10 Things to Do in Madrid in September

September is the month of calm and the return to normality: summer vacations are over, the heat begins to subside, children go back to school and people return to their jobs.

The cultural agenda is renewed to welcome autumn, with a wide range of events, concerts, temporary exhibitions and art shows all over the city. Ready to get started? Madrid: here we go!

During the month, several local and European soccer championships are held, so checking the dates is a good way to get to know the impressive Santiago Bernabeu stadium, home of the Real Madrid team, which offers guided tours open to the general public throughout the year.

The visit includes, among other things, a panoramic view of the stadium and a tour of the team's museum.

Useful information

• Price: tours available from €12.
• Opening hours: open every day of the year, except 25 December and 1 January. Monday to Friday from 9:30 am to 7:00 pm, Sundays and holidays from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm.
• Address: Av. de Concha Espina 1, 28036 Madrid.

September is a great month to cycle around Madrid. Temperatures drop and the atmosphere is much cooler, so a bike tour is a good idea if you want to get to know the city with other travelers and with the company of an expert local guide.

With costs starting at 25€, you can find bike tours with an approximate duration of 3 hours and with which you can visit the best known places in Madrid, plus some secret and not so touristy corners that the guides know.

Some of the places that may be included in this type of tours are:

• El Retiro Park.
• Cibeles Square.
• Puerta del Sol.
• Plaza Mayor.
• Royal Palace of Madrid.

And many more!

The "Art Triangle", which is also known as the "Golden Triangle", is the area where the three main museums of Madrid are located, which are:

• Museo Reina Sofìa: if you are a fan of contemporary art, you cannot miss the opportunity to appreciate the work of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Miró, Francis Bacon, Juan Gris or Yves Klein. Here you will find a permanent exhibition with more than twenty thousand works by legendary painters and artists in terms of modern and contemporary art.
• Museo del Prado: inside the PradoMuseum lies the work of great world-class painters such as Goya, Velázquez, Tiziano, El Greco, Rubens and Bosch, as well as other important European painters from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It is also on the list of the best museums in the world.
• Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: located in the center of Paseo del Prado, its collection covers seven centuries of the history of universal painting. The collection is displayed chronologically exhibiting works by Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec among others. Also explore the wonderful journey through German impressionism and post-impressionism, one of the strengths of the museum.

If your idea is to visit Madrid for 5 days or more, a good idea is to enjoy the autumn that begins to explore Sierra Oeste, a town located less than an hour's drive from the Community of Madrid. In this place you can discover an important historical heritage, as well as relax in a very quiet rural environment.

Among the many tourist experiences offered by Sierra Oeste, during the month of September you can also enjoy the Brillante Festival, a musical event with local and international artists.

Other excursions you can do from the capital are:

• Escape to Toledo: this is one of the most demanded excursions, as Toledo is only an hour's drive from Madrid and is a perfect opportunity to get to know its beautiful old town.
• Visit to Cuenca: you still don't know the famous hanging houses? Take advantage of your passage through Madrid to continue discovering the treasures of the Spanish territory. In this case, the trip takes almost two hours.
• Excursion to Segovia: also, just over an hour from Madrid is the beautiful city of Segovia with its famous aqueduct and its delicious suckling pig.
• Tour of Alcalá de Henares: and if you want to learn more about Miguel de Cervantes and his work, this is the excursion for you.

Especially if you visit Madrid in September with children, this is an activity you can not miss. In August, this theme park is crowded, but the good thing is that the following month the influx of people decreases greatly, thus being able to climb more times to the attractions and avoiding tedious queues.

The Warner Park in Madrid, with a total of 35 attractions, officially opened to the public in 2022 and receives each year about 2 million people. It is divided into 5 zones each set in different scenarios and movies of Warner Bros. and DC Comics, but also in different landscapes of the United States such as New York or California.

I recommend that you dedicate a full and exclusive day to the Park, starting your adventure in the morning, as it requires a lot of energy and you will end up exhausted (because in this type of activities you walk a lot).

If you visit the city in September, I recommend you:

• Dcode Festival: since 2011, it has been held in the first weeks of September in various spaces of the Complutense University of Madrid. Artists such as The Cardigans, Queen of the Stone Age, Enrique Bumbury, Vetusta Morla and many more have participated in this event.
• Jardín de las Delicias Festival: you can't miss the "window to the Spanish music scene", which is usually held the last weekend of September at the Cantarranas venue of the Complutense University of Madrid.

