Whenever I travel to a new city and I have the time, I love trying out different food tours. With food tours, visitors get a good sampling of the cuisine of a city and also get to find out about some really awesome local places. One of the best food tours in Madrid is by Secret Food Tours.
Disclaimer: Special thanks to Secret Food Tours for hosting me at several attractions on my trip to Madrid! As always, all thoughts and opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no cost to you!
TripAdvisor is a great place to start your hotel search. Search for the best Madrid hotels here! Or check out these hotels.
- Petit Palace Posada del Peine
- Hotel Indigo Madrid -Gran Via
- Thompson Madrid
- Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid
- JW Marriott Madrid
- Aloft Madrid Gran Via
- The Madrid EDITION
- DoubleTree Madrid-Prado
- Atocha Hotel Madrid
Table of Contents
Why Take the Best Food Tour in Madrid?
I love taking food tours when traveling to get a good sample of the local cuisine. I also get to find awesome places to eat at and recommend to other people when they visit. Another reason I love taking food tours is getting to meet and talk to a local who knows the area.
The only downside of food tours is that they can sometimes be expensive and can take up a lot of time if you are short on time. However, you usually get a lot of bang for your buck when taking a food tour, so that helps with the cost.
Secret Food Tours is one of the best food tours in Madrid because you get to visit a lot of places and you get a good sampling of local food and beverages. I really liked that this tour included many beverages as well.
How to Book a Secret Food Tour
It is super easy to book one of the best food tours in Madrid. Head to the Secret Food Tour website and find whatever city you are in. There, you select which day you would like to take your tour. From there, you can see how many spots are available and complete the booking information for your tour.
Some tours have the options for upgrades you can add at the time of booking as well. Once completed, you will be sent a confirmation email with more details.
Meeting Point for the Madrid Secret Food Tour
Once you book the best food tours in Madrid with Secret Food Tours, you will receive a confirmation email with information about where to meet. Our meeting point was at the Puerta del Sol near the “Oso y Madrono” statue, which was easily accessible by Metro.
Our guide got there about 5 minutes before the meeting time and carried an orange umbrella so we would know which guide was ours. Our guide Ariadna was amazing and very personable and friendly.
Embarking on the Secret Food Tour
Once you meet up with your guide, they will go over some introduction and a brief history of the area. This is also the time to let your guide know about any dietary restrictions. This best food tour in Madrid included 5 stops.
Throughout our 5 stops on this food tour, we sampled quite a bit of local cuisine including a local pastry, Iberian Ham, Manchego Cheese, Calamari Sandwich, and several local tapas options. The tour also included drinks such as Spanish cider, wine, liquor, hot chocolate (or coffee), vermouth, and beer.
I really liked that there was a variety of food and beverage items. The local pastry was the perfect option to start with and I really liked trying the different types of Iberian Ham and various tapas. My favorite drink was the local liquor.
You will have to walk between each stop, but the longest walk was maybe 10 minutes long. In between the stops, you will pass by Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, and the Teatro Real. The tour ends near the Teatro Real and the Opera metro, thus making it easy to get around once the tour is completed.
Final Thoughts on the Madrid Secret Food Tour
The Secret Food Tour was one of the best food tours in Madrid. I felt that they did a nice job mixing learning about the history of Madrid with the food of the area. I never felt we walked too much and always had plenty of time to sit and enjoy our food. We had an amazing guide who was friendly and answered all our questions.
I appreciated there were options for people with dietary restrictions. For example, I do not eat seafood, so I had a few options instead of a calamari sandwich. Although it is a bit pricey, you really got a lot for the price. I would definitely recommend Secret Food Tour as one of the best food tours in Madrid.
Transportation in Madrid
Public transportation is widely available, cheap, and easy to use in Madrid to get to the start of the food tour. You can opt to use the metro or use buses. I recommend getting a transportation card for the day which costs €8.50. You can buy these in the metro stations.
Where to Stay in Madrid
When visiting Madrid, you will want to stay near the Grand Via or Plaza Mayor. We opted to stay at the Petit Palace Posada del Peine which ended up being a great location.
Other Food Tours
If you are looking for other awesome food tour options or are visiting Chicago, Los Angeles, or Portland, you can read more about food tours in these cities with the following posts!
Downtown Los Angeles Food Tour
