Day Trip to Madrid From the UK, Tapas, the Prado and £84.60 All In
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A day trip to Madrid from Luton on Wednesday 16 December is £43.00 return with easyJet and £84.60 for the whole day. From Stansted, Saturday 28 November is £45.00 return and £86.60 all in.
Madrid in a day sounds a bit mad. Then you see the whole thing costs less than a night out in London and it starts to sound a lot more sensible.
It's a long day, I won't pretend otherwise. You're up stupidly early and you're back late. But Madrid is a city made for eating and wandering, and both of those fit nicely into six hours.
The two days worth booking
Luton, Wednesday 16 December. easyJet out at 06:10, back from Madrid at 19:15 local time, landing at 20:50. The flight is £43.00 return and the whole day comes to £84.60. You get about 6.3 hours in the city once you've done the metro both ways.
That's an early finish for a day trip, which I actually like. You're home before 21:00 and you're not wrecked the next day. See Madrid from Luton on 16 December
Stansted, Saturday 28 November. Ryanair out at 05:55, back at 22:20 local time. £45.00 for the flight, £86.60 for the day, and about 6.7 hours in town. If you need a weekend, this is the one. See Madrid from Stansted on 28 November
There's also Thursday 26 November from Stansted at £49.00, out at 06:15 and back at 22:15, which works out at £90.60 all in.
Where the £41.60 goes
The flight is the easy bit. What people forget is the money you spend once you land, so here's what the trip page puts it at.
- Metro to the centre and back, £8.00
- Getting around town, £9.00
- Lunch, £9.60
- Dinner, £15.00
That's £41.60 on the ground, which is cheap for a capital city. Madrid is one of those places where a beer and a plate of something comes in under what you'd pay for just the beer at home.
The metro from the airport takes about 30 minutes and costs €5 each way. If you're planning to hop about, the Billete Turístico day ticket for Zone A is €10.30.
A quick word on Wednesdays. A midweek day trip means booking a day off, but it also means quieter galleries and a cheaper flight. If you've got leave to use up before the end of the year, this is a good way to spend one of them.
How I would spend the day
Morning, the big sights
Land, get the metro in, and head straight for the Royal Palace. It's €18 to go inside and it's genuinely impressive. It's also free Monday to Thursday from 17:00 to 19:00, but on a day trip you'll be heading for the airport by then, so either pay or admire it from the outside.
Not far from the palace is the Temple of Debod, an actual Egyptian temple sat in a park. It's free to walk round and it's one of the best views in the city.
Lunch, keep it simple
Mercado de San Miguel is right by Plaza Mayor and it's the obvious place for a first look at the food. It's busy and it's not the cheapest, so have a wander, grab one thing, and save your proper eating for later.
Plaza Mayor itself is free and worth five minutes. Stand in the middle and take it in, it's one of those squares that looks better than any photo of it.
Afternoon, art or a park
Madrid has three big galleries close together. The Prado is €15, the Thyssen is €14, and the Reina Sofía main building is free for individual visitors. If you're doing the Saturday trip and fancy one, the Prado is the one most people regret skipping.
Not into galleries? El Retiro Park is free and it's huge. Walk to the lake, sit down, give your feet a break.
One thing to plan around. On 16 December the sun sets at 17:49, so if you want daylight photos, do them before then.
Evening, La Latina
This is where Madrid gets good. La Latina is full of small tapas bars where you order at the counter and stand. Gambas al ajillo, garlic prawns cooked in oil, are the one dish I'd tell anyone to try. Dinner at £15.00 goes a long way here.
On the Luton day, keep an eye on the clock. Your flight is at 19:15, so you'll want to be on the metro by about 17:00. Tapas lunch rather than tapas dinner that day. The Stansted Saturday gives you the whole evening.
Is it worth it for one day?
Honestly, yes, if you like food and you don't mind an early alarm. Madrid isn't a city of one big sight. It's a city of plazas and bars and long lunches, and you can get a real taste of that in six hours.
The other thing I'd say is go with a plan for lunch and no plan for the afternoon. Madrid rewards wandering. The side streets between Plaza Mayor and La Latina are where the city feels most like itself, so leave room to get a bit lost there. Pop into anywhere that looks busy with locals, that's usually the sign.
If you want the full money side, our Madrid day trip cost breakdown goes into more detail. Prices above were checked on 30 October and the trip pages always show the live fare, so give them a look before you book.
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