Rick Steves - Rick Steves Snapshot Madrid & Toledo

SNAPSHOT

Madrid & Toledo

This Snapshot guide, excerpted from my guidebook Rick Steves Spain, introduces you to majestic Madrid. Spains capital is home to some of Europes top art treasures (the Prado Museums collection, plus Picassos Guernica in the Reina Sofa) and a lively selection of characteristic tapas bars, where you can assemble a memorable feast of Spanish specialties. Explore the citys cozy-feeling historic core, tour its lavish Royal Palace, and beat the heat on a rowboat at the lush and inviting Retiro Park.

This book also covers several side-trips from Madrid. Northwest of Madrid, youll find Spains grandest palace at the Inquisition-era El Escorial, the powerful monument to victims of the Spanish Civil War at the Valley of the Fallen, and a pair of charming towns: Segovia, with its towering Roman aqueduct, and vila, encircled by a medieval wall. Toledo, the hill-capping onetime capital of Spain, features one of the countrys most magnificent cathedrals, a medieval vibe, and top paintings by favorite son El Greco.

To help you have the best trip possible, Ive included the following topics in this book:

Planning Your Time, with advice on how to make the most of your limited time

Orientation, including tourist information offices (abbreviated as TI), tips on public transportation, local tour options, and helpful hints

Sights, with ratings and strategies for meaningful and efficient visits

Sleeping and Eating, with good-value recommendations in every price range

Connections, with tips on trains, buses, and driving

Practicalities, near the end of this book, has information on money, staying connected, hotel reservations, transportation, and other helpful hints, plus Spanish survival phrases.

To travel smartly, read this little book in its entirety before you go. Its my hope that this guide will make your trip more meaningful and rewarding. Traveling like a temporary local, youll get the absolute most out of every mile, minute, and dollar.

Buen viaje! Happy travels!

Todays Madrid is upbeat and vibrant. Youll feel it. Look aroundjust about everyone has a twinkle in their eyes.

Madrid is the hub of Spain. This modern capitalEuropes second-highest, at more than 2,000 feet above sea levelis home to more than 3 million people, with about 6 million living in greater Madrid.

Like its population, the city is relatively young. In medieval times, it was just another village, wedged between the powerful kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. When newlyweds Ferdinand and Isabel united those kingdoms in 1469, Madridsitting at the center of Spainbecame the focal point of a budding nation. By 1561, Spain ruled the worlds most powerful empire, and King Philip II moved his capital from cramped, medieval Toledo (and the influence of its powerful bishop) to spacious Madrid.

Successive kings transformed the city into a European capital. By 1900, Madrid had 575,000 people, concentrated within a small area. In the mid-20th century, the city exploded with migrants from the countryside, creating modern sprawl. Today Madrid is working hard to make itself more livable. Massive urban-improvement projectspedestrianized streets, new parks, extended commuter lines, and renovated Metro stationsare transforming the city. Once-dodgy neighborhoods are turning trendy, and the traffic chaos is subsiding. Madrid feels orderly and welcoming.

Fortunately for tourists, the historic core survives intact and is easy to navigate. Dive headlong into the grandeur and intimate charm of Madrid. Feel the vibe in Puerta del Sol, the pulsing heart of modern Madrid and of Spain itself. The lavish Royal Palace, with its gilded rooms and frescoed ceilings, rivals Versailles. The Prado has Europes top collection of paintings, and nearby hangs Picassos chilling masterpiece, Guernica. Retiro Park invites you to take a shady siesta and hopscotch through a mosaic of lovers, families, skateboarders, pets walking their masters, and expert bench-sitters. On Sundays, cheer for the bull at a bullfight or bargain like mad at a megasize flea market. Swelter through the hot, hot summers or bundle up for the cold winters. Save some energy for after dark, when Madrileos pack the streets for an evening paseo and tapeo (tapas crawl) that can continue past midnight. Lively Madrid has enough street-singing, bar-hopping, and people-watching vitality to give any visitor a boost of youth.

Madrid is worth two days and three nights on even the fastest trip. Divide your time among the citys top three attractions: the Royal Palace (worth two hours), the Prado Museum (worth a half-day or more), and the contemporary bar-hopping scene.

Heres a two-day plan that hits Madrids highlights. If the weathers iffy on Day 1, you can reverse this plan. With more time, Madrid has several days worth of other museums to choose from (archaeology, city history, tapestries, the cultures of the Americas, clothing, local artists, and so on). Or, for good day-trip possibilities, see the Northwest of Madrid and Toledo chapters.

Morning: Get your bearings with my self-guided city walk, which loops from Puerta del Sol to the Royal Palace and backwith a tour through the Royal Palace in the middle.

Afternoon: Your afternoon is free for other sights, shopping, or exploringconsider my self-guided walk of the glitzy Gran Va or self-guided bus tours of the busy Paseo de la Castellana or the funky Lavapis district. Be out at the golden hourjust before sunsetfor the evening paseo, when beautifully lit people fill Madrid.