De Mercados
A Neighborhood Market and Food Tour
De Mercados:
A Neighborhood Market and Food Tour
Tour Description
This is the Madrid dream day: start with churros and hot chocolate, take a Spanish-style wander and have a drink in your hand by noon!
For 2.5 hours, we’ll eat and drink our way through one of Madrid’s most iconic neighborhoods, Malasaña. Throughout the morning we’ll feast on all the foods that Spain is most famous for from the artisans that specialize in them.
First up is a celebratory breakfast at the neighborhood churrería (a churro bakery). Next, we’ll stroll through the barrio (neighborhood) and stop at the neighborhood’s historic charcuterie shop to taste the crown jewel of Spanish products: cured Iberian ham!
Next, we’ll pop into the city’s top olive oil store for a special tasting of Spain’s “liquid gold.” Then we are off to the neighborhood’s fresh foods market. Here you’ll meet Daniel, a third-generation fruit and veggie guru; Gemma, the resident artesanal cheese expert; Roberto, our favorite olive vendor; and many more local characters.
We'll finish the day with a hearty tapas lunch and drinks at Pedro and Carlos’s bar where they, like their father before them, source all of their ingredients from within the market. Here you also get plenty of tips and recommendations for the rest of your stay in Spain. Come hungry!
Includes
Meet one of us - your food-obsessed neighborhood guides - and start firing away with your Spanish food questions.
Discover the neighborhood in a small group. Our public tours have a maximum of just 8 guests!
Taste all of Spain’s most famous flavors in one epic morning.
Start the day off right at a neighborhood churrería (churro café) for a classic Madrid desayuno (breakfast) - coffee included!
Walk through two and a half centuries of Madrid’s history.
Meet passionate people who are preserving traditional Spanish food culture.
Shop for the best olive oil, local produce, olives, and more at our favorite fresh food market (tastings of all these items are included with your experience!).
Round out the day with the greatest hits of Spanish tapas like tortilla aka Spanish omelet, pincho moruno pork skewers and Madrid’s iconic gambas al ajillo aka sizzling garlic shrimp.
Get personalized, insider tips for enjoying the rest of your time in Madrid or wherever your Spain journey takes you!
What this malasaña neighborhood market and Food Tour looks like:
What People Say About This Experience:
Request a Private Food Tour
Our De Mercados: Neighborhood Market and Food Tour is also available as a private tour for just your group or family. Our minimum number of guests for a private tour is 2 people. We aim to reply to every request within 24 hours!
If you would prefer to join our public tour and meet fellow travelers, you can book your spot through our booking calendar. We keep our public tour groups very small with a max of 8 guests!
FAQs
-
Yes, our market food tour is fully adaptable for a vegetarian diet! Spain is famous for its cheeses, olives, breads, and vegetable-based dishes, all of which you’ll try on this experience.
There is no better place to explore the tastiest vegetarian dishes in Madrid than at a traditional fresh food market. Just let us know you’d prefer a vegetarian menu while completing your booking and we’ll take care of the rest!
-
Yes! We often welcome guests who are celiac onto our tours. We do our best to ensure that every taste we serve is completely gluten free by working very closely with our restaurant partners and chefs. We have crafted celiac protocols with each tasting stop to make sure that guests who are gluten sensitive or celiac can safely take our tours!
While some of the stops we visit serve gluten, we have designed a gluten free menu at each stop that minimizes the risk of cross-contamination as much as possible.
Please let us know in your booking if you are celiac so we can speak with each bar in advance and plan for a gluten-free menu!
-
Definitely! Many solo travelers join our De Mercados tour to meet new people and share food experiences. It’s a welcoming and social environment. This food tour is also a great way to taste a wide variety of dishes! Most restaurants serve food as sharing plates designed to be shared amongst 3-4 people. By joining our De Mercados tour you’ll be able to taste at least 12 different dishes in just one morning!
-
Yes. The tour involves walking through the local market and nearby streets. Walking distances are short and the pace is relaxed, with plenty of stops along the way for food and drinks!
-
A lot! By the end of the tour, you’ll have enjoyed the equivalent of breakfast and lunch.
Our Neighborhood Market and Food Tour includes tastings at 7 stops (including 4 in the neighborhood market) where you’ll taste at least 12 different foods along with 2 drinks (3 if you count coffee and 4 if you count the hot chocolate you’ll dip your churros in!). As we always say, come hungry!!
-
The most famous market in Madrid is Mercado San Miguel, which is located right next to Plaza Mayor in the very center of historic Madrid. We don’t visit that market on this experience as it is more of a food hall than a traditional market where people living in the neighborhood do their shopping.
On our De Mercados: Neighborhood Market and Food Tour you’ll visit the Mercado Barceló. This fresh food market is brimming with green grocers, butchers, fish mongers and olive sellers each of whom are experts in their products.
On our tour we introduce you not only to the products that Spain is most famous for, but also to the people behind them! On this experience you’ll get a true taste of everyday life in Madrid while tasting the highest quality products in town.