamune: coffee, pastries, hot breakfast
Noburu :coffee and pastries
Must go locations elsewhere in the city:
El Mercado de San Miguel – an adorable market with rows of stands of various delicacies. There’s something there for the whole family. There’s delicacies in every direction. It’s simply magical.
Did you even go to Spain if you didn’t have chocolates con churros??
After our Prado Museum tour we popped over to Casa Lucas on a recommendation. They have great authentic tapas. Be sure to try the “Madrid”, “Mancha”,” Alella”, and “Carinena.”
As mentioned in other posts, we often use the recommendations from The World’s 50 Best guide. Every year they publish a list of the best bars around the world and a “Discovery” list of recommended restaurants and bars that were close to making the list. Salmon Guru, which is currently number 23 on the best 50 list, was a delightfully decorated bar/restaurant where we enjoyed amazing drinks (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and tapas. For being mainly a bar, it was surprisingly family friendly. The kids enjoyed the ambiance and snacks.
Transportation
The metro system is very simple and easy to navigate. Train cards can be purchased at the station, and conveniently for our family of 5, can be loaded as single or 10 journey tickets which effectively got us a round trip anywhere within the city for about €6. Multiple family members can use the same card so we just tapped it for each person every time we went through. There is also an option for a Tourist Ticket which is unlimited use for the number of days you’re there. This would be a great option if you’re using it daily and often.
Uber is present in Madrid, and we did use it to and from the airport. However, there was a quick and easy cab line just outside the terminal 4 doors that looked well organized. There’s also a local ride sharing app called Cabify which was slightly cheaper than Uber when I compared the rates from the airport. The app was in Spanish and toggling back and forth with my translation app became cumbersome so we stuck with the old trusty Uber app. Next time, we’d just take a taxi.
Toledo Day Trip
I think most people would say a day trip to Toledo is a must when visiting Madrid, and we would agree. It was a quick and simple train ride from the city. A round-trip ticket from the Atocha Renfe train station can be purchased online for assigned seats on their 30 minute commuter train to Toledo for 30 euro each. Several metro lines converge at Atocha for easy access from anywhere in the city. Also, the Atocha train station is across the street from the Reina Sofia modern art museum if you want to try to explain Picasso to your kids after a full day touring Toledo.
Things to see in Toledo:
-Cathedral of Toledo (Catedral Primada de Toledo) – the Spanish know how to do cathedrals! El Greco paintings are to be enjoyed at every turn.
-Ancient Instruments of Torture Exhibition (Museo de la Tortura): This was the kids’ pick and it certainly impressed the crew of boys.
Calle de Toledo de Ohio: Being from Ohio in the US, we needed to find the street dedicated to the city in Ohio named after this very city. It was a fun scavenger hunt.
Excursions we recommend
Paella and Sangria making class
We spent Thanksgiving learning to make Spanish Paella and Sangria! The class was another opportunity to convince my kids to try some new foods. Having the kids invest in making the dish often leads to them trying it without complaint. The kids even got to make a non-alcoholic version of the sangria that the adults enjoyed and everyone participated in the preparation of the Paella. We all sat down and enjoyed a very unique Thanksgiving lunch!
The Prado Museum (Museo Nacional del Prado)
We’ve learned over time that we get the most out of museums with the help of a guide. It keeps the kids (and adults) engaged. We learn so much more than breezing by the art, sculptures, etc on our own. Our guide, Monroe, was extremely knowledgeable as an American Expat with a degree in art history. And for anyone that’s curious, our 7 year-old’s favorite painting was Goya’s “Saturn devouring his son.” 😬
Royal Palace (Palacio Réal de Madrid)
We powered through our first day in Madrid with a guided tour of the royal palace. We’ve seen our fair share of European palaces and this one may be the most ornately decorated we’ve seen to date. It’s insane. As with museums, we’ve learned the benefits of having a guide to really bring life to places like this.
Pro-tip: The links for excursions are all from Viator. We regularly book our experiences through this app as they are reliable, vetted, and rated. Without fail, each experience has been great. Sometimes they are slightly more pricey than booking directly through the experience’s website, but not only are these pre-curated for you, they also have a simple and easy cancellation policy which we appreciate. Viator also has a relationship with Rakuten so you can get cash back (or points if you have your account linked to an American Express member’s reward account) which more than makes up for the price difference. By booking through our links we earn a small commission. As always, thanks for supporting us!