Many of us stress about cooking, cleaning, entertaining, and working during the three days before Thanksgiving. Finding a three-day camp for kids can be expensive nowadays.
My family of three, including my seven-year-old daughter, decided to take a trip to Madrid during the week of Thanksgiving. We found some great deals on Iberia flights departing from Miami, so we left on Friday night and returned on Black Friday. I’ll be sharing all the details of our trip with you.
As Florida residents, we were concerned about the cold temperatures in Madrid and decided to reserve a hotel room with heating. Some Airbnb accommodations in Europe come with portable heaters and may not be very comfortable, but it depends on your budget. During our stay, we opted for The H Collection hotels located in the San Sebastien neighborhood. Whether you stay in this area or not, it’s likely that you’ll need to walk, take the bus or train to get around. However, we found that taxis were the most affordable mode of transport in Europe. The flat rate for an airport ride was $30, and most other rides ranged between $5-$10. Fortunately, we didn’t have to travel far during our stay.
Don’t forget to pack comfortable walking shoes and warm jackets, as well as some decongestants for allergies caused by poor air quality. Pharmacies sell these items at affordable prices.
If you take the afternoon or evening flight to Madrid, you will arrive the next day in the morning. You might feel tired due to the long flight, so I recommend that you head straight to your lodging, take a nap for at least 4 hours, and then have a meal to rejuvenate yourself.
I will share here everywhere we went & what we did with a Google Maps option.
Day 1: we arrived at 8 am and took a taxi to the hotel. We had requested an early check-in and were able to get to our room by 9 am. We always have this travel headache that only sleeping helps cure it. We cleaned up, changed, and napped till about 2 pm.
We woke up at 2 pm, got dressed, and went out to eat. There were many options, but we decided to go to a traditional Spanish restaurant that served paella, potato tortillas, and tapas. I will share all the links below. The neighborhood had craft vendors, and they were there on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. After that, we walked to Plaza Mayor, which was only a 10-minute walk for us. We just enjoyed walking around and getting lost as we had no plans for the day. It happened to be a Saturday, so we needed a reservation if we wanted to go out for dinner. However, we just walked into one of the tapas bars at the Plaza Mayor, and we were fine since it was only around 7 pm(The Spaniards eat between 8-9 pm).
We always consider this day as a travel, tired from travelling & don’t plan anything.
I recommend sleeping at a decent hour like 9 pm since you will be jetlagged and will need to rest.
Day 2: On Sunday, as usual, we woke up at 11 am. We had already paid for breakfast at the hotel, so we headed there. While it was convenient, it was also challenging to wake up and get there on time. We always ended up being the last to arrive for breakfast.
Around noon, we headed to Restro, the largest flea market in Madrid. This market takes place every Sunday and offers a variety of items, including art, crafts, clothing, shoes, and jewelry – all of which are new, not old.
This wasn’t a market for strollers or wheelchairs; it was too crowded to navigate. We only visited a few vendors selling art and unique pieces before walking to the Latin/Art district.
We walked to Mercado de San Miguel and ordered empanadas, fruits, beer, churros, and gelato. We visited the market several times during our trip because it was easy to find something everyone liked to eat. The market is always crowded, but it’s definitely worth it.
After exploring more streets, which mostly led back to Plaza Mayor, we returned to the hotel for a couple of hours of rest.
At 7 pm, we went out for dinner at La Mi Venta. The food was great, but the ambiance was lacking, so I cannot recommend it.
We finished our day by enjoying churros at Chocolateria San Gines, where you can either take them to go or sit down and enjoy them like we did.
Day 3: We are currently waking up at around 10 am and taking things slow since we are on vacation. Today, we visited the Museo Nacional del Prado and I highly recommend purchasing tickets online to skip the line. We always enjoy visiting museums and art galleries during our trips.
At 3:00 PM, we had a late lunch at Los Secretos De Lola, a Disney-themed restaurant. Our daughter enjoyed it very much.
We walked more and ended up at Plaza Mayor; all roads lead to Plaza Mayor.
We went to a traditional Spanish restaurant and ordered Calamari Bocadillo, which is very popular. At this point, we were eating as late as the Spanish did.
Day 4: We went to the Royal Palace of Madrid, the royal family no longer lives there. It was beautiful and more walking. You will walk the halls the current king and his siblings strolled growing up. It was an incredibly cool experience and I never thought I liked wallpapers till I visited this palace.
We went back and rested for a couple of hours while my husband caught up with some work emails.
We visited a Cuban restaurant named La Negra Tomasa, where we enjoyed the live music. After that, we attended a Flamenco show at Tablao Flamenco 1911 at 7:30 pm. The show lasted for an hour and we found it very enjoyable. All the seats provided a great view, and we had purchased our tickets online, although they were also available at the box office. There are many different Flamenco shows available across Madrid, but we chose this one because it was conveniently located across the street from our hotel.
We had a great dinner at Tapa Tapa Santa Ana. The menu had pictures which made it easy to choose what to eat.
Day 5: For our day trip to Toledo, I purchased train tickets the day prior for the 30-minute journey. From the station, we took a 10-minute taxi ride to Toledo for €8.
We began our sightseeing in Toledo by visiting the Alcazar De Toledo, which had free admission. After that, we walked to the plaza where we found many vendors, shops, and restaurants. Toledo is well-known for its medieval history, and there were many knight souvenirs and Christianity-oriented shops. We also visited the Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz, which required a €5 entry fee. We purchased our tickets at the entrance.
We explored the historic small town by walking around its narrow streets without having to buy tickets for any attractions.
We had an amazing lunch experience at Cervecería La Abadía, sitting downstairs to enjoy the cave-like atmosphere.
We departed Toledo around 4:30pm. Solo or couple travelers can spend more time exploring. I will attach a list of attractions to the end of the blog.
Back in Madrid, we had dinner at Villa Capri, which is one of the best Italian restaurants we’ve ever visited. After that, we took a stroll down Gran Via, which is a popular shopping street.
I recommend embracing the Spanish late culture by adjusting your meal times to local customs. Doing so will enhance your trip experience.
Day 6 and last day: It’s Thanksgiving Day and we didn’t have to worry about cooking the turkey or making gravy.
It was just another day to relax and enjoy Madrid. We walked more, got lost more, and just enjoyed the nice weather. Despite it being winter the coldest it got was 55F.
The only plan was to eat late lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world Botin which is right behind Plaza Mayor. This is a reservation must kinda of place. I requested to eat in the cave below and it didn’t disappoint. The chef asked our daughter to come and see how they roast the pigs (their signature dish)and potatoes.
we enjoyed some more sangria at one of the Plaza Mayor restaurants.
The following day we travelled back home.
We call Madrid the Weiner dog city, our daughter enjoyed seeing so many Weiner dogs.
we vowed to go back, we enjoyed the food, and the people and the overall trip was amazing.
Here is the google list I created and used.
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Madrid · Amal
https://maps.app.goo.gl/gjrkqQqNa9EJN7in9?g_st=i
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