Is Madrid Expensive?

Is Madrid Expensive? Rough Costs

As someone accustomed to the high prices of London, New York and Paris, Madrid felt somewhat cheaper. Madrid is still more expensive than European destinations like Bulgaria or Poland and notably more expensive than other parts of Spain too.

Food and Drink

• A glass of wine is £2 to £4.30 (€2.32 to €5).This will be a generous glass and normally include a free tapa.
• A caña of beer is £2 to £3 (€2.32 to €3.49). A caña is 150 to 200 millimetres. Drinking at a nightclub will be more expensive, up to around £4.30 (€5) for a bottle of beer.
• A cup of coffee is £1.20 to £2.60 (€1.39 to €3.02). The smaller price is for a local cafe, the latter is for something more trendy.
• A meal at a fast food restaurant can be as little as £8 (€9.30), including a soft drink.
• A meal at a typical restaurant is more like £16 to £22 (€18.60 to €25.57), assuming you have one alcoholic drink.

Pro Tip: Pupusería Madrid Rio Grande Atocha is one of the cheapest and BEST places to eat out in the city. It’s road-side location leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s authentic El Salvadorian pupusas are the best we’ve had outside of Central America.

Accommodation

• The very cheapest Airbnb you’ll find, assuming you want a private place and not a shared room, is around £45 (€52) per night. These prices are only available if you book well in advance.
• However, most Airbnbs cost substantially more than that, from £90 to £130 (€105 to €151) per night.
• A cheap hostel is around £35 (€40) per night.
• The cheapest hotels start at around £55 (€64) per night. That assumes you’re booking well in advance and don’t mind being out of the centre.
• Most hotels are £99 (€115) per night or more.

Travelling Around Madrid on the Metro

• • It’s £2.17 (€2.50) for a Public Transport Card, which you’ll need if you want to use the Metro. Two people can travel on one card.
  • A single ride is £1.30 (€1.50) and you can buy ten rides for £10.60 (€12).
  • The Metro connects with the airport and at €4.50 for a ride into the centre of Madrid, it normally works out cheaper than a taxi.
  • The Metro is a cheap, safe and convenient way to travel around Madrid! I’d recommend trying to find accommodation that’s close to a Metro station.

Daily Spending Budget for a Trip to Madrid

Budget around £100 to £120 per person per night, not including the cost of getting there and back. This is assuming a shorter trip which does work out more expensive on a per day basis as you’ll want to pack more activities in. Hardcore budgeters could reduce this substantially by couchsurfing. If you’re looking to splurge, you could easily pay substantially more.

For our most recent trip to Madrid, in October 2022, we spent £1,934. That was for a twelve-night stay for two people, working out at £80.57 (€96.34) per person per day. 

Is Madrid more Expensive than it used to be for British Tourists?

Our 2022 trip to Madrid worked out more expensive than our trip in 2019. So that you can get an idea of how much prices have increased, I’ve included our spending from the 2019 trip below:

• Accommodation (three nights in a private apartment): €267 total (€133.50 per person) 
• Transport in Madrid by Metro: €15.25
• Cost of eating breakfast out: €14
• Cost of eating lunches out: €15
• Cost of eating dinners out: €30
• Money spent on coffee and snacks: €4.75
• Money spent on wine and beer: €9.25
• Money spent on activities: €11
• Total spend: €232
• Average cost per day: €77

As you can see, our most recent trip was almost €20 per day more expensive! A lot of the price increase came from our accommodation, which we booked on Airbnb. Our most recent Airbnb in October 2022 was substantially more expensive than the one we booked in 2019 and it was worse both in terms of the space itself and the location. It feels as though the days of cheap Airbnb stays are long gone and now the pricing is similar if not worse than hotel pricing.

Is Madrid More Expensive than other European Capital Cities?

Based on my experience of having visited London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Sofia and Lisbon fairly recently, I’d say that Madrid is still cheaper than most of the capital cities I’ve just mentioned, but not by as much as it used to be. Sofia is definitely cheaper and Lisbon might be cheaper, though it’s pretty close.

