What are the MUST sees and to dos in Madrid, Spain. (only hvae 2 days)?

Question

What are the MUST sees and to dos in Madrid, Spain. (only hvae 2 days)?

Answer 1

The one, huge MUST see in Madrid is the Prado.  (the big Art museum...on a par with the Louvre).  

After that, it's all choices.  I would suggest the Royal Palace, the Reina Sofía if you're into modern art, and the Thyssen Bournemaszo (I can never remember how to spell the second name!) which is a private art collection that was donated to the public or something like that, but it represents lots of different artists and periods.  Pretty eclectic.   You should go to the Plaza Mayor, and just stand in the middle of the famous square where bullfights and Autos da Fé and executions of ordinary criminals were held once upon a time...now it's the tourist info office and lots of restaurants (buildings over 400 years old - REALLY neat!) and shops, with performance artists in the middle.  

Go down on the downhill side of the Plaza to have tapas.  There's a row of restaurants that are really well-known, including the Casa Botín, the oldest restaurant in Europe/World something like that, except for the restaurant in Seville that predates it by 50 years, but for some reason doesn't count...:)

You should walk down Gran Vía.  Lots of upscale shopping, neat buildings (18th century) and restaurants.  Puerta del Sol, there's a plaque commemorating that it's the exact middle of Spain - well, more the zero point for all roads.  also some neat shopping and eating there.  It's a HUGE transfer station for the Metro, and pretty bustly on ground level as well.  Great little pastelería across from the Tío Pepe sign, called La Mallorqueña.  Stop for a pastry and coffee.

Enough for you?  I can come up with more!

Answer 2

Whats your interest?

Sport: Bernabeu, Atletico madrid museum

Culture: Tapas in Huertas, Bullfight / Plaza de Toros

Arts: Flamenco and Art galleries

It all depends on your interests...

I actually put together a series of "Must dos" at the following a while back: www.madrid-guide-spain.com