Madrid Travel Tips

From where to find the best tapas in Madrid to how to decipher a traditional lunch menu, we have all the tips you need to make the most out of your stay! Explore the posts below to discover the best that our city hast offer.

 
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How to Do Tapas in Madrid: Best Tapas Bars and Their Unwritten Rules
How to Do Tapas in Madrid: Best Tapas Bars and Their Unwritten Rules

In Madrid we don’t just eat tapas, we do tapas!

Build your own tapas tour in Madrid with this list of best tapas neighborhoods, which tapas bars to go to and what to order. No trip is complete with feasting on the incredible tapas in Madrid!

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Where to Stay in Madrid: Our Favorite Neighborhoods and Hotels in Madrid
Where to Stay in Madrid: Our Favorite Neighborhoods and Hotels in Madrid

Where you stay in Madrid makes a big difference!

Our resident hotel specialist, Karen Rosenblum, who runs the fantastic boutique travel service Spain Less Traveled, gives us her tips on choosing where to stay in Madrid.

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Christmas in Madrid: Tips to Have a Magical Madrid Holiday
Christmas in Madrid: Tips to Have a Magical Madrid Holiday

Christmas in Madrid is a magical time.

From where to get your Christmas feast to where to spot the best Christmas lights, here is everything you need to know to have a marvelous Christmas in Madrid!

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The Best Paella in Madrid: Top 9 Restaurants and Common Paella Mistakes to Avoid!
The Best Paella in Madrid: Top 9 Restaurants and Common Paella Mistakes to Avoid!

Finding good, authentic paella in Madrid can be quite a challenge!

Here’s everything you need to know about Spain’s most famous rice dish, the best paella restaurants in Madrid and common mistakes to avoid when eating paella in Spain.

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Best Food in Madrid: 8 Authentic Dishes and Where to Eat Them
Best Food in Madrid: 8 Authentic Dishes and Where to Eat Them

Food is the centerpiece of Madrid life!

After more than a decade of delicious research, here are the 8 most iconic dishes that top our list of the best foods in Madrid.

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Thanksgiving in Madrid: Best Restaurants for an American or Spanish Feast!
Thanksgiving in Madrid: Best Restaurants for an American or Spanish Feast!

Epic meals are our thing here in Madrid. Thanksgiving is no exception!

Whether you are looking to celebrate Thanksgiving in Madrid with the classic American feast or if you want to go with a traditional Spanish meal, here are our picks for the best places to enjoy this all-American holiday in Madrid!

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Top Things To Do in Madrid in the Summer
Top Things To Do in Madrid in the Summer

Madrid can be a magical place during the summer months. The sun is shining 99% of the time. Sunset isn’t until almost 10:00 pm. And the midday siesta is an absolute must!

While the city is always chock full of activities, during the summer months there are oodles of fun things to do in Madrid. Here are a few of our favorite things to do in Madrid in the summer!

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The Best Vegan and Vegetarian Food in Madrid
The Best Vegan and Vegetarian Food in Madrid

If you know where to look, Madrid has great vegetarian and vegan cuisine!

The Spanish kitchen has always relied heavily on local vegetables, beans and eggs. Fried Padrón peppers from Galicia, the Catalan roasted vegetable melange known as escalivada, the ubiquitous tortilla española (Spanish egg and potato omelet) — there is an incredible range of vegetarian and vegan dishes to try in Madrid!

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Make Every Bite Count with These 18 Must-Try Tapas in Madrid
Make Every Bite Count with These 18 Must-Try Tapas in Madrid

Madrid is a food-lover’s paradise.

To really experience this city, you must try it’s most famous tapas! From fried potatoes to fresh seafood, the tapas in Madrid showcase Spain’s bounty of incredible ingredients.

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Discover Botin: Madrid's Oldest Restaurant
Discover Botin: Madrid's Oldest Restaurant

If you’re looking for an old world, classic Spanish restaurant with the best of traditional cuisine, nothing beats El Sobrino de Botín.

Depending on who you ask, Botin is either the oldest restaurant in the world or the longest continuously operating restaurant (a subtle but important distinction). Regardless of which definition you chose, if the stone walls could talk they would tell the history of Spain itself.

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The Best Breakfast and Brunch in Malasaña
The Best Breakfast and Brunch in Malasaña

Breakfast in Madrid can be as traditional as a toasted country bread drizzled with olive oil or as extravagant as an eggs benedict and two-mimosa brunch!

