We don’t claim to be experts on Spain, but we have been there several times, beginning with an ill-fated attempt to drive to Barcelona thirty years ago. We didn’t make it that time, but we have a few times since then, and now we love Barcelona.
From Barcelona to Bilboa and all the way south to Marbella, we have covered a lot of ground on the Iberian Peninsula. With that in mind we are going to offer this little piece of advice for any first time travelers to Spain, or for that matter, anyone who hasn’t been to Madrid.
The country’s capital and largest city is definitely a good place to begin your exploration.
And why not start right in the middle at the Plaza del Sol? This is truly the center of town, actually for the entire country, because this is the zero point for all of the distance markers on the roads throughout Spain. It doesn’t get more central than that! Oh yeah, and you don’t want to miss the statue of the bear and the madrono tree that depicts the legend from eight centuries ago featured on the Madrid coat of arms.
Madrid is an historic city like no other in that it played an integral role in both new and old world history. This means that El Palacio Real, the Royal Palace, as one of the largest Royal residences in all of Europe, is a must see for any visitor along with the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena, better known as the Almudena Cathedral, directly across from it.
But we found that many of the buildings we thought were most interesting were actually much newer, such as the ornate city hall, Palacio de Cibeles, or the amazing Crystal Palace in Retiro Park. OK, we understand that over one hundred years old is not exactly new, but in Europe a century is just barely getting started.
And speaking of newer places, since we are not as young as we were back in our driving to Barcelona days, we have come to appreciate the advantages of more modern accommodations when we look for hotels in Europe. That led us to check out these ILUNION HOTELS in Madrid, and what we found was that we don’t need to sacrifice old world charm and service for contemporary style and comfort.
We are also happy to report that it is not always necessary to break the bank to stay in a word class hotel. In addition to ILUNION Hotel’s already very reasonable prices, they are offering discounts up to 25% when you book in advance. Or get a up to 20% off the usual room rate when you stay more than three nights.
There are four ILUNION hotels to chose from in Madrid, ILUNION Suites Madrid, ILUNION Pio XII, ILUNION Atrium, and ILUNION Alcalá Norte, and all of them have all of the latest amenities such as fast, free WiFi, state of the art gym equipment, a 43” flat-screen TV with satellite channels, and accessible rooms for those of us with reduced mobility or with auditory or visual impairments.
To go along with that accessibility ILUNION also has some of the most pet-friendly hotels in Madrid. This means your service animal, or just your family pet, don’t have to miss out on all the excitement of seeing Madrid.
Of course food is a big part of visiting Madrid, or anywhere else as far as we’re concerned, and every hotel has at least one top notch restaurant on the premises. But we are going to leave you with one more recommendation, Try Sobrino de Botín for a meal just like Ernest Hemingway would have had.
Botín is certified by the Guinness World Records Book of as the oldest continually operating restaurant in the world. They are celebrating three hundred years of serving since 1725. The roast suckling pig is to die for and was Hemingway’s favorite dish.
And one last thing, tapas. We think that it might be against the law to come to Spain and not try the tapas. They are offered every afternoon almost everywhere so get out and enjoy the snacks featuring Iberian ham, fish, crab, salmon, cheese, and some of the best olives you will ever put in your mouth.
Let’s see… is there anything we left out?
We don’t think so, but be sure to let us know if you find something after exploring Madrid.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
Really insightful post — Your article is very clearly written, i enjoyed reading it. Thank you