[Conferences] What to do in Madrid on a 5 hour layover?

[JJ Merelo]

Hi,

2015-08-15 18:33 GMT+02:00 Gabor Szabo <gabor at szabgab.com>:

> Hi,
>
> on my way to YAPC::EU  I'll be at the Madrid airport from 10:40-16:05 on
> 29th
> while waiting for my connection to Granada.
>
> Anyone familiar with that airport and with Madrid?
>

You can be downtown via the metro in more or less 30 minutes, maybe a bit
more. Take the pink line to Nuevos Ministerios, and then the Red line to
Sol. It's 90 minutes, tops, go and return. Tickets go for 4.5€. You can
also take a train that runs less frequently, but leaves you at the Atocha
train station where you can walk to el Museo del Prado or even Sol. I don't
know how much it is, but it should be pretty much the same.


What can be done during this time?
>

You can walk the old city, you can go to the Reina Sofía (modern art,
Gernika, that kind of things, it's 5 minutes away from Atocha), you can
walk to Thyssen-Bornemisza (more comprehensive, almost no lines, 2 hours
for a great panorama of art), you can eat a fried squid sandwich in Plaza
Mayor, anything that tickles your fancy. Madrid is a big city, great for
walking, great for shopping...


> Can I get in the city and back on time?
> (I've never been to Madrid.)
>

Sure you can. If you've never been, probably the best is to check
timetables and take either train or metro and then walk around Sol, Plaza
Mayor, old quarter, and so on. Whatever you like (science, army,
archaeology, Real Madrid) you can go there and be back in time.

Please remember that you'll have to go through customs, I really have no
idea how much it will take you, it's usually a breeze for me. Planes from
israil also arrive to T4S, and you have to take a train to the main
terminal, T4, which takes ~ 15 mins. The the plane to Granada takes usually
from T4 and usually from one of the ends, that's 10 minutes from security,
and security also takes a while... All in all, 90-120 minutes from boarding
gate and back is a reasonable amount, leaving you more than 3 hours to
visit Madrid.

Cheers

JJ
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