We make our way to the Almudena Cathedral, a Catholic Church consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. You will also see the Museo de la Catedral de la Almudena, a museum that is part of the church.
Along the Calle Mayor we will see the Plaza de la Villa we will see the Plaza de la Villa, one of Madrid’s best-preserved monuments. Located in the historical zone next to the Puerta del Sol Gate it is one of the main medieval centres of Madrid.
Next we will visit the Muslim Walls of Madrid, also known as the Arab Walls, located on the road Cuesta de la Vega. The walls are probably the oldest construction surviving in the city, and their construction is linked to the origin of Madrid.
After this we will walk along the Calle Mayor, a centric street in Madrid starting in the Puerta de Sol and ending at the Cuesta de la Vega. Created in the Middle ages, this road became the main thoroughfare of the city in the Early Modern Period.
Afterwards you will see the Arco de Cuchilleros, a well-known historical archway with stairs leading to the 16th century Plaza Mayor, arguably the most famous plaza in Marid. Well-known historical archway with stairs leading to the prominent, 16th-century Plaza Mayor.
You will then walk through La Latina, a historic neighbourhood in the centre of downtown Madrid. The area occupies much of the oldest section of Madrid and is filled with small narrow streets for you to explore.
A major marketplace during the 13th and 14th century, Plaza de la Paja is known for its crowed streets pulsing with life. However, one can find small moments of serenity in the most surprising places.
Plaza de los Carros is a nice little square with a lovely fountain. Here you can enjoy a nice drink and and take in the buzzing atmosphere.
Following on you will then see the Plaza de Puerta Cerrada, located in the La Latina neighbourhood of the historic center of the Spanish city of Marid. Built on a medieval Islamic fort, the La Latina neighbourhood is city’s oldest and one of its liveliest.
Getting to the end of our tour, we will visit Puerta del Sol, a bustling square in the center of Madrid and one of the city’s most famous sites. It is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads and also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year.
Afterwards you will visit the Mercado San Miguel, located in the heart of the city centre, next to the historic Plaza Mayor. This historic market is not only considered beautiful but is full of food from all around the country.
We will then head to Plaza Mayor, a grand arcaded square in the centre of Madrid. First build during the Habsburg period of Philipp III’s reign, it was once the centre of old Madrid, and is very popular with locals and tourists alike today.
Following, you will see the Real Casa de Postas, an administrative building, neoclassical in style which was the home to the telegraph service offices of the National Police force until it was bought by Madrid’s Regional Government in 1985.
After a break for lunch, Since the royal family only uses it for official receptions, the Royal Palace and its over 3000 rooms are open to the public. Your engaging guide will show you the famous main staircase, designed by Sabatini, which includes over 70 steps. You’ll head into the Throne Room, and admire the ceiling painted by Tiepolo, and the Hall of Alabarderos, dedicated to the palace guards. You will be able to enjoy along the way artists such as Goya, Mengs or Giaquinto, and even take a close look at the symbols of the Spanish monarchy: the crown and the scepter.You will also discover a complete set of stringed instruments made by the legendary Antonio Stradivari. After visiting all of the rooms available to you, you’ll have walked in the footsteps of royalty, experiencing Madrid at its most elegant.
Our guide, Rosita, was fabulous. She was so knowledgeable of Spanish history and art. Her charismatic character provided us with an exceptional tour. We learned so much without feeling like it was a lecture on Spanish history. Her English was perfect so there was no language barrier. I would recommend her to everyone.
Rosita was an excellent tour guide. Very informative & personable. She gave us a lot of the country’s history & had pictures to help guide us. Highly recommend!
Sean was fantastic! Friendly and extremely knowledgeable. His insights and background really enhanced the tour
David was a great guide. The experience from beginning to end was highly engaging.
Michele was the most knowledgeable person on history I have ever met. I left the tour with a real compassion for Spanish history. Thank you so much for a 5 star experience
Our guide, Jaime was excellent. He provided us with important historical details and context so that we really appreciated what we saw.
Great guide very informative and fun Jake was very easy-going and interesting. A great storyteller and historian. Highly recommended.
We did the Royal Palace & Old City guided tour with Isabella. The tour was a really pleasurable experience going round different areas of the old town and being transported through time to all the different influences that make up the modern capital city. Our guide was Isabella who was both extremely knowledgeable on the various topics and showed great warmth and passion for the culture and history she was sharing. She also showed great patience with all the questions we were asking and gave really interesting and in depth answers. Overall an interesting and engaging experience and one that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a solid grounding on the history of Madrid up to the modern era.
What a great tour! Our guide took us on a tour of the city in the morning and explained where we were physically within the city as well as the historical significance of the sites we saw. Then we broke for lunch, and she gave us good advice on where to eat for delicious jamón sandwiches. We then met her back at the palace for a guided tour of the beautiful building. She filled us in on Spain's recent history and politics, which was fascinating. For the morning tour, there were eight people, and for the afternoon there were just three of us, so it was great to have a focused, small group tour. Highly recommend this!
Isabella was a wonderful Tour Guide. She paid close attention to the needs of the group and answered all questions. She did a great job of telling us about the history of Madrid and Spain overall as we wound our way through the city. She also did a wonderful job of orienting us geographically as to where we were at each point in the city. Because we also took the Palace Tour with her, she recommended where to eat between the two tours. We ate at Museo de Jamon in Plaza Mayor, and the sandwiches were delicious! I highly recommend the tour with Babylon Tours, and especially with Isabella!
