What to see with 2 days in Madrid
A cultural school trip always has a great blend of activities for all preferences: excursions to theme parks, scenic nature and/or park walks, culture and sport activities, local gastronomy tasting, etc. That being said, the main priority is getting to know the destination city as fully as possible during your educational tour. Although we recognize that school trips normally don’t last for more than 4 or 5 days, we always recommend that you prioritize well as to not drive yourself crazy with non-stop planning of activities: it’s best to know the top 10 places to visit in each destination and have the opportunity to visit them calmly, rather than trying to cover every site in a short amount of time whether or not your students remember them. In this article, we’ve created a 2-day city guide complete with the must-see monuments, saving you additional days to enjoy other types of excursions–which we have also suggested at the end of this post.
Day 1: City Centre and Monuments Visit
We begin our visit to Madrid at kilometre 0: the Puerta del Sol. This symbolic plaza is where at the stroke of midnight on December 31st, the bells chime to ring in the New Year. To explore the surrounding streets, we can follow Arenal Street that runs through the Purta del Sol, ending at Opera where you’ll find the historic National Theatre building. If we continue in this direction, we eventually end up in Oriente Plaza with the Royal Palace of Madrid, Almudena Cathedral, and the palace gardens or gardens of Sabatini.
Next, we head towards Plaza Mayor (it’s easiest to first return to Puerta del Sol and take Mayor Street from there). Near Plaza Mayor, you’ll find many spots for tapas and drinks (mostly overpriced as this is a very touristy area) offering traditional and must-try dishes like the bocadillo de calamares, or fried squid sandwich. Also well worth a visit is the San Miguel Market, found alongside one of the entrances to the plaza.
If you take the street opposite to where you entered the main plaza, you’ll arrive in 10 minutes to the historic neighbourhood of La Latina. Here you can eat at some of the most famous tapas bars (la Búha, el Viajero, el Pez Tortilla…), experience the lively plazas full of people, and visit the marvellous Mercado de la Cebada with stalls of every variety. Or if you prefer, you can walk a bit farther to eat in the Vistillas Gardens, from which you’ll enjoy impressive views of Madrid.
Shopping and Tapas
In the afternoon, we return once again to Puerta del Sol, but instead now heading up Preciados Street, a well known shopping route where you can stop for purchases of all kinds. We take this to Callao Plaza and Gran Via–following this famous street all the way to Plaza de España, one of the largest and most remarkable squares in Madrid. Continuing down through the plaza, we head towards the right where we will find the Temple of Debod, complete with a stunning viewpoint and its very own gardens. A site full of magic and palpable tranquillity from which you can catch one of the best sunsets in the city. Get there with enough time to grab a good seat! From here, the best option is to finish the day in the neighbouring area Malasaña, known for its “hipster” aesthetic. 8 lively streets full with people spilling out onto the bar terraces, adding to the neighbourhood’s alluring atmosphere. You can’t miss trying the typical tapas from bars in this area–the most modern in the city!
Day 2: Cultural Tour
Atocha train station serves as the starting point for the second day of your visit, as it is already a historic site itself! From Atocha, there are several conveniently location options, each with endless possibilities. We can visit the nearby Retiro Park, strolling up the Cuesta de Moyano. This pedestrian walkway is dotted with book stalls of new and used variety that have been around for many years. Later, it’s also worth visiting at least one of the museums in the famous “museum triangle”: Thyssen, Prado, and Reina Sofîa. Additionally, the nearby Botanical Garden has free entries on Tuesday afternoons. If we take the Paseo del Prado, walking away from the museums, we come upon two of the most famous fountains for Madrid residents: Cibeles Fountain and Neptune Fountain.
When we finish admiring these monuments, we can continue strolling down through the streets of the Literary Quarter, one of the most noteworthy and historic areas of the city. Or, we can also head from Atocha to the multicultural neighbourhood of Lavapies to explore its multitude of bars offering an exciting variety of local and international dishes.
¡Ah! And don’t forget–if your visit falls on a Sunday, you’ll have to make a stop at the largest and most famous flea market in Spain: El Rastro.
Additional Excursions
If you happen to find yourself with more than two days in the city, we recommend doing excursions in the surrounding areas like the Madrid Sierra Mountains, or cities and towns that are nearby like Toledo, Segovia, Avila, Aranjuez, El Escorial, or Alcala de Henares.
It may also be of interest, especially for your students, to visit one of the city’s theme parks: Warner Park, Attractions Park, or Europe Park. And of course, for the football fanatics, you can also squeeze in a visit to one of the football stadiums of the city’s two rival teams: Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, and Atletico de Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Guide to Organising your School Trip to Madrid
Discover more with this special travel guide we have prepared so that teachers can easily plan and organise an educational school trip. Let us know your preferences and requirements–we specialize the trip to fit your group’s every need. Everything you need to know for a cultural school trip to Madrid: