Tourist Hotspots in Madrid to Visit/Do
Retiro Park
Retiro Park is located just east of the cities center area. It was created as a retreat for King Philips IV in 1632 along with the Palace on site. This palace was built as a retreat to serve the royal family to get away from their stressful lives as monarchs. In the beginning when it was first built, it was outside of the cities walls for the royal family to escape to. Now Madrid has completely engulfed the park and palace today. It was first opened to the public in 1868 and it is about 320 acres in diameter. This park is not only stunningly gorgeous but it holds many historical artifacts such as the Alfonso XII monument and the Palacio de Cristal. Both of which are shown below. This park makes Madrid a major place to visit during the spring and summer becaue the flowers are in full bloom and as gorgeous as ever. So if you want to know more about Retiro Park, I suggest you make it a first hand experience by visiting this magnificent piece of historical beauty as soon as possible.
Puerta del Sol
Puerta del Sol used to be located on the Eastern border of the city but it was soon engulfed in the expansion of Madrid. This has now placed this beautiful modern area in the middle of Madrid. It provides a more modern aspect to daily life with the subway transportation system and other more modern pieces of architecture such as this glass structure shown in the picture. Puerta del Sol also has a historic side to it with many monuments that attract tourists from everywhere. This si another prime hotspot to visit!
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was opened in 1947. It is the home of the Real Madrid Soccer club. This is a wondeful hotspot for many tourists to go because it really gives a good amount of insight on the joysof visting Madrid. Soccer (or futbol as many Europeans call it) is the largest and most entertaining sport in all of Europe. This is very competitive so it will give you a rush of adrenaline watching a match.
Royal Palace
The Royal Palace was put up after the Royal Fortress burned down on Christmas Eve, 1734. King Philips V wanted a fireproof palace put up in its place made out of granite and limestone. Can you imagine being in a house made of Granite and Limestone? Talk about a lot of money. It was modeled after the Versailles Palace in France. The palace began construction in 1738 and it took about 26 years to complete. This historic building is one of the many places to visit while in Madrid.
The Prado Museum
This museum was planned out to be a Natural History Musem in its early design stages, but latr became to be an art museum. In 1785, the design plans for this museum were finally accepted and the building process began later that year. This historic Museum has managed to be over 200 years old! This is one of the many hotspots that is a must see while in Madrid.