Hi!
We're going to be in Madrid for the first week of December, and our plan is to rent an apartment. Any suggestions on a good area to stay in (or any to avoid), for two adults and a 3-year old?

Thanks!

Scott

With a three year old in tow , I would stick to the centre , most of which is perfectly safe to be in . Certain areas such as Lavapiés have had some bad press ( racial tensions ) , but most areas are fine . The 'Barrio' of Salamanca where I lived is very conservative , with good Metro links but not right in the middle of the city BUZZ areas . Chueca is the gay area and therefore the party area .. All areas around Chueca , Gran Vía , Sol will be noisy well into the early hours .Great fun unless you want to sleep . Some of the areas around Retiro Park are nice , even up towards Atocha .. Sort of medium busy .. Madrid's public transport system is vast and very efficient so you'll have no problem getting around . A nice quiet area to stay within easy reach of all the major areas is around the Prado Museum , though the Metro stations are a little spaced out . I stayed in Calle Cervantes many years ago , very near to the Congress building .. just a 15 minute walk to Sol ( max ) .. A very relaxed area within the central part of Madrid ( Also home to The Ritz hotel ) . The main Metro stations would be Atocha , Sevilla and Sol .

Thanks Steve - that's great! Very comprehensive and helpful info to aid in the apartment search!

Scott

stay in northern part of the city from Salamanca and cuatro caminos up towards plaza de Castilla, and Barrio del Pilar;etc. 3 yrs old kids dont fit in well in the center, and the metro will get you close to everything.

I, too, would recommend the Old City center, like around Opera, Puerta del Sol, even Gran Vía. I wouldn't go much further if you'll be pushing/carrying a small child with you everywhere. Plus, you may want someplace close by where you can take frequent breaks in your sight-seeing day.

Saludos, MadridMan

Thanks for the suggestions! We'd rather be in the middle of things rather than have to always use the metro, as long is it's not crazy noisy! And with a child, we don't get out a lot at night anyway, but we do enjoy city life.
We're currently in Barcelona, and loving it so far!

Scott

Old, downtown Madrid not really "crazy noisy". It's not like Times Square in New York City, that's for sure, but there is a lot of foot traffic along, say, the Gran Vía and the major arteries leading to/from the Puerta del Sol.

We'd love to hear of your experiences in Barcelona in the "Favorite Places" forum category if you'd like to offer them. Surely, it would help future travelers to one of Spain's most wonderful cities.

Saludos, MadridMan

I will post our experiences in Barcelona, as well as other parts of Spain. It's all amazing so far. Currently, we're in Granada.

Scott

I loved Granada although I only went the once and just stayed for 3 days with some Australian and English friends .
If you haven't heard it already then you should listen to Plácido Domingo ( born in Calle Ibiza - Madrid )singing the famous opera standard ' Granada ' . Very beautiful . I first heard it with a girl from Barcelona who was staying with me . She played the song and cried , such was the emotion of the words: "Granada,tu tierra está llena. De lindas mujeres,de sangre y del sol."

just listen to Granada by Ernesto Lecuona ::)
it has been sang by Placido Domingo ! amongst others.

very different than Barcelona,and for my taste better ::)

scottya, where did you end up staying in Madrid - or maybe you're here now. We look forward to hearing about not only that, but also your Barcelona and Granada experiences, lodgings, restaurants, opinions, etcetera. It's been too long since we've had first-person postings about these places here on the message board.

Saludos, MadridMan

We'll be there in a couple of weeks. Still enjoying Sevilla!
The flat is near Calle de San Bernardino and Calle de Los Reyes.
I'm not sure what that neighbourhood is called, but it's close to the metro, and seems walking distance to a park and many of the main attractions.

very nice area, close to plaza de España
district go over centro and chamberi

Is it on Calle de San Bernardino or San Bernardo? I'm guessing the latter if it's near Calle de los Reyes. This triangle of real estate is equidistant from the metro stations Plaza de España, Noviciado, and Santo Domingo. Please be sure to tell us about it upon your return - and please tell us about your time/experiences/lodging of Sevilla in another thread. PLEASE!!!! We don't have nearly enough info about this wonderful city here on our ALL SPAIN Message Board!

Saludos, MadridMan

yes its san bernardo, just let you do the grammar hehehehe!!!

Pedmar-nice area????????????

I wouldn't call it a "nice area", but it's not bad, either. Depending on the exact address, this area has seen better days in general.

Saludos, MadridMan

well ok area ,nice area, good enough area. the bottom line the OP will be ok there,and enjoy Madrid.

It's where San Bernardino and Calle Amaniel meet. Is this Pedmar then?
We're kind of committed at this point, but is Crisco suggesting this isn't a great area?

they dont meet Calle Amaniel runs paralel to calle san Bernardo,but they are very close by metro NOviciado. you will be ok,enjoy Madrid.

Calle San Bernadino (yes, Bernadino, not Bernardo) DOES meet in an intersection with Calle Amaniel and Calle de los Reyes, however. This is where you're staying? It's not bad. Kind of a little "China Town", however, and the Metro Noviciado is right there as pedmar mentions above.

Saludos, MadridMan

Yes, that's it I believe. We found a few places further out that looked really nice, but decided we'd rather be walking distance to the main attractions.
Hope it all works out! I'm sure we'll enjoy our time in Madrid.

funny I look up descubre madrid map which is the municipality page and the streets are shown parallel not meeting ,but then again the local can verify this once there.
yes the area is ok, no problems at all there. You will enjoy Madrid and report back on the city and the area ok !cheers

This area worked very well for us. The apartment itself was great, there are many shops and markets close by, the metro is right there, and Gran Via is just a couple of minutes walk. So no problems at all. The immediate area isn't particularly pretty (especially compared to other parts of Madrid) but we always felt safe. And I have to say that we found people in Madrid to be very friendly!
Madrid is incredibly beautiful, and we felt like we needed a lot more time to get to know it better. I guess we'll just have to come back!

Thanks for the follow-up review, scottya. That's much appreciated. Glad you had a nice visit to Madrid and that you might decide to return someday to see a bit more.

Saludos, MadridMan

no problem. I intend to do a more in-depth trip report of all 5 of the cities we visited when we get ourselves a bit more organized!

I lived in La Latina for about 8 months and loved the area, close enough to everything The problem with Sol and Gran Via is they are very noisy and busy.

In particular it's a fascinating area to walk around in particular head over towards Tirso de Molina, I spent hours walking around with my dog.

I just booked a luxe apartment for 2 friends staying in Madrid in July. It is right across the street from La basilica de San Fransisco el grande on C/ Bailen. It's on the 5th floor and looks right over onto the basilica. We found it on a luxury website BUT it's a 2 bed, 2 bath, sleeps 4 and everything is ultra modern and cool for only 134 euro a night! Way cheaper than a hotel! I'm thrilled because I know I will be crashing on the sofa while they are there. I'll have to explain to the suegra why I'm not coming home!

Palacio, Embajadores, Cortes, Justicia-Chueca, Universidad and Sol are the most central districts.