I did two different tours with Devour during my trip to Madrid…read more The first was the Madrid Prado Museum Tour & VIP Botin Lunch. I highly recommend this if you are interested in a streamlined visit to the Prado really highlighting and focusing on particular noteworthy works. This worked well for me because I'm not as familiar with some of the artists whose work are showcased here, and I learned A LOT by taking this tour. You also stop for a little tapa and vermouth before having lunch at Botin, which was quite an experience. It's a tough reservation to get on your own, and enjoying it as part of this tour is well worth it. The second tour I did was the Ultimate Spanish Cuisine tour. This tour stopped at a variety of locations. We sampled porra (basically thick churros) and chocolate, "pregnant" sourdough buns stuffed with chorizo, a variety of olives, vermouth, boquerones, olive oil, several hams, some fruit, a cheese selection with wine pairing, and cake. It was a delicious and well-rounded food experience. Montse was my guide for both of these tours and she is absolutely fantastic! After meeting her on the first tour, I told her I was taking another tour and her office was able to schedule her to be my tour guide again for the second one. She actually studied art so she was extra knowledgeable at the Prado, but also had so much to share about Madrid and answered so many of our questions. I'm so glad I booked these tours with Devour on my trip. I would definitely consider their tours for other cities I visit in the future as well.

Dani was amazing! He was entertaining and knowledgeable about the taverns, tapas and history he…read moretook us to. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and highly recommend this tour group.

Had a great experience on this walking tour led by Jovan. He was engaging, energetic, and knew his…read moreway in and out of the city. Very knowledgeable about both history and food which was appreciated. This tour highlights historical aspects of Madrid's Plaza Mayor, theories behind the architecture of the city, the conquest and reconquest of the city, gastronomical highlights, and some fun trivia. The tour itself is 3 hours long with a break in the middle where the group stopped at a cafe to get drinks and use the restroom. Wear comfortable shoes! While the tour is officially free, tips are highly encouraged to continue the existence of the company and its excellent tour guides.

My husband and I signed up for the "Majestic Madrid Walking Tour" with Sandemans on the second day…read moreof our trip to Madrid. Our guide Mark did a great job showing us the city while giving us an entertaining history lesson. Not only was he very knowledgeable on the history and culture of Madrid, but he was also very friendly and took the time to get to know our group and answered any questions we had. The tour takes about 2.5 hours with a 10-15 minute coffee/bathroom break in the middle. Definitely plan to wear comfortable walking shoes, as the tour covers quite a bit of ground. Our tour started at Plaza Mayor (just took for the red Sandemans umbrella) and ended at Plaza de Isabel II. While it is free to sign up, remember to bring cash if you choose to tip your tour guides at the end. Overall, the tour was a great introduction to the city of Madrid. We learned a lot (always remember 1561!) and highly recommend the experience!

OMGGGGGG YOU GUYS FELIX IS AWESOME!!…read more First off, do NOT go on this tour if you don't enjoy or want to learn about the fascinating history of Madrid. And by history, I mean, Felix goes all the way back to 200BC when the Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula, LOL. But if you want to get a better sense of Madrid (and Spain) and how it came to be and what you're looking at, then book this tour! My husband LOVED it and he does not often gush about people or things. I was also amazed that he said he prefers the smaller groups, which is exactly what I wanted/needed. I didn't want to be attracting a ton of attention as a horde of tourists, nor strain to hear at the back of a giant crowd. Second, be prepared to walk...a LOT. I can't remember how long the tour is advertised as (I was looking at so many sites, they all blended together), but it was probably almost 3 hours, but I'm sure if we'd told him to cut it shorter he would've. He is passionate about his work, about Madrid, about Spain, its people and its history and his love shows. We didn't walk the entire time because he does a broad overview of the Spanish timeline of who controls what before starting. But just be aware of the weather--it was early June and it was mostly pleasant when we met him at 11am, but the sun quickly got more uncomfortable as time went on, so wear sunscreen and good shoes and bring a water bottle (he'll even show you where to fill it up along the way). We didn't necessarily hit all the sites on the tour description because I think he kind of tailored it to us. We met at Puerta del Sol, strolled down Calle del Arenal to the Opera House, walked thru the Plaza de Oriente to the Royal Palace, over to Plaza de Espana, then to Templo de Debod, and the lookout over the city, over to the main Palace entrance and Almudena Cathedral and the ancient Moorish wall. We wrapped up in Plaza de la Villa where we tipped him and said goodbye (you'll have to bring cash). I noticed he skipped Plaza Mayor and Mercado de San Miguel, which was fine by us because we'd already seen them and I imagine it would've been packed with tourists and pickpockets :) Don't know if you can request Felix, but I know he does the Essential Madrid tour (that's the one we booked). Hope you can get him! ***Edit: so to get Felix, select the tour you want and then look to the right of the name of the tour and it lists which guide is leading the selected tour. Felix is named as "Under My Umbrella Tours."

