I was very excited for this trip as I’ve been to Spain many times but never to Madrid. It was definitely different to other cities I’d been to and had a whole vibe of its own.
We stayed in an Airbnb just a little south-west of the centre of the city, which is the perfect location for sight seeing while getting to know some more local neighbourhoods. The guy who owned the Airbnb was one of the most helpful people I’ve ever rented a place from and it made our few days in Madrid so much better. He met us at the apartment and sat down with us and my map and circled all the places we needed to go. He also used to live in London so he told us about each area in Madrid and compared it to its London equivalent which meant we were already familiar with what to expect when exploring which was incredibly helpful and allowed us to really maximise our time there.
Madrid is a great city to visit for a few days with your girlfriends as there’s so much to see in terms of sightseeing, but also the best shopping! Luckily I was away with my friend Hannah, so we made the most of everything; the food, drink, sightseeing, shopping and endless chatting of course.
We made sure to tick off the main places during our stay – Piazza Major, Royal Palace, El Retiro Park, Temple of Debod and Gran Via.
Along with the obvious sightseeing places, we visited El Rastro flea market which was literally on our doorstep. The market was recommended to us and we went along expecting a tiny market with a handful of locals, but the market is huge and runs through quite a few of the local streets with stalls selling clothes, shoes, jewellery and lots of cute Spanish souvenirs.
Madrid is so much fun and has a lot to offer and is somewhere I would love to travel back to again.
