Madrid!

I get questions all the time about must see places in Madrid if you only have a couple of days. If you have limited time in Madrid, stay near the city center. I personally like Gran Vía and Callao locations because you have great shopping, and you are only a few minutes from Sol and the Plaza Mayor. I know that many people who are in Spain for the Camino go straight to St. Jean Pied du Port and start walking immediately, but I recommend giving yourself a few days to explore Spain and to adjust to the time change and different meal times.

Our first stop, (after the Mercado San Miguel for some delicious fruit) was the church to get our pilgrim passports and our shells for our backpacks. During mass, the congregation prayed over the pilgrims getting ready to start the Camino.

Our group made it to Madrid at different times so we explored on our own until Wednesday when we explored Plaza Mayor and San Ginés (the best chocolatería that’s open 24 hours).

The following day, we went to the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum. These are MUST see museums and they are so close that you can walk to the other one. I highly recommend that you spend some time in the Retiro park with a picnic or get a cafe near the lake in the park and relax and people watch.

Of course, Madrid has so much more to see and do but we had to get ready to start exploring the Camino so we focused on art, the architecture of the Royal Palace and surrounding areas, and the delicious food.