What’s the Cost of Visiting Art Galleries in Madrid?

Madrid is among the best cities in the world for arts and culture. But unlike Vienna or San Francisco, where ticket prices are eye-wateringly expensive, many of the best art galleries in Madrid are free to enjoy at certain times of day. If you’re a culture vulture, don’t miss the big three:

• Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofía (famous for Picasso’s Guernica)
• Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (which has a number of masterpieces)
• Museo Del Prado (including paintings by Goya)

When are Madrid’s Art Galleries Free?

The Reina Sofia is free from 7-9PM on Monday and Wednesday to Saturday. It’s also free on Sunday from 1:30PM-7PM.

The Thyssen has free entry on Monday between 12PM-4PM. 

The Museo Del Prado is free from 6PM-8PM on Tuesday to Saturday, and it’s free from 3PM-8PM on Sunday. The art galleries are also free on some public holidays. 

If you time it right, you shouldn’t have to pay anything for entry to the three best art galleries in Madrid!

Is a Flamenco Show in Madrid Expensive?

Madrid may not be as strongly associated with flamenco as Granada, but if you’ve never seen flamenco before I’d highly recommend the experience! 

We saw a flamenco show one evening at the intimate La Cueva de Lola, which felt (to us at least) like a very authentic atmosphere. The guitarist and all three dancers were extremely talented and you get to see the spirit of flamenco up close. Tickets start at €25 per person, though discounts and special offers are available if you seek them out.

Other Free Things To Do in Madrid

If you’ve already visited the main art galleries mentioned above, as well as the beautiful Parque Retiro (which is close to both the Museo Del Prado and the Thyssen), then you may be wondering what else there is to see in Madrid. 

Fortunately, many of the sights worth seeing are reasonably close together and can be seen by a 5.7 kilometre stroll along the Manzanares river. If you’re not used to walking or short on time, you can just do the shorter stretch from the Temple of Debod to the Catedral de la Almudena. The walk includes the following sights:

• Temple of Debod – a reconstructed ancient Egyptian Temple
• The Sabatini Gardens – for the best views of the Royal Palace
• The Royal Palace of Madrid – entry isn’t free, but you can see plenty from outside
• The Catedral de la Almudena – typically brilliant Spanish cathedral
• The Park Madrid Rio – a charming riverside park
• Matadero Madrid – a reclaimed slaughterhouse which is now a cultural and arts centre

What’s the Cost of Drinks and Nights Out in Madrid?

One of the main reasons to come to Madrid is to enjoy the tapas scene! In many places it’s still the custom to get free food with your drinks, usually olives, crisps, cheese, nuts or bread with tomato. Despite this, drinking is still relatively cheap! If tapas sounds like your scene and you happen to be in Madrid in October, don’t miss the Tapapies street festival, which celebrates all things tapas. 

A small glass of wine or a small bottle of beer (usually Estrella) typically costs about €2.50. Our favourite place to drink is Bendito’s natural wine bar in Lavapiés. Bendito’s is a natural wine bar inside a reclaimed market space and it’s popular with a hipster crowd, so the few available seats don’t last long into the evening.

For less traditional cultural activities, check out either Café Berlín or Sala Equis. Café Berlín is a nightclub, but during the evening they put on live music and we were lucky enough to catch a lively Caribbean funk band. Sala Equis used to be an x-rated cinema, but the space has been regenerated into a buzzing bar. Check ahead of your visit if you’d like to catch an art-house film.

How Much Does it Cost to Fly to Madrid?

We typically don’t include the cost of getting to a place when we do this kind of post because we have readers from all over the world and getting to Madrid from Barcelona is a lot cheaper than getting to Madrid from Buenos Aires. For completeness’ sake, a low-cost return flight from London to Madrid is about €90.

Cheap Flights Tip! We use Skyscanner to check prices and book our flights. When you search on Skyscanner, select “full month” to see which dates have the lowest prices.

Let us know if we missed anything in the comments below! Have you had a trip to Madrid recently? How much did it cost?