Recommended Tour operators in Madrid Spain?

[CCWineLover]

We are boarding a cruise in Lisbon in December, but will be visiting Madrid ahead of time - our first visit (We've been to Barcelona).

Do any of you have any thoughts or recommendations of good tour operators in Madrid (for things like visiting Toledo, or seeing the sights in Madrid) ?

We will be spending 4 nights and 3 full days.

We've done Spain Day Tours in Barcelona and enjoyed them.

[edinburgher]

17 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

seeing the sights in Madrid) ?

We spent a week in Madrid but didn't venture out of the city due to poor weather on a couple of the days we had thought we would venture out.

 

We found Madrid to be a very walkable city as far as sightseeing was concerned, and only used public transport twice, once to get us to the start point of a self guided walking tour, and once to get us back from the finish of a self guided walking tour.  We found walks online and took a guidebook with us, but we were also staying centrally close to Plaza Espana from where a number of top sights could be easily reached on foot.

 

The guide book also had a suggested walking route through the enormous  Retiro Park taking in the highlights.  This is a park well worth visiting. It is also massive so a shorter route with highlights is a good thing.

 

I think that if you do your homework online and print off info relating to your plans, or have a decent guidebook,  or both, it may not be necessary to go to the expense of tours and guides. There is also the advantage that you can go at your own pace, cutting short anything you don't want to stay in longer than necessary, but also to have the ability to linger longer at any sight you really do like.

 

We really enjoyed Madrid.  It is a city with much to offer without a great deal of effort, but also a working city and we found costs for accommodation, dining, entry fees, public transport etc  were reasonable compared to some other famous cities around the world. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

[CCWineLover]

10 hours ago, edinburgher said:

We spent a week in Madrid but didn't venture out of the city due to poor weather on a couple of the days we had thought we would venture out.

 

We found Madrid to be a very walkable city as far as sightseeing was concerned, and only used public transport twice, once to get us to the start point of a self guided walking tour, and once to get us back from the finish of a self guided walking tour.  We found walks online and took a guidebook with us, but we were also staying centrally close to Plaza Espana from where a number of top sights could be easily reached on foot.

 

The guide book also had a suggested walking route through the enormous  Retiro Park taking in the highlights.  This is a park well worth visiting. It is also massive so a shorter route with highlights is a good thing.

 

I think that if you do your homework online and print off info relating to your plans, or have a decent guidebook,  or both, it may not be necessary to go to the expense of tours and guides. There is also the advantage that you can go at your own pace, cutting short anything you don't want to stay in longer than necessary, but also to have the ability to linger longer at any sight you really do like.

 

We really enjoyed Madrid.  It is a city with much to offer without a great deal of effort, but also a working city and we found costs for accommodation, dining, entry fees, public transport etc  were reasonable compared to some other famous cities around the world. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thank you so much for your detailed info!  Appreciated!

[edinburgher]

10 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Thank you so much for your detailed info!  Appreciated!

And thank you for acknowledging as so many do not.

 

We had planned to take the high speed train to Toledo for a day trip although the main train station wasn't that convenient for our accommodation. Travel time is short, and again, if you do some homework before your trip, a tour and/or guide may not be necessary. The other side trip we considered would have been to Segovia.  Unfortunately both days were forecast extremely heavy rain (and indeed they were) so we decided against,  preferring to remain in the city where there were more indoor options. Once again for side trips, pre-trip homework and/or a guidebook should be helpful for DIY exploring. Should you have any questions about Madrid I would be happy to reply.... assuming I know the answer!

Edited November 13, 2023 by edinburgher

[alserrod]

Hi

 

keep in mind that displacement to some cities around Madrid is always faster and more comfortable by train than by bus (all touristic operators move by car).

 

You can reach Segovia and Toledo by high speed train (about 25-30 minutes only and one train every hour) or Alcala de Henares and Aranjuez by commuter train (about 30-40 minutes and one train every 15 minutes in peak hours). These last ones can be terribly cheap.

 

It will not be hard to move to those cities and prepare your own day and, obviously, feel free to ask anything.

 

 

 

[BarbaraM]

We have been to Madrid a few times -- have only taken one tour -- a Tapas evening tour.  It was fun, and helped us be more comfortable with the tapas culture as we took it the first night. We learned a lot about the city as well.  Other than that we  DIY--   the park, art museums, the palace, a football match, and even a bull fight.  It is one of our favorite cities. 

[CCWineLover]

12 hours ago, BarbaraM said:

We have been to Madrid a few times -- have only taken one tour -- a Tapas evening tour.  It was fun, and helped us be more comfortable with the tapas culture as we took it the first night. We learned a lot about the city as well.  Other than that we  DIY--   the park, art museums, the palace, a football match, and even a bull fight.  It is one of our favorite cities. 

Thank you!  We arrive Dec 1 and have been reading about all the Christmas lights as well.

[FLCruiser97]

Have fun! We will be in Madrid next year for a few days and would love to hear your thoughts once you have experienced the city.

 

@edinburgher I too appreciate your insight to Madrid and will look into those suggestions. 

[edinburgher]

Hoping you all enjoy your visits.  Forgot to mention that Madrid is quite easy on the feet as it isn't a hilly city, unlike some others where walking uphill can be a bit of a challenge.

[FLCruiser97]

5 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Hoping you all enjoy your visits.  Forgot to mention that Madrid is quite easy on the feet as it isn't a hilly city, unlike some others where walking uphill can be a bit of a challenge.

Yes, I heard Lisbon is quite hilly and that is our stop after Madrid.

[edinburgher]

2 hours ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Yes, I heard Lisbon is quite hilly and that is our stop after Madrid.

Not "quite" hilly.  Much of it is "extremely" hilly so I hope you are staying on a level street in the centre and not uphill. 

 

The Belem district  is flat and you can easily spnd a full day, or even two, there as it offers a number of worthwhile sights to visit..

Edited November 23, 2023 by edinburgher

[FLCruiser97]

12 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Not "quite" hilly.  Much of it is "extremely" hilly so I hope you are staying on a level street in the centre and not uphill. 

 

The Belem district  is flat and you can easily spnd a full day, or even two, there as it offers a number of worthwhile sights to visit..

Thanks again for the insight and recommendations. Greatly appreciated.