You can buy your tickets for each day or for the whole weekend on the festival's official website. There are several Spanish bands that have started their way to notoriety in this event such as Izal, Rozalén, Dani Fernández. Álvaro de Luna, Miss Cafeína, among others.

In September, the attention in Spain is focused on cycling. After 21 difficult days, Madrid is the stage that welcomes the cyclists participating in the Vuelta a España, after a tough competition to win the "red jersey" that will indicate the leader of the general classification.

The first version of the Tour was held in 1935, with a route arranged in 14 stages and 3431 kilometers in total. This sporting festival closes with a flourish at the classic podium located in the heart of Plaza Cibeles, which brings together locals and visitors in a street celebration in the best Madrid style.

For a closer experience, you can also check out the options of several tour operators that offer guided tours before the final lap through the most important streets of the area. A tour that will take you to learn more about the noble sport, where you can have your picture taken at the finish line and on the final podium, as well as enjoy privileged places to watch the race.

Useful information

• Because it is a busy event that goes through several areas of the city, I recommend you to study the route beforehand, so you can choose a good place.
• Remember to arrive early. To enjoy the event without crowds, it is key to get a good place to see the cyclists comfortably. It is not a bad idea to get a stool or folding chair to enjoy the ride comfortably.
• Prepare your camera and carry a good battery charge for your cell phone. This is a good opportunity to take amazing pictures of your favorite athletes and the festive atmosphere of the city.
• Locate the emergency exits and medical assistance stations. Follow the safety instructions at each point.

Since 2009 and during a weekend in September, the association of galleries Arte Madrid, organizes Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend, an event that promotes a tour of free exhibitions in the art galleries of the capital.

This activity also includes within its programming guided tours of the participating galleries, as well as tours in the public space of Madrid so you can appreciate the works of art located in the streets, squares and buildings of the capital.

If you like the plan of museums and galleries during your travels, I recommend you download the Arte Madrid app, so you can find out about the programming and activities available during your visit to the city.

This is a plan organized by the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage of the city, which has two editions each year: from April to June and from September to December. In it you can enjoy free tours around Madrid to learn about the diverse cultural and historical heritage of the city.

Each season, the tours are updated, to adjust them to the weather and to include new stops of interest to the public. Some of the places that are included in these guided tours by experts in history and heritage are the Hexagons Pavilion, Buen Retiro Gardens, Paseo del Prado and more.

Check the schedule of the tours upon your arrival in the city and do not miss this plan that can be the perfect complement to the visits you make to the best museums in Madrid.

Of all there is to see and do in Madrid there is also room for fans of the digital environment, augmented or virtual reality, holography and interactive experiences. All this you can enjoy in a visit toMAD - Madrid Artes Digitales, a revolutionary center of digital cultural development, pioneer in this type of facilities in Europe.

Here, art merges with science to offer throughout the year, immersive multimedia productions in large format. A novel experience that you can not miss, so I recommend you buy your tickets in advance.

Useful information

• Prices: the cost of the ticket varies depending on the exhibition you want to see and can be around 10€ approximately.
• Hours: Monday to Sunday from 10:00 to 22:00 hours.
• Address: Matadero Madrid, Nave 16. Plaza de Legazpi 8, 28045, Madrid.

In the month of September Vogue Spain organizes an event called Vogue Fashion's Night Out (VFNO). The first edition was held in 2009, as a reaction to the strong economic recession that Spain experienced.

The event transforms the elegant Salamanca neighborhood into a fashion catwalk, and in which clothing and accessories stores in the area take the opportunity to offer the public sales and previews of seasonal trends, amid a chic atmosphere and some champagne.

The event also has an agenda of conferences with experts from the fashion industry, as well as musical concerts. Tickets for this event have an approximate cost of 35€.

The summer in Madrid can be very strong, so traveling in September is the best alternative if you want to still enjoy sunny days but with lower temperatures and with maximums that do not exceed 30 ° C. Although in September the city starts to fill up with tourists, you can tour the city more quietly with temperatures between 15 ° / 26 ° C.