Isabella was amazing. Wonderful attitude and very knowledgeable. Strongly recommend this tour. We did it on our last day In Madrid, Day 1 would have been better because Isabella, should us so many things about Madrid.
Fernando is an amazing tour guide. He is interesting to listen to and he clearly loves Madrid and history. We highly recommend him!
I did a Palacio Real tour with David and the Prado Museum tour with Angel the following day. Both were fantastic—highly informative and entertaining. They have plenty of experience, and it really shows. 100% recommended!
My tour was very fascinating and time went by quick. My tour guide Ana was super nice and fun throughout it all. Would definitely recommend.
David was a professional, patient and well prepared guide! We learned a lot from him while enjoying the beautiful Madrid. Highly recommend it.
We booked the Royal Palace of Madrid and really loved the tour. Our guide, Ana, was very professional, knowledgeable, warm, and had a good sense of humor. I appreciated Ana’s depth of knowledge and how she made connections to the art, culture, and history of Spain. The personalized service and quickly getting us past the lines was wonderful.
Excellent! Our tour guide, David, was superb! He was very informative and passionate about the history of the palace!!
A wonderful way to see and become familiar with Old Madrid and its history. Our guide was passionate and engaging. We covered a lot of subject matter and the time flew by. Highly recommend this tour and loved our guide Isabella.
We booked combo walking tour and Palace tour. Had Alphonso as our guide. Morning walking tour we were the only ones so we had a private tour. Afternoon had a few people join us for Palace tour. Alphonso was a wealth of knowledge, very personable and a great tour guide. Highly recommended.
My husband and I are in Madrid, Spain for four days and decided to take a semi-private tour of the Royal Palace. We wound up being the only guests. Ana M. was our tour guide. She was incredible - very knowledgeable about the artifacts and history of Spain. She also went out of her way to make sure the tour was fun and interesting. The Royal Palace is beautiful - really amazing to see. We learned a lot and really enjoyed the visit. I’ve taken many tours over the years; this definitely ranks among the best.
The palace is incredible and David was a wonderful tour guide. The architecture, artwork, and history of the entire site and current palace are very interesting and well explained by our guide.
Wonderful tour with Ana, who was a font of information. She obviously loves her city, its history and its art. We used all of the 5 1/2 hours and didn’t waste a minute.
Loved this tour! Beatriz was very knowledgeable and made this tour fun! We felt like we were able to step back in time with all of her “special “ bits information about the Palace and its history!
This is a fantastic tour if you have the energy and limited time to see the city. We had a great time with Beatriz on our tour. As big as the Royal Palace was she managed to navigate us through the larger tours and explain our great points of interests that there is no way we would have known had we done a self guided tour. I do wish that the palace limited the size of the other tours as sometimes it felt like a train was running through the palace, but Beatriz knew how to deal with the crowds ery well. The tour of the old city was frankly just as good, if not better, than the royal palace as her passion for the city really showed. Pointing out how well the old and ‘new’ parts of the city meshed together. We managed to hit all of the touristy areas as well as some great local spots. We throughly enjoyed both tours and highly recommend Beatriz as your guide. Just remember to wear comfortable shoes!
Isabel our guide was fantastic. She was very knowledgeable and interesting in sharing the history. Great at adjusting the tour to our group. Highly recommend.
The tour guide, Beatriz, was wonderful. She explained the history and culture in engaging and entertaining ways. Her English was excellent and gave us some great travel tips. Highly recommend
My husband and I very much enjoyed this private tour with Marta. She is very knowledgeable, answers all your questions and does not rush things. Having Marta guide you explaining the details about the Palace and the Old City, as well as their history makes you feel like you're going back in time creating an unforgettable experience. This is a max. 8 person tour but my husband and I ended up being the only two due to a late cancelation from another customer. Having a small group, in this case just us two, is worth every penny and makes the experience much more memorable.
Jaime was an informative and knowledgeable guide. He explained many aspects of the palace and the history of the Spanish Royal Family. During the city tour he was equally knowledgeable of the history of the city. An enjoyable day out exploring.
My husband and I absolutely enjoyed our tour of the Palacio Real de Madrid followed by the Old City Tour. From a skip the line ticket into the palace, we were given an incredibly in depth tour of the palace- incorporating the history of Spain and Madrid, the art and architecture, as well as the cultural changes through the centuries, all through the lens of the palace. It was delightful to have such a well informed and knowledgeable guide, and to have such a small group (we could ask as many questions as we wanted without feeling like we were hogging the guide!). After the palace, Marta showed us around older districts of Madrid that we hadn't visited before. She recommended an absolutely delicious restaurant for lunch, then off for the second portion of the tour. Since it was just us, she tailored the walking tour to what we were interested in. Whenever we had a question about something, she would take us in a new direction to answer it. It was an absolute pleasure to go on this tour!
We did the city tour with Sebastian and the Royal Palace tour with Ana. Both guides were very engaging and added a lot to our appreciation of the sites. These tours give you a much deeper insight into the history and meaning of all the many neighborhoods, buildings and works of art in a big cultural and historically abundant city like Madrid. Recommended!
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