Top 20 Summer Activities in Madrid

Madrid is a city with many facets and caters to many types of interests and tastes. This Spanish capital is a popular destination for people touring the Mediterranean region, a place to move to for English teachers, a place to start over a new life, or students on a year’s break and business visitors. Madrid can be visited at any time of the year; however, summer visits have a special charm. The average minimum-maximum temperatures for the summer months of June, July and August in Celsius are 15-27, 17-21 and 17-30 respectively with record temperatures reaching 37, 39 and 38 degrees Celsius for these months. The ambience, weather and annual conditions of visiting Madrid in summer are many. Firstly, as demonstrated by the temperature ranges, Madrid is very hot in summer and that creates one of the most exciting outdoors ambiences in Europe. Secondly, most people who reside in Madrid go to coastal cities or mountainous towns on holiday to escape the summer blaze, therefore the city is relatively quiet and without excessive traffic. Lastly, there are many activities geared for people remaining or visiting the city organized by the municipality. The sun sets really late at about 21:30 in the evenings so people enjoy the city in many forms with and later without natural light

Here are the reasons why anyone should visit or take up an activity in Madrid in summer.

1. Madrid Outdoor Eating: Bars and restaurants offer menus or finger foods known in Spanish as tapas throughout the summer months on their terraces. This form of eating is pleasant for many reasons, two of whom being the fact that it is more pleasant to be out in the open air and not in air-conditioned places and secondly that it allows non-smoking patrons to not share closed spaces with smokers. Spain has still not completely banned smoking in public spaces. Do note that terrace eating carries a minimum surplus charge compared to interior eating. That being said, depending on the pocket and the company that one wants to keep there are various terrace restaurants and bars to choose from. In order to enjoy a young ambience frequently regulated by students and amateur artists, then terraces in the neighbourhoods of Malasaña, Sol and La Latina are ideal. If one wants to enjoy excellent views, sophisticated spaces, luxurious ambiences then terraces of Pedro Larumbe restaurant found in a historic press building in art deco style or the Restaurant Goya in Ritz Hotel are the places to be. On the same note the terrace of Círculo de Bellas Artes which features pleasant water jets to freshen the air is recommended. Terrace bars and restaurants which are ranked somewhere between the very expensive, exclusive ones and the very cheap, crowded and loud ones are found in the neighbourhood of Chamberi as well as the outskirts of the city centre namely Opera, Bilbao, Chueca and Conde Duque.

2. Parks: Madrid has dozens of scenic parks which serve as lungs and social rendezvous of the city. The parks of interest are the Retiro Park accessible from Metro Retiro,Campo del Moro & the Sabatini Gardens accessible from Metro Príncipe Pío,Quinta & Parque de la Fuente de Berro (Fuente de Berro Park) accessible from Metro O'Donnell, The Botanical Gardens (Jardín Botánico) , accessible from Metro Atocha, Parque El Capricho located a bit further out of the city accessible from Metro El Capricho and lastly Parque Juan Carlos accessible from Metro Campo de las Naciones as well as Metro El Capricho. Three Parks that deserve a special mention are the RetiroPark for being a dynamic park which hosts all types of activities from tai-chi, capoeira, to drummers, budding artists, couples on the lawns or rowing in the small lake and street performers. The other park with a special attraction is the Parque Juan Carlos which features a free bicycle loaning service at the exchange of an identity document and lastly the El Capricho park is a beautiful park which is greener and lushier than the others with very surreal small lakes. It is ideal as a romantic setting or a picnic spot. All the parks mentioned here are freely accessible except the BotanicPark which requires a symbolic 1 Euro entrance fee.

3. Panoramic Views: One can enjoy Madrid’s views by mounting the cable car which costs €5.15 for adults’ complete ride and less for groups and children. The exact tariffs can be viewed on the website of the cable car company. The return trip covers views of city monuments like the royal palace, the Manzanares river, the Temple of Debod and skyscrapers of the Plaza de España.

4. Summer Social Programmes: Every summer the city of Madrid organises cultural and social activities to be accessible by all. These activities occur under a specified theme published and are advertised throughout the city. For instance, the activity from 2009 was called “Veranos en La Villa 2009”and it featured dance, theatre, music, cinema and other activities in various locations of the city. The programme booklets are freely available from tourist kiosks around the city and most of the cited activities are free.

5. Shopping: Madrid offers various places for any type of a shopper. One can enjoy shopping for trendy apparel in the street of Fuencarral or visit boutiques in the eccentric but fashionable neighbourhood of Chueca. Smart clothes and accessories can be picked up in the upmarketSerrano and Goya areas where top designer houses like Gucci, Longchamp, Emporio Armani and others elegantly parade their extravagant creations. This area happens to be called the golden mile with reason. The rest of the city centre offers a mix of family and familiar clothing outlets in the Sol area. The shopping experience is not complete without the century’s old Sunday market experience known as El Rastro. The market is really crowded and takes place between 11am till 2pm on all Sundays of the month. Do note to keep a close watch on personal belongings. Lastly, for those who like haute couture at a discounted price tag can opt for Las Rozas Village which is calmer shopping experience in villa-like shops where coffee shops are also found for those who are about to drop after all the shopping.

