On January 6, 2020, I embarked on my semester abroad in Madrid, Spain. Having stayed there for ten weeks, I have some recommendations for students and travelers who don’t know where to begin!
Housing
I lived in Calle del Arenal in the heart of Sol, the central neighborhood of Madrid. From my apartment, you could walk less than a block to Puerta del Sol, the Times Square of Madrid. I chose this based off a recommendation from a friend who had lived there previously. It was a lot of fun because of all the nearby attractions, food, and nightlife, but mainly because of my amazing roommates. I lived in an apartment with 12 bedrooms (don’t worry, there was a cleaning service). Sol is the heart of Madrid, but it is also the heart of tourism. If I did it again, I might live somewhere nearby but in Malasana. Before coming to Madrid, I was worried about being too far from things to do, since in America you must drive pretty much everywhere. After living in Sol for a couple weeks, I found myself going out of the area to find places where locals ate and avoid tourist traps. It’s a great place to live for study abroad or shorter stay, but in all other cases I would recommend staying in a nearby neighborhood. The Madrid metro is mazing so you won’t feel like it’s hard to get anywhere.
Transport
The metro in Madrid is extremely well connected. It’s also cheap! For people who qualify for the young person’s card (students) you have unlimited access to the bus, metro, and Cercarias trains for a low monthly price. The metro covers the city center and the Cercarias bring you to areas a bit farther away in neighborhoods just outside the city where people commonly commute. I took the Cercarias to Leganes each day for class. The Spanish train system is also cheap and reliable for long distance travel. Most long distance Renfe trains will depart from Atocha (the main train station). Another option for long distance travel that can be cheaper and sometimes not less convenient is by bus. The buses usually pickup at the airport or Atocha and can take you to most cities in Spain. Uber is also available but was only necessary when arriving and departing Madrid with lots of luggage. The Madrid airport is one of the best for cheap flights around Europe as well to the US so it’s easy to get to the other major airports in Europe directly and cheaply. I almost always took the metro to the airport, but there is also a bus that runs 24 hours that can take you from the city center.
Phone Plans
Orange is the main phone service in Madrid and Spain. They have very affordable plans for around $35/month with around 15 GB. My friends and I chose Vodafone which is also popular across Europe and had similar rates but had a sale when we arrived in January that provided a month free and unlimited data for social media apps in addition to the 15 GB for surfing the internet. Vodafone also provides coverage across Europe (as does Orange if I’m not mistaken). Either option is a great deal.
Food
I tried lots of restaurants, so I’ll just give a quick review of my favorites here. If you don’t know Spanish my best recommendation is to just say “Quisiera __________”, which means “I would like _____” when ordering.
- Rodilla is a popular coffee shop in Madrid. It has good pastries and sandwiches if you’re looking for a quick bite to eat. The coffee is good, but I came here often for the delicious Matcha lattes. I normally drink matcha cold, but the chai spices they added to it made it so much better than any other Matcha I’ve had! It wasn’t too sweet, but it tasted like it had some cinnamon and nutmeg added. Delicious!
- Takos al Pastor is the restaurant I recommend the most out of any in Europe. Euro tacos (that is a taco for a dollar) are very popular in Madrid, but Takos al Pastor does it the best. I could eat here every single day. The al pastor and cochinita are my favorite. Be prepared to wait in line for a long time (30 minutes or even more at the busiest times of day), but that’s part of the fun. Don’t forget to order a Margarita too.
- Botin is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world. It is famous for the suckling pig. Stop by but expect it to be one of your more expensive meals.
- Palazzo is my favorite ice cream place. There are several around the city including one is in Puerta del Sol. Hazelnut and walnut are some of my favorite flavors and they are very common in European ice cream shops.
- Mimi’s Creperie is a creperie and coffee shop on Calle Mayor. I ate here several times. The savory crepes are not as good because the meat isn’t seasoned very well, but the sweet crepes are great! I didn’t try breakfast crepes, but they might also be good.Café de luz was recommended as a great café for digital nomads. They have decent WIFI and several outlets. Good coffee and croissants.
- El tierro is the Chipotle of Madrid. It doesn’t really compare, but it was a good place to get a lot of food for a decent price.Creperie arenal was right near where I lived so I tried the crepes and ice cream. The crepes aren’t super traditional, they didn’t have many ingredients, so I just got Nutella. The ice cream was pretty good, however.
