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'll share 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 exploring some of the most important squares and palaces in the heart of the city.

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

In the centre of Madrid lies one of the most important squares in the city, a favourite spot for locals and a must-see for tourists, the Puerta del Sol. Besides being a large square, it is surrounded by important buildings with unique and historic architecture.

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

• Madrid's kilometre zero, which serves as the origin of the radial roads of the urban fabric.
• The statue of the Bear and the Modroño, placed in 1967. A photograph next to the statue is a must on any visit to this city.

Walk around the Plaza Mayor and the San Miguel Market

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

The Mercado de San Miguel is located directly on the Plaza Mayor and is a fantastic iron and glass structure where you will find an enviable gastronomic offer. In fact, it's an ideal place to book a gastronomic tour.

My recommendation? Take an early lunch break 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 Mercado de San Miguel. After lunch, the afternoon of your first day is the best time to book a guided tour of the Almudena Cathedral:

• Opening hours: from 9am to 8.30pm Monday to Sunday. If you want to see the museum area and the dome, the opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10am to 2.30pm.

• Entrance fee: Free to visit the cathedral; about €6 to go up to the museum area and the dome. The guided tour costs around €50.

• Duration of the visit: Approximately 2 hours including the dome. However, the guided tour is much more complete and lasts 2.5 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 find out why it is on the list of Madrid's must-see places, spend the rest of the afternoon of your first day touring the grounds.

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

Practical information

• Opening times: 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 a guided tour with full explanations and direct access without queuing costs €29.

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

Stroll through the Sabatini Gardens at dusk

Sabatini is the name of the gardens of the Royal Palace and they are located on the north side of the structure. Designed in the purest Neoclassical Garden style, this green lung is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Madrid.

After your visit to the Royal Palace, walk around the site and the impressive fountains and sculptures. You will be able to take pictures of the Palace at sunset.

In the evening, go on a gastronomic tapas tour in the centre of 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.

The second day of your tour of Madrid is dedicated to the Paseo del Prado area with its museums, gardens and numerous monuments.

Start at Plaza and Palacio de Cibeles at dawn

Start the morning of your second day in Madrid by watching the sunrise over one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. The Palacio de Cibeles currently houses the city' s town hall and is one of the most loved and cared for buildings in Madrid.

It is well worth a trip inside to go up to its viewing terrace, from where you can see the square in its entirety and the beginning of the Gran Vía. You can also book a tour of the Cibeles Palace viewpoint so that you don't miss out on any of the details.

Continue 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 the city of Madrid: the Neptune Fountain, located in the famous Plaza de Cánovas.

Here you will find a fantastic neoclassical monument with a marble carving of the famous Roman god. The square, in turn, 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

Follow your route along the Paseo del Prado avenue to reach the most important museum in the city. Famous the world over for housing one of the most impressive collections of paintings from the period from the 16th to the 19th century.

Due to the size of the space, 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 it at your own pace.

If you want to buy some souvenirs, the Prado shop has some really attractive curiosities for art lovers.

Practical information

• Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 8pm; and Sundays, from 10am to 7pm.
• Entry fee: Approximately €20 for an adult ticket.
• Duration of the visit: You will need about three hours to visit the most important rooms and works of the museum.

Lunch in the surrounding area: The gastronomic offer in this area is really varied, so after your visit to the museum I recommend you take a break to eat in some of the restaurants near the Prado Museum.

Spend the afternoon in the Retiro Park.

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

With a surface area covering 118 hectares, the park is not only beautiful but also immense, so my advice would be to focus on the most interesting areas. To do this, you have the option of booking a tour of the Retiro. The essential things to do are:

• Visit the Palacio del Cristal: in its beginnings it was used as a greenhouse, however nowadays this fantastic structure is used for the exhibition of temporary exhibitions of the Prado Museum.
• Visit the Paseo de las Estatuas: On a beautiful walk through the greenery of the Retiro you will be able to explore the statues representing important Spanish monarchs.
• Take sunset photos at the Retiro Lake: the beautiful artificial lake of the Retiro Park is considered one of the best places in Madrid to take sunset photos. You can't miss it!

Practical information

• Opening hours: from October to March the park is open from 6 am to 10 pm; the rest of the year until midnight.
• Entry fee: Admission 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.