For great breakfast and brunch options, Malasaña has it all. Sip your café con leche at an outdoor café, dunk churros into thick hot chocolate at a family-run churrería or tuck into poached eggs on avocado toast at a neighborhood hotspot.


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The 16 Best Restaurants in Madrid Right Now
The 16 Best Restaurants in Madrid Right Now

If you’re like us, you count your time in Madrid in meals instead of days.

We’ve got everything you need to know about not just where to eat in Madrid, but when and how to enjoy each spot like a local! Here are our carefully curated, constantly updated picks for the best restaurants in Madrid right now and how to best enjoy them.

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Let’s Walk and Eat Again!
Let’s Walk and Eat Again!

I am so excited to say that after a year and a half, we are finally ready and able to walk, eat and explore again!

With vaccination rates picking up and restrictions easing, Spain is slowly but surely opening up to travel. On the heels of this very exciting news, I’ve made the very exciting decision to re-open Walk and Eat. Our tour calendar is now officially open for bookings!

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Where to Eat Lunch in Madrid: Menu del Dia for Beginners
Where to Eat Lunch in Madrid: Menu del Dia for Beginners

Lunch in Spain is the main meal of the day and it is serious business!

Here in Madrid, most bars and restaurants serve a set lunch menu that features two courses along with a drink and dessert for a set price. Here are our tips for navigating the menu and our picks for the best lunch restaurants in Madrid!

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Gluten-Free Tapas in Madrid
Gluten-Free Tapas in Madrid

If you love discovering local cuisines but gluten doesn’t love you, you’re in luck in Madrid!

Many traditional Spanish foods are gluten free. From which foods to avoid to key phrases to tell your waiter, here is everything you need to know to eat gluten free in Madrid!

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Must-Visit Madrid Markets
Must-Visit Madrid Markets

No trip to Madrid is complete without a visit to a neighborhood market.

Madrid’s fresh food markets are the center of neighborhood life and the best place to buy fresh produce, meats, cheeses and traditional snacks! Madrid’s neighborhood markets are also the perfect place to grab supplies for a picnic in Madrid’s Retiro park or river-walk park (Madrid Rio) or to have an informal lunch moving from stand to stand.

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Follow Along on OUR SPANISH FOOD AND WINE ADVENTURES!