6. Nightlife: Madrid offers a variety of nightlife experiences. . In saying “You haven’t been to Madrid until you’ve killed the night” Ernest Hemingway really hit the nail on the head. The nightlife in Madrid is really electric. People are energetic, excited, flirty, dressed up, chatting noisily and generally having a good time. To start off the night, one can wander in the Sol-Huertas area to enjoy a series of bars and clubs with live or DJ music. It is common to enter several of these places on one night as patrons are usually invited inside from the streets with a bait of free shooters. Later in the night, clubs open and one can choose their club choice according to their pocket, choice of company and music taste. One club which is worth a mention for its innovative setup is Club Kapital which features 7 floors with 7 musical ambiences, of which the top floor has a removable roof. It is one of the city’s buzzing night clubs and some football players of one of the most celebrated football teams in the world,Real Madrid FC, have been spotted there in the past.

7. Water Sports: In order to cool off, there are several places in order to refreshing dip. Some of the reference places to cool off are the aquatic parks of Aquópolis, the skating rink of Dreams Palacio, the Aquarium Zoo, the indoor skiing range of Xanadu and the municipal swimming pools around the city which are especially opened to the public in summer.

8. Free Tours: The Sandemans Tour Company organises free walking tours of the city explaining on their routes historical and cultural aspects of the city like the origins of tapas, the world’s oldest restaurant according to the Guinness Book of Records, the royal palace, Hemingway’s Madrid and many others. The company can be contacted for reservations on their website.

9. Visual Entertainment: IMAX Madrid, The planetarium, outdoors cinemas like Cine Dore close to metro Anton Martin, all offer a unique movie experience.

10. Museums: There are several world renowned museums worth mentioning like Museo Nacional del Prado, featuring masterpieces by Goya, with free access on Saturday afternoons, Museo de la Reina Sofia, housing Pablo Picasso’s world famous El Guernica, with free access on Sunday mornings and Museo de Thyssen-Bornemisza.

11. Day Trips: Make a day trip to Toledo, a surrounding town with impressive forts and Roman architecture and Segovia another interesting town in the vicinity of Madrid both 30 minute bus-rides away.

12. Flamenco Shows: There are various places to see Flamenco shows in Madrid. One venue, Cafe de Chinitas, is also renowned as the oldest and most famous tablao (flamenco restaurants) restaurant in the world. This address in Madrid has attracted kings and queens, head of states, movie stars, and well-known artists and writers who come to live out the experience of top flamenco stars. It is open daily from 8.30pm to 2am. Another highly recommended flamenco venue is Cardamomo in the area of Sol-Sevilla in Madrid. Booking is adviced to attend shows at both venues.

13. Sports Tourism: Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid stadium tours are usually an interesting pastime for football or soccer fans . Sports enthusiasts can also attend football, basketball, tennis (for example the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open Madrid),handball and padel matches.

14. Religious Tourism: Visit many impressive cathedrals, mosques, synagogues and the former Jewish Quarter in Lavapies.

15. War & political tourism: Visit the Atocha 11 March memorial site and other monuments made for labour activisism like the one in the Jacinto Benavente square featuring a street sweeper and admire revolutionaries raised on literal pedestals like the statue of Christopher Columbus in the Colon square. Colon is Columbus in Spanish.

16. Academic tourism: Visit monuments, buildings, conferences, talks dedicated to thinkers, scientists, symposiums and expositions honouring the city pioneers.

17. Industry visits: Visit the factories, plants, research centres that are the power houses for the economic advancement of this country (Casa de la Moneda, Madrid’s Stock Exchange during the one day free pass in Europe: La Noche en Blanco)

18. People watch: There are various places to do this namely Sol, Plaza Mayor, La Vaguada Mall, Plaza Callao, Calle Serrano, Plaza Santa Ana and the most undisputed and entertaining people watching can be relished in Gran Via avenue, where Gran Via means main or major street in Spanish with reason! Its definitely a social spectacle.

19. Beauty & Relaxation Getaway: The city has various rehabilitative as well as pampering beauty spas, Turkish baths, thermal baths and so on. One only has to search on the internet to book for sensational massages, skin detoxification, muscle relaxation and so on. Revitalise thyself.

20. Gastronomical journey: Madrid may not have the world famous restaurant, El Bulli, however, it hosts a delightful and savoury experience influenced by many cultures. Many Michellin Star rated restaurants can be located in order to dine on meals fit for kings.

If all fails, visitors or residents in Madrid can check out the blog http://cheapinmadrid.com/ to view the list of all the cheap or free events and activities in Madrid.