- San Gines is the most famous place to get churros con chocolate. If you’re in Madrid, you must go there. This might have been my favorite chocolate I tried. Order churros and purros with chocolate to share.
- 1902 is another place for churros. Decent chocolate, but San Gines is just a block away. If you’re going on a churros tour, put it on the list.
- Valor is another churro place that is famous for its chocolate. It wasn’t my favorite, but worth a try.
- Picalagartos is the only rooftop garden I got to go to. There are many in Madrid and it’s a great place to get a drink and watch the sunset, or get some work done. This one has free entry.Pho 26 was a pho place I tried. There were no vegetarian options which was disappointing, and the spices were…different. I wouldn’t try this Pho place again, but that might just be my personal taste.Tiki Taco is another euro taco place. Better than Taco Pepe but, Takos al Pastor is still way better.5 Guys was the exact same as the US if you’re looking for a taste of home.Fit Food was a trendy place that I got avocado toast. It was a bit pricy for what it was, but not bad at all.
- El riojano is a lovely bakery on Calle mayor. In the back there is a restaurant where I order pastilla con chocolate. The chocolate was very good, and the bread was a nice change from fried churros.
- El tigre is a tapas bar that everyone raves about. With each drink you get a “free” tapa, so go with friends and enjoy! This is a great spot to go to get a real feel of Spanish tapa culture.
- Mercado de San Miguel is both a tourist attraction and a great place to get food, but it’s expensive. There’s great tacos, tapas, vermouth, and deserts here. You can’t go wrong.
Nightlife
Here are the nightclubs I tried in Madrid. My recommendation is to get in as many Whatsapp chats as you can to avoid paying an entry fee. You will find them by talking to people and on flyers from promotors.
- Joy Eslava was right near where I lived so it was fun to go there with just my key. They had some events for one for the colleges in Madrid where they had unlimited beer or cava. The music was good and sometimes they had salsa lessons.
- Fucking Mondays (yes this is the name of the club) was my favorite club. Go here on Mondays.
- Larrios was somewhere I went with friends because there was an event. This place was alright.
- Shoko was a fun club that had unlimited drinks until 12 am or 1 am. The fight to get the drinks is not easy so don’t count on it.
- Barcelo is one of the clubs in Madrid that famous people often go to. They have unlimited cava some nights so look out for that.
- Nomad was a bar that hosted “college night” which meant beer pong and karaoke. It was very American but still fun.
Attractions
Some of the free things I did were Campo del Moro, Temple de Debod, Parque del Retiro, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol 0 km mark, and Atocha’a atrium. These are all great photo ops. If you only have time for one, Parque Retiro and the Glass Palace is the most worth it.
The only museum I made it to be the Prado. It’s a typical art museum, worth it if that interests you. It is free at certain times, so definitely do not pay.
At Plazuela del Conde de Miranda, 3 Monastery of Corpus Christi there is a convent where cloistered nuns sell cookies. Ring the doorbell and enter, then walk to the back. The prices are on the wall and different flavors are only available on certain days. You can ask what is available and pay in cash. A turntable allows you to pay and get your cookies without seeing the nuns. They only speak Spanish.
Gym
While in Madrid, I was training for the All-Ireland Irish Dance Championships, so a gym membership was a necessity. I checked out Myst Gym Club as well as Fitup and ended up choosing Fitup. Myst was very expensive and you aren’t paying for more space or equipment- you’re paying for the flashy social atmosphere that it provides. There’s plenty of other opportunities for that in Madrid. It didn’t even have a good floor for dancing. Fitup membership was about $30, and I got a discount with the City Life card which paid for itself after just a month or two of membership. It has all the necessary equipment and classes like dance and Pilates included. The floor in the dance room was concrete covered in a rubberized material so it wasn’t ideal, but the price was right for most people.
Haircut
I got my hair cut and nails done at Peliqureria Jade in Malasana. The lady was very nice and did a great job for a cheap price. This was the best gel manicure I have ever gotten.
What I would do differently
Since I had to leave Spain because of Coronavirus, there’s lots of things I wanted to do that I couldn’t. Some of these include a tour of the Royal Palace and going to El Rastro, the market that open on Sundays only. I also wish I could have gone to more night clubs including Espit Chupitos, which is a shot bar, and Kapital which is the biggest nightclub. Another recommendation for those studying abroad is to get to know your own city. I had planned to do this, but was unable to, and I really regret it. You will always be able to travel from city to city in Europe, but you will never be a study abroad student again, so take advantage of opportunities that are unique to that.