The live shows can be enjoyed in numerous entertainment centres in the old part of the city and are always performed by talented local artists. Here are a few options:

• Flamenco show at Torres Bermejas in Madrid, from AED 112.
• Flamenco show at Teatro Flamenco in Madrid, from AED 257.
• Flamenco show at Corral de la Morería in Madrid, from AED 443.
• Flamenco show at Essential Madrid, from AED 171.

Practical information

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

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

Make a stop at Plaza Callao

The best way to start a morning of sightseeing in the northwest of Madrid is, without a doubt, the Plaza del Callao. Considered a symbol of Madrid, it is the Madrid equivalent of the famous Time Square in New York.

Three of the city's most important streets converge here: 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 comfortably reach this area if you book your ticket for the Madrid tourist bus.

Coffee morning and shopping on Gran Via

No tour of Madrid would be complete without a visit to the city's most important and famous boulevard and shopping street. Whether you're into fashion, gastronomy, history or architecture, there's something for everyone on Gran Via. An ideal place for a private shopping tour of Madrid.

Here is a sample of what you can 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: Edificio Metrópolis.

and Edificio Carrión.

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

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

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

Go to the Debod Temple at sunset

It's only a 10-minute walk from the centre of Plaza de España to the Debod Temple, so my recommendation is that you explore this important Madrid jewel and wait for the sunset while strolling through its gardens.

Even so, an important fact: if you book your ticket for the tourist bus, you should know that one of its stops is the Temple of Debod.

The structure that makes up the monument is more than 2,000 years old and was a gift brought to Spain from distant Egypt. Needless to say, its historical peculiarity and aesthetics make it a totally unusual monument in the group of structures that make up the Madrid landscape.

Practical information

• Timetables: closed Mondays; Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-8pm.
• Entry fee: free.

At night go up to the rooftop of the Círculo de Bellas Artes

From the Templo Debod, you can hop on the Madrid bus that runs along the Gran Vía to reach the Círculo de Bellas Artes on a journey that will take approximately 20 minutes or, you can also book your ticket for the night tourist bus and take advantage of the opportunity to visit other worthwhile destinations along the way.

This important Madrid building built in 1920 has clear influences of neoclassical architecture; however, the best part is its panoramic terrace that will offer you fabulous views of Gran Vía, Plaza de Cibeles and the whole historic centre of Madrid.

Practical information

• Opening hours: Monday to Thursday from 12 noon to 1am; Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 2am and Sundays from 10am to 1am.
• Entry fee: approximately €5.

Day 4 is all about seeing the rest of Madrid's iconic monuments and sites, as well as the city's second most important art museum.

Start at 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 route. A key thing to remember if you book a guided tour of Madrid of any kind.

Visit the Botanical Garden of Madrid

From Alcalá take the Paseo del Prado avenue to reach the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid on a journey that will take approximately 15 minutes.

The Garden is especially beautiful and pleasant if you visit the city in summer or autumn. To this day, 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: opens at 10 am. Closing time: from November to February, 6pm; from May to August, 9pm; from March to October, 7pm; and from April to September, 8pm.
• Admission fee: €6 per adult ticket.
• Duration of the visit: as long as you think it's worthwhile.

Get to know the iconic Atocha Station

Just 10 minutes from the Botanico de Madrid is the Atocha Station, one of the most beautiful train stations you'll find in a city, thanks to its dazzling tropical garden that is perfectly maintained and where you can count more than 500 species of plants.

Once you've toured the station, you can take a lunch break at any of the restaurants located around the Prado Museum, although my recommendation is to enjoy 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 of recent times, 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 to book a guided tour of the Reina Sofia Museum which will take you through the most important works of the museum or if you prefer to visit the museum on your own, you can book your entrance 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 10am to 6pm or 9pm depending on the time of year; in summer it usually has extended opening hours.
• Entry fee: approximately €15 for an adult ticket and €30 for the visit.
• Duration of the visit: 2 to 3 hours depending on how relaxed you are.

Enjoy a segway or bike tour at sunset

As you have seen, there is a lot to see and do in Madrid. Now I propose you to say goodbye to the city in the most fun and peculiar way you can imagine: booking a bike tour in Madrid or a segway tour in Madrid at the end of the day.

Being one of the best excursions you can do in the city, they are very popular among tourists and a last chance to see and get to know the monuments or places that, for one reason or another, you were not able to see on your four-day tour of Madrid.

Practical information

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

One last tip for your four-day trip to Madrid

Keep in mind that this activity plan does not include the day of arrival in the city nor the day of departure. If you want to see shorter itineraries, I recommend you take 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.