Greetings from Malaysia! My wife and I will be travelling to Spain this winter. This is our first trip to Spain. Any advice!?!
I would like to know how far (walking distance)is the Prado museum from Puerta del Sol? How safe is the area? Any interesting sites that we should not miss?

Hi Firstimer!

Walking from Puerta del Sol to the museum shouldn't take you more than ten minutes

Living across from El Prado myself, I can tell you that if you don't allow your belongings out of your sight, and specially, your purses and bags are always zipped up and well clutched close to you, you're not at all likely to 'lose' anything

Welcome to Spain!!!

The walk from Sol to the Prado is nice...we found a couple of pretty art prints in a shop along the way in March of this year. The shopkeeper had left his keys in his door (and it was one where you had to ring to get in), so we all had a good laugh when he let us in and we handed him his keys. His little boy (about 4, the same age as our daughter) was working on the alphabet and eating a Nocilla sandwich--he and I had a good chat (as my Spanish is almost, but not quite, as good as a 4-year-old's!) while his Papa wrapped our purchases.

Enjoy your Madrid rambles!
Tara

Welcome first-timer - This board is an invaluable source of information on Madrid and the rest of Spain. Use the search function for your areas of interest and read, read, and read some more! The comments posted over the past couple of years cover an immense amount of knowledge and experience!

Thank you all for your friendly advices.