For a city hundreds of kilometres from the sea, Madrid has a strange devotion to fried squid. The bocadillo de calamares — a crusty roll packed with rings of battered calamari — is the capital's great street snack, best eaten standing up at a bar near Plaza Mayor with a beer and zero ceremony. It is a fitting introduction to a food scene that is hearty, unfussy and proudly old-fashioned.
The dishes that define Madrid
Cocido madrileño is the big one: a slow-cooked chickpea stew served in courses, first the broth as soup, then the chickpeas and vegetables, then the meats. La Bola has been making it in the same copper pots for over a century. Callos a la madrileña, a rich tripe stew with chorizo and morcilla, is not for the faint-hearted but is pure Madrid. For something simpler, huevos rotos — fried eggs broken over potatos and jamón — never disappoints.
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Markets, bars and a very old chocolate shop
The Mercado de San Miguel near Plaza Mayor is touristy but fun for grazing. For churros con chocolate, Chocolatería San Ginés has been frying them since 1894 and is open absurdly late — the traditional end to a Madrid night out. And no visit is complete without a few tapas crawls around La Latina, especially along Cava Baja, on a Sunday.
Getting to Madrid
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas (MAD) is around twenty minutes from the centre outside rush hour, and the city is also the hub of Spain's high-speed rail network, with AVE trains arriving into Atocha from Seville, Barcelona and beyond. A private transfer from the airport or station drops you at your door, ready for that first calamari sandwich. Book a Madrid transfer or browse our private transfers in Madrid.
