What to do in Madrid over the October long weekend? The answer may be closer than you think. A few free days ahead, the first golden light of autumn and a city that, at last, slows down: all it takes is stepping outside and looking at it with a little more calm. The Pilar long weekend falls on different dates every year, but the promise is always the same: time to enjoy the city without rushing. Here are ten plans to make it your own, and one more for when you want something to truly surprise you.
Plans with history
Stroll through the Madrid of the Austrias
Some neighbourhoods read like an old book. The Madrid of the Austrias still keeps the street layout of the Spanish Golden Age: narrow lanes that curve without warning, squares that appear out of nowhere, façades that have watched four centuries go by. Walk down through the Arco de Cuchilleros, peek into the Plaza de la Villa, let Calle Mayor carry you along. It’s a walk that works just as well for couples as for curious kids, and it’s at its best in the morning, when the light slants in and the city is still waking up.
Get lost in the Barrio de las Letras
Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Quevedo, Góngora. They all lived, wrote and even quarrelled within these few blocks. Today the Barrio de las Letras, the Literary Quarter, still feels a little like a literary gathering: bookshops, old taverns and fragments of verse set into the pavement of Calle Huertas. The funny thing is you end up walking with your eyes on the ground, looking for the next line. A relaxed plan for anyone who loves stories, and a different way of showing kids that literature has a postal address too.
Discover the Royal Botanical Garden in autumn
Just a step away from the bustle of the Paseo del Prado, there’s a place where time moves more slowly. The Real Jardín Botánico was born in the 18th century at the wish of King Charles III, and it still has the air of an Enlightenment garden: stepped terraces, greenhouses, little fountains and trees that have been watching the city for centuries. In autumn, the leaves begin to turn and the paths fill with ochres and golds. A quiet stroll for couples, or a way for kids to discover that you can play at being explorers right in the city centre.
Night tours, theatrical tours and legends and mystery walks
When the shops go dark, old Madrid changes its voice. Legends and mystery walks wind through corners like the Casa de las Siete Chimeneas (House of the Seven Chimneys), where they say a lady still appears at the window, and alleyways with stories best told in a whisper. Theatrical tours also turn the squares into a stage and the guides into characters from another era. It’s a plan for friends or couples with a little shiver to it that tastes especially good in October. Halloween in Madrid, really, starts here.
Go down to Andén 0, Chamberí’s ghost station
Few things feel as much like time travel as walking down a flight of stairs and finding a metro station frozen in another era. Andén 0, the old Chamberí station, has been closed to passengers for decades, but it keeps its tiled adverts, ticket booths and signs perfectly intact. Meanwhile, today’s trains rush past without stopping. It’s a short, surprising and very photogenic plan that tends to fascinate kids as much as adults.
As Halloween approaches, the station lives up to its nickname. Between late October and early November it often hosts themed decorations and theatrical visits, such as “El Andén de los Muertos” (The Platform of the Dead), where eerie characters guide visitors along the platform. Places are limited and booking is required, so it’s worth checking the programme well in advance.
Plans with flavour
A slow cocido madrileño
October brings the first hearty spoon dish of the season, and in Madrid that has a name of its own. Cocido, the city’s traditional chickpea stew, is served in stages: steaming soup first, then the chickpeas, the vegetables and the meats. It’s not a meal, it’s a ceremony. And like every ceremony, what matters is what happens around it: the conversation that stretches on, the sobremesa, that long after-lunch chat nobody wants to end. Book ahead at your favourite restaurant, find a big table and keep the afternoon free. Because after a good cocido, the last thing you’ll feel like doing is rushing.
Calamari sandwiches, churros and hot chocolate
Some flavours are pure Madrid. A calamari sandwich around the Plaza Mayor, eaten standing up, with crusty bread and chatter in the background, is almost a rite of passage for anyone visiting the city. And when the day starts to turn chilly, nothing comforts quite like thick hot chocolate with churros, the kind you drink from a small cup without looking at the clock. Two simple plans that need no booking or explanation, and suit any company.
Plans to see Madrid from another angle
Sunset on the Círculo de Bellas Artes rooftop or at Cibeles
Madrid makes more sense from above. From the rooftop of the Círculo de Bellas Artes, the rooftops blend into the domes and the Gran Vía lights up little by little as the sky shifts from orange to violet. The viewpoint at the Palacio de Cibeles offers another perspective, with the fountain and the Castellana axis at your feet. Arriving a little before sunset pays off. It’s the ultimate plan for couples, although among friends it also ends up being one of the best moments of the long weekend.
The 12 October parade
Every 12 October, Spain’s National Day, central Madrid becomes the stage for the big parade, usually along the Paseo de la Castellana. Some people watch from the pavement, with kids on their shoulders to see the units march past, while others wait above all for the moment the planes cross the sky trailing the colours of the flag. Get there early if you want a good spot. And even if parades aren’t your thing, that instant when everyone looks up at once is somehow contagious.
A day trip to Chinchón, Aranjuez or San Lorenzo de El Escorial
If on the last day of the long weekend you feel like a change of scenery without going too far, Madrid has three getaways that never disappoint. Chinchón and its arcaded square, which looks straight out of another century. Aranjuez and its gardens along the Tagus, dressed in ochres and golds in autumn. Or San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where the Royal Monastery built by order of Philip II in the 16th century stands out, austere and monumental, against the slopes of the Guadarrama mountains. Three ways to end the long weekend feeling like you’ve travelled far, even if you’re back in time for dinner at home.
The afternoon plan that surprises: the Museum of Illusions at Halloween
After so much history, so many flavours and so many views, maybe what you’re after is something that throws you off balance a little.
At the Museum of Illusions Madrid, nothing is what it seems. Optical illusions that trick the brain, immersive experiences that challenge your balance and photo illusions where you can appear to walk on the ceiling or shrink in just a few steps. How is that even possible? That’s exactly the question.
Throughout October, the museum dresses up for Halloween. The decorations add that eerie yet fun touch that turns every room into a little game of shadows and surprises.
And for the little ones there’s an extra treat: Halloween-themed kids’ workshops on October weekends, in the afternoon and included with admission. If your long weekend includes Saturday and Sunday, those afternoons are the best time to go with kids.
If you’re looking for things to do with kids in Madrid that adults will enjoy too, or one of those plans with friends in Madrid remembered for the photos and the laughter, this interactive museum in Madrid has plenty to say.
How to plan your long weekend in Madrid
Day one. Start with a walk through the Madrid of the Austrias and the Barrio de las Letras, stop for a calamari sandwich and save the afternoon for the Museum of Illusions; if it falls on a weekend and you’re going with kids, you’ll catch the Halloween workshops. In the evening, a legends and mystery walk.
Day two. A morning between the Royal Botanical Garden and Andén 0. Then a cocido madrileño with a long sobremesa. As evening falls, sunset on the Círculo de Bellas Artes rooftop or at Cibeles, and hot chocolate with churros to round it off.
Day three. If it falls on 12 October, the parade in the morning; if not, or if you fancy a change of air, a trip to Chinchón, Aranjuez or San Lorenzo de El Escorial to bid farewell to the long weekend outside the city.
The long weekend falls differently every year, so just move the pieces around: keep the museum for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and everything else will fall into place.
In the end, the best unique things to do in Madrid aren’t the ones that fill your schedule, but the ones that make you look twice. Three days go a long way.
And maybe far enough to be surprised all over again by the same old city.