Panoramic Tour of Madrid with Tapas Tasting

Start and end place of the tour. The Plaza de España is home to one of the most photographed monuments in Madrid, in honor of Miguel de Cervantes, with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as protagonists. It is also the link between the Sabatini Gardens, the Campo del Moro, the Casa de Campo and Madrid Río.

Here there will be a photo stop. It is an Egyptian temple from the 2nd century BC. d. C. installed in the Parque del Cuartel de la Montaña, near the Plaza de España. The temple was donated to Spain by the Egyptian government to prevent it from being flooded after the construction of the great Aswan Dam.

The exteriors of the Royal Palace of Madrid will be seen from the vehicle. Royal residence from Carlos III to Alfonso XIII, the Royal Palace of Madrid offers us a journey through the history of Spain. Although it is not inhabited by the current monarchs, the site, managed by National Heritage, is the official residence of the kings.

The exteriors of the Almudena Cathedral will be seen from the vehicle. The Cathedral of Madrid, in Madrid de los Austrias, has a short but intense history. The first plans for the church were drawn up in 1879 by Francisco de Cubas with the idea that it would serve as a pantheon for the late Queen María de la Mercedes. The first stone was laid in 1883 but when Pope Leo XIII granted the bull creating the Bishopric of Madrid-Alcalá in 1885, the project for the church was transformed into a cathedral.

The Plaza de la Villa is one of the best preserved monumental complexes in Madrid. It is located in the historic quarter, near the Puerta del Sol and has been the seat of the City Council of the capital. It was one of the main nuclei of medieval Madrid, since three small streets corresponding to the primitive layout of the city originate from it: El Codo, El Cordón and Madrid.

The exteriors of the Mercado de San Miguel are visited from the vehicle. More than 100 years have passed since the Mercado de San Miguel was inaugurated as a food market. Currently, this historic building is one of the main gastronomic markets in the world, as it allows its visitors to take a tour of the essence and flavors of each corner of Spain.

The La Latina area is located in the heart of Madrid, adjacent to other areas of great tourist interest such as Austrias, Sol-Gran Vía, Lavapiés and Madrid Río. Its streets, of medieval origin, have mostly irregular, narrow and winding layouts that lead to squares. Many of these roads were located outside the walls that delimited the citadel, that is, they were the suburbs of old medieval Madrid and served as lodging for many merchants who came to the city to sell their wares.

This triumphal arch, located between the neighborhoods of La Latina and Embajadores, was erected to commemorate the arrival in Madrid of Fernando VII the Desired. The work replaces other previous doors located nearby from the 16th century, although its direct precedent is an arch that José Bonaparte, the French king imposed by his brother Napoleon, commissioned between 1811 and 1812 from the Spanish architect Silvestre Pérez, who never arrived. to be held.

The tour will stop at a typical local tavern for a tapas tasting.

The exteriors of the Reina Sofía Museum will be seen from the vehicle. At one of the corners of the Paseo del Arte is the Reina Sofía Museum, which houses an important collection of modern and contemporary Spanish art of recognized international value.

The Neptune Fountain will be visible from the vehicle. Neptuno is one of the most beautiful and majestic fountains in Madrid.

You will see the Cibeles Fountain from the vehicle. Cibeles is one of the most beautiful and majestic fountains in Madrid.

The exteriors of the Prado Museum will be seen from the vehicle. The Museo Nacional del Prado, which celebrated its bicentennial in 2019, presides over one of the most visited tourist itineraries in the capital: the Paseo del Arte. In addition to Las Meninas by Velázquez and Goya's The Executions of May 3, masterpieces from the Spanish, Italian and Flemish schools can be seen in its rooms.

The exteriors of El Retiro Park will be seen. With 125 hectares and more than 15,000 trees, El Retiro Park is a green haven in the center of Madrid. Some of its gardens deserve special attention: the Vivaces garden, the Cecilio Rodríguez gardens (classicist gardens with Andalusian airs), the gardens of the architect Herrero Palacios, the Rosaleda (collection of roses) and the French Parterre with the ahuehuete, the tree oldest in Madrid, which is said to be around 400 years old. Since July 25, 2021, it is recognized, together with the Paseo del Prado, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located in the center of the Plaza de la Independencia, the Puerta de Alcalá is one of the five old royal gates that gave access to the city, built by order of Carlos III to replace an earlier one that dated from the 16th century. This monumental gate, inaugurated in 1778, is located next to the Parque del Retiro and it is where prominent streets such as Alcalá, Alfonso XII or Serrano converge, and is one of Madrid's tourist icons.

The exteriors of the National Library of Spain will be seen. The institution of the National Library was founded by King Felipe V at the end of 1711 (then called the Royal Library). At its headquarters on Paseo de Recoletos (opened in 1896) a copy of all the books published in Spain is kept, as well as a valuable collection of incunabula, manuscripts, prints, drawings, photographs, maps, sound recordings, scores, etc. . It has a second headquarters in Alcalá de Henares.

The centennial Gran Vía is one of the main arteries of the city and one of its most emblematic avenues. Its creation, between 1910 and 1931, marked the beginning of the modernization of the city with the construction of the first skyscrapers in the country and the incursion of the architectural trends of the time from the United States.

Photo stop with vehicle drop off. You do not enter inside the bullring. Built in neo-Mudéjar style and with hand-painted tiles, it houses an important bullfighting museum, inaugurated in 1951, which allows you to learn about the history of the bullring. It also has a chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Virgen de la Paloma, patron saints of Mexico and Madrid, respectively.