# Madrid Dopers:(Or Travelers)I have a 17 hour layover in Spain next week: What to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madrid-dopers-or-travelers-i-have-a-17-hour-layover-in-spain-next-week-what-to-do/304243 "2005-05-17T14:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madrid-dopers-or-travelers-i-have-a-17-hour-layover-in-spain-next-week-what-to-do/304243/1 "2005-05-17T14:39:45Z")
So I have a really long layover in Spain next Tuesday. I’ll be landing at 7:10am on the 24th, and departing just after midnight. I plan to get a hotel of some sort just to have a place to take a shower, take a nap, and refresh. So I have a few questions: 1. Are there any decent day hotels in the area? Like a Howard Johnson Express? (I found one HoJo express, but it’s 20 minutes away, and not a cheap cab ride). Anything closer? (Or, any Dopers in the vicinity who would let a traveler drop an overnight bag off for a few hours? The shower is optional, and just a nice-to-have.) 2. What’s a decent restaurant near the airport to try? My funds are fairly limited, but I can’t see being in Spain and not trying out some authentic cuisine. It doesn’t need to be fancy - a homestyle type family restaurant kinda place would be perfect. 3. Since I’ll be wandering around anyway, what are some things in the area I should see? I only wish I had more time - I’ve always wanted to go to Spain, and now I only have a few hours to do anything in. But after being cooped up on a plane, I’m sure I’ll welcome a chance to do some walking around. 4. What’s the weather like in Spain right now? I plan on dressing for the flight in shorts and short sleeves. I’m imagining that should work for me in Madrid as well? 5. Anything else I should know? Thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madrid-dopers-or-travelers-i-have-a-17-hour-layover-in-spain-next-week-what-to-do/304243/2 "2005-05-17T14:55:33Z")
The metro there is really decent and goes to the airport and is very easy to use-- don’t limit yourself to the airport area, go on downtown. I have no idea about day hotels-- it doesn’t seem like a very Euro concept. Maybe there is some kind of American chain near the airport, however. I’d pop downtown and do the Prado and Thyssen-Bornessima if you like museums and air conditioning. Otherwise jump off father west and just walk around Sol and Plaza Major and such. Get a cup of chocolate somewhere and have tapas for supper, or go by one of the Patatas Bravas places (there’s a chain that’s ok-- might just be called “Bravas” or soemthing). I’m sure you can stick your bag in an airport locker-- I know the ones at Brussels are still open so I’m sure they are in Madrid. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madrid-dopers-or-travelers-i-have-a-17-hour-layover-in-spain-next-week-what-to-do/304243/3 "2005-05-17T15:00:05Z")
Ahhh airport lockers hadn’t even occured to me - it’s been so long since I’ve seen any that I completely forgot they might exist elsewhere. Thanks for the tip! ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madrid-dopers-or-travelers-i-have-a-17-hour-layover-in-spain-next-week-what-to-do/304243/4 "2005-05-17T16:10:07Z")
For a quick tour of Madrid , hop onto an open-top bus. You get three separate routes for the one ticket ( approx €12 ) you can get on or off when you like and there is a multi-language recorded commentary via headphones. These run all day , up till midnight, and you can cram a lot of Madrid in a short time with this method. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madrid-dopers-or-travelers-i-have-a-17-hour-layover-in-spain-next-week-what-to-do/304243/5 "2005-05-17T21:38:31Z")
I’m so thrilled - I just found out that Iberia Air offers a service called Madrid Amigo - which entitles me to transportation to a hotel, PLUS free day accomodations at said 4-star hotel. How cool is _that_? Once I’m showered, relaxed and ready to go again, I can hit up the open-top bus, which sounds like a great suggestion, so thanks! (And yes, must have tapas.)