Image Credit: Harriet Vicary

If you’re seeking culture, architecture, good food and September sunshine, Madrid might be your perfect autumn getaway. In June, my girls and I headed on a post-exam city break. We stayed three nights in an Air B&B and in total our flights and accommodation cost just under £200 and since we were travelling on a student budget, we allowed around £200 spending money. So here is a breakdown of our itinerary for my top 10 places to visit in Madrid on a tight time schedule and budget!

Arrival Day

I absolutely love a bit of tat from the market (guilty) so I immediately began to deplete the budget at El Rastro flea market! Seriously, this market is huge and the stalls go on for about a mile. It sells clothes, jewellery, accessories and, of course, fridge magnets, an essential purchase for the British tourist! It is definitely worth a visit if you’re looking to ease into your travels or kill time between activities. Visiting the market was great to get our bearings on the first day without overloading our itinerary.

Day Two

As luck would have it, I was struck with a cold on day two which meant I had to skip the Guruwalk tour around the centre of Madrid. However, the girls claim this was a highlight of their trip so I’m going to mention it here! Their tour guide gave them a whole PDF of recommendations for sightseeing, tapas restaurants, bars, night life, safe areas, and markets- this became super useful in planning the rest of our trip. It was totally free to participate, although there is an option to tip- for the quality of the tour, it is recommended to tip around €15.

We’d pre-booked tickets to the Palacio Real de Madrid at €25 each at student price (full price is €35). As a historian, I love a snoop around a historic site, so I didn’t want to miss this one. I’d say it’s worth a visit since you get access to plenty of rooms and no time limit. We had mixed reviews about the audio guide as it was an extra €6 which is reasonable for the amount of information it gave you, but the app wasn’t particularly reliable as it crashed a few times on our way round.

Image Credit: Harriet Vicary

For dinner we visited a tapas tasting bar called La Musa Latina in Costa de San Andreas. This is a great place for those who want to try several small dishes of local food. I’d recommend ordering around three dishes per person and bear in mind that they aren’t very easy dishes to share. However, the quality of the food was great, and it particularly stood out for their ability to cater to a shellfish allergy. The waiter sat down with us and went through every item on the menu to say if it was safe or not. We all felt they were super accommodating to our requirements!

Day Three

Amongst stunning white architecture is the gorgeous El Retiro Park. It was like walking into a fairy garden and had loads of perfectly Instagram-able spots. This was also a perfect way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and have a slightly slower travelling day. With loads of buskers and ice cream stalls, it was a fab for taking in the natural beauty of Madrid. The peacocks were also a welcomed addition to our sightseeing list!

For lunch on day three we discovered an absolute treasure called El Tigre. This tapas bar is amazing value for money- so good we went there twice! Each alcoholic beverage came with several plates of tapas so for a group of six, we had a feast for lunch. The drinks were reasonably priced and it’s just a really fun atmosphere. If you leave a tip at the bar, they ring a bell and everyone cheers, so it’s a super light-hearted bar to visit.

Image Credit: Harriet Vicary

You can’t say you’ve been to Madrid without going to watch a flamenco show and we struck gold with the one we booked. The company is Centro Cultural Flamenco Madrid and is home to truly authentic flamenco dancing. It relies on a series of claps and clicks, and good shows are based on improvised dance which is incredibly impressive to watch. So I would 100% recommend booking this; we booked this before we arrived in Madrid, and the tickets were €25 at student price (€28 full price). I would say this was the highlight of my trip!

If you’re looking to soak up every last bit of summer sun, then visiting Templo de Debod is a perfect place to view the sunset. The temple is set on top of the hill which overlooks the entire city, and the views are stunning! Although it’s effectively a park, it is well lit and had lots of groups hanging out there so not at all unsafe if you’re travelling in an all-girls group during the evening. We had a picnic-style dinner up there and it was a lovely way to end a busy day!

Image Credit: Harriet Vicary

Day Four

Brunch is a staple of any girl’s holiday so take a visit to Brunch Madrid Malasaña. With a generous menu and a chill atmosphere, there was something for everyone. For us, it was a great way to debrief on our trip, a time to share all the photos in the group chat and finalise any other activities we wanted to squeeze in on the last day.

Final Day

The website for the Prado Museum offers a pass allowing access to three art galleries (Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza) for around €32. If art galleries are your thing, this is definitely worth getting as the collections are huge. Each museum could easily take half a day so I would recommend researching which exhibitions you want to prioritise. As I’m not super up to date with art, I found the Reina Sofia to be the most accessible and engaging. Despite my severe lack of knowledge for the arts, I thought the pass was great value for money and the galleries were a welcomed break from the mid-summer heat!

Hopefully there’s some inspiration to give Madrid a visit! It is also worth noting that we had a really positive experience with public transport. We used the Metro every day by purchasing a travel pass from the tourist information desk at Madrid airport. This pass also allowed us to use the buses which were on time and easy to understand, so I’d recommend purchasing this too!