Madrid

 Travel

I bought a tourist travel pass, which is a bit like an Oyster card and you load your ticket onto it. It may not be the cheapest way to travel, but I find it the easiest. Be aware that the tourist travel cards work on calendar days, not hours (Athens does 72hrs from validation of ticket for example). The metro is pretty regular, there is the odd charging point and you also get full mobile/4G signal everywhere on the metro. 

Food 

As usual as a solo traveller I get poorer service in restaurants than groups. It does mean sometimes I will go to a big chain because it's faster and easier. I fitted in Paella and Sangria though, so all was not lost on local cuisine.

Palaces

There are a couple of palaces to choose from including Cibeles and Palacio Real. I didn't go into either but they are very grand from the outside. At opening time the que for Palacio Real was already quite long.

Palacio Real

Almudena Cathedral 

This is next to Palacio Real and from the dome roof you can see into the palace courtyard. I paid €7 for entry to the museum and dome, although entry to just the Cathedral is free. You can't take photos in the museum. There are laminated guides to explain what is there because all the labels are in Spanish. There are a lot of intricate and beautiful artefacts to see as you walk around. You can walk around outside the dome and the panoramic views of Madrid are worth the effort. The Cathedral itself is nice, I get the impression it's relatively modern.

Basilica San Francisco

This is free to enter, but I think has shorter opening hours than the Cathedral. The artwork inside is amazing and the ceiling is just incredible. It was absolutely worth the visit. 

Jardines del Buen Retiro

I bailed on going to the botanical gardens because I didn't want to pay the entry fee. However, the park is just behind it. The park has lots of paths and water features, including a boating lake. There's also lots of places to sit and eat in the park. Unfortunately the weather during my visit wasn't great, but on a sunny day it really would be worth a longer visit.

Sol

This is a very busy area, with lots of shops and restaurants. It has some significant statues, but is mostly shopping. Plaza Mayor is also another significant place to visit that's a short walk from here, with some grand buildings and historic importance.

Plaza Mayor

Prado Museum

Be prepared to que to get in, although it was a bit better earlier in the day. There is a free cloakroom - you can't take water in, but you can leave it in your bag in the cloakroom. I hid from the rain by looking at paintings for most of the day. It's a big museum with lots to see - from Picasso to Rafael and Rembrandt. I even discovered a copy of the Mona Lisa, so I learnt something too.

La Vuelta 

The final stage in Madrid involved 10 circuits of some of the main streets. I was stood in the same spot for several hours, all to see the cyclists fly past in a few seconds.

Sweet Space Museum

I found this through Google and decided to give it a try. It's in a quiet shopping mall and is a contemporary art museum on the theme of sweets. It has 10 rooms designed by different artists and you get given a sweet as you enter some of them. It's the kind of place that's good to go if you want to take selfies for your socials. Was different but fun to go to, so I would recommend it, but I think it would be better for a group rather than solo as the staff are very hands off.

Puerta de Europe

This is a pair of towers leaning towards each other, with a giant golden pole and a sculpture which are quite photogenic, although there's not much else nearby to do.