What a year!! We absolutely loved walking and eating with all of you throughout 2023. Thank you all for making our dream jobs a reality! Cheers to another year of cava toasts and cheese hugs and ham guessing games and plaza battle reenactments and ne
What a year!! We absolutely loved walking and eating with all of you throughout 2023. Thank you all for making our dream jobs a reality! Cheers to another year of cava toasts and cheese hugs and ham guessing games and plaza battle reenactments and neighborhood scavenger hunts and blind wine tastings and vermouth discoveries and churro smiles! #walkingtoursmadrid #foodtourspain #spanishfood #nye2023 #travelspain #discovermadrid
During the holidays, many of us here at Walk and Eat travel near and far to visit family and friends. Our fantastic guide Leire has perhaps the most exciting holiday plans this year! She is in Lapland, Finland taking people to visit Santa himself! She sent us this lovely Christmas message from the snowy fields outside Santa’s Village. Felices Fiestas!! #walkingtoursmadrid #foodtourspain #spanishfood #christmasmadrid #navidadmadrid
Churros are a staple of Spain’s celebratory season. While these crunchy sticks of fried dough are around all year, the holiday season is when churros become front and center for both breakfast and a midafternoon snack! Here in Madrid you’
Churros are a staple of Spain’s celebratory season. While these crunchy sticks of fried dough are around all year, the holiday season is when churros become front and center for both breakfast and a midafternoon snack! Here in Madrid you’ll find the classic, thin churro as well as the thicker, puffier porra. Both are made with just flour, water and salt but the porras have a tiny bit of baking soda to make them puff up when they hit the hot oil. As the churros and porras are not sweet themselves, they are best served with a steaming cup of thick hot chocolate! #walkingtourmadrid #churros #churrosmadrileños #spanishfood #madridtapas #foodtour #tourguide
Meet Theo, one of our incredible guides! Theo is originally from Brazil but has called Madrid home for the past 17 years. He is an artist by trade and creates spectacular paintings and prints at his studio in central Madrid. Here are a few of his fav
Meet Theo, one of our incredible guides! Theo is originally from Brazil but has called Madrid home for the past 17 years. He is an artist by trade and creates spectacular paintings and prints at his studio in central Madrid. Here are a few of his favorite things: Favorite Spanish food: Cecina and mojama a.k.a. the weird non-pork cured goods! Favorite spot in Madrid: Bendito Vinos y Vinilos for the great natural wine and easy market vibes. Favorite thing about guiding: Getting to know the guests and taking them to places they would never go on their own! #walkingtourmadrid #foodtourspain #spanishfood #madridtapas #foodtour #tourguide #tourguidelife
Tis the season for sparkling wine! And here in Spain, that means Cava. This naturally sparkling wine is made in the exact same way as Champagne, meaning it undergoes a second fermentation inside the bottle over the course of at least 9 months. Despit
Tis the season for sparkling wine! And here in Spain, that means Cava. This naturally sparkling wine is made in the exact same way as Champagne, meaning it undergoes a second fermentation inside the bottle over the course of at least 9 months. Despite these long aging times, Cava is one of the most affordable sparkling wines in the world. It is also, as of the 2025 harvest, the only wine region on earth that is 100% organic! #madridtour #madridtourism #spanishtapas #madridfood #cavadrink #winetastingtour #cava
Gift Ideas! With Christmas just around the corner, here are a few of our favorite Spanish foodie gifts that are easy to travel with: 1. Latas - Tinned fish and seafood is a true delicacy in Spain and one of the easiest things to pack in your suitca
Gift Ideas! With Christmas just around the corner, here are a few of our favorite Spanish foodie gifts that are easy to travel with: 1. Latas - Tinned fish and seafood is a true delicacy in Spain and one of the easiest things to pack in your suitcase! Try “mejillones en escabeche” aka mussels in a spiced marinade (they go great on potato chips!) or “ventresca en aceite de oliva” aka tuna belly in olive oil. 2. Brandy - The Spanish region of Jerez produces some of the world’s top brandys. For a real Christmas treat, grab a bottle of Brandy de Jerez. Bonus points for ease as this one is sold in duty free at the Madrid airport! 3. Olive oil - Not only is olive oil a staple of the Spanish diet, but there are hundreds of styles and varieties to choose from! Be sure to look for the “extra virgin” designation which means it hasn’t been chemically processed and if you plan to fly with it, go for a tin or even a plastic bottle. Olive oil expands and contracts with the changing pressure of the airplane and a flexible container means less likelihood for spills! In Madrid, our go-to olive oil shop is Comunal ( @lacomunal_avoe ) 4. Verdinas - We know what you’re thinking, dried beans?! Yes! Verdinas are an incredible heirloom bean from northern Spain often used in seafood stews. This extremely rare bean is insanely delicious and, in dried form, very easy to transport! If you are looking for a unique gift for a friend who loves to try new recipes, verdinas are the ticket! 5. Jamón - No list of delicious Christmas gifts would be complete without cured Iberian ham! Most charcuterie shops will sell 100g vacuum-sealed packages of sliced ham. Be sure to look out for the words “Iberico de bellota” to be sure you’re getting the good stuff! 6. A Food Tour! - We have just released gift certificates! You can now gift a ticket to our De Mercados or our De Tapas tours. Gift Certificates never expire and can be used at any time! To purchase a gift certificate, head to our website and click the Book Now button. Felices Fiestas! #walkingtoursmadrid #foodtourspain #discovermadrid #foodgifts #christmasgiftideas #foodie #travelgift
What a year!! We absolutely loved walking and eating with all of you throughout 2023. Thank you all for making our dream jobs a reality! Cheers to another year of cava toasts and cheese hugs and ham guessing games and plaza battle reenactments and ne
During the holidays, many of us here at Walk and Eat travel near and far to visit family and friends. Our fantastic guide Leire has perhaps the most exciting holiday plans this year! She is in Lapland, Finland taking people to visit Santa himself! Sh
Churros are a staple of Spain’s celebratory season. While these crunchy sticks of fried dough are around all year, the holiday season is when churros become front and center for both breakfast and a midafternoon snack! Here in Madrid you’ Meet Theo, one of our incredible guides! Theo is originally from Brazil but has called Madrid home for the past 17 years. He is an artist by trade and creates spectacular paintings and prints at his studio in central Madrid. Here are a few of his fav Tis the season for sparkling wine! And here in Spain, that means Cava. This naturally sparkling wine is made in the exact same way as Champagne, meaning it undergoes a second fermentation inside the bottle over the course of at least 9 months. Despit Gift Ideas! With Christmas just around the corner, here are a few of our favorite Spanish foodie gifts that are easy to travel with: 1. Latas - Tinned fish and seafood is a true delicacy in Spain and one of the easiest things to pack in your suitca
 

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