This was a tour I did not expect much because it was FREE !…read more Made a free online reservation before leaving for Madrid for our group of 4 and initially did not expect much because it was a no cost tour. Upon arrival to the Opera metro station, our guide: Rodrigo was there half hour early with his bright red Strawberry Tour umbrella. A lot of people stopped by and inquired about the tour because the umbrella said "gratis". Rodrigo greeted us with humor and enthusiasm - had us sign in and took a group photo of us all. He asked each tour participant if they had any allergies or dislikes. Rodrigo really showed he cared about our experience before we took off tapas eating! There were 11 of us who were in the group and all were accommodated perfectly at all the businesses. Sure enough, our first tapas stop was within easy walking distance from the metro station. Rodrigo explained before stepping into the business of how things will go, how food will be paid, what is served, specialties of the house, etc... All 4 stops were just amazing. At each stop, you can decide what you want to eat with your beverage of choice. He also will share the common tapas items (olives, nuts, chips, etc)... Cost was about 5€ per person at each place. We ended up at a final place: cider tasting event where we had to pour the cider from above your head to your cup near your knees. The cider is a rough, rustic apple fermented drink that is bad tasting from the bottle, but when poured at a height, the air mixes with the beverage and tastes a bit better. Very low alcohol in the hard cider.... We paid Rodrigo what we thought the tour was worth at the end of the tour - about 10€ per person = 40€ was our tip to Rodrigo. An excellent event that I highly recommend - especially those who are unsure of what to expect or pay a large amount to an unknown tour operator. You pay only what you think it's worth to you! A very good business model indeed!

We scheduled to do the Camino in April of 2018. We were greeted in Madrid, given an overview of…read moreour trip, provided with a backpack and snacks and the poncho which was used on our trip! The folks at Marly Camino did a wonderful job, preparing us for the trip, both before our walk and after we arrived at Santiago. Our trip was well done, we were self-guided, and our luggage was always where it was supposed to be! The pilgrimage was just amazing and there really are no words to describe your Camino because each one is special in a different way to each one of us. We were a group of 15 and from different backgrounds, but we all seemed to mesh so well! Buen Camino!

Marly, my dear, you exceeded ALL of my expectations. The lodging, the FOOD everything was over the…read moretop. Every detail was executed to perfection. This trip was a trip of a life time, for me, because of you and your awesome team. Two years ago, I was told that i had stage 4 lung cancer, it was my dream to experience the Camino, I did it, with your help. Thank you for our beautiful, awesome wing girl, Esther and German (our guides) they were the icing on the cake. They made every second perfect, from taking me to the doctors and along the road bandaging my infected toe. See you in 2021 for the Portuguese way! I can't wait. This experience was a perfect 12.

My family and I had booked flights to Lisbon, Portugal and to leave Madrid Spain. We were a family…read moreof four traveling (2 parents with 2 kids in the middle teen years) and with 2 grandparents in their 70s. Our goal was to stay in Lisbon one week, Madrid for one week, and then look for day trips outside of enjoying the city areas. I had spoken with several tour groups but they focus primarily either for Portugal or Spain. Usually not both. I chose Letango for the main reason that they could develop an itinerary along with scheduling drivers. I knew that with the grandparents traveling by bus or train would be harder on them with the extra walking involved. Carlos did a great job of planning the entire itinerary. He planned 2 walking tours in Lisbon, 2 day trips out of Lisbon (Sintra and Evora), 2 walking tours of Madrid, a tapas tour in Madrid, 2 days trips from Madrid (Segovia/Avilla, and Toledo), a Flamenco show, and a cooking class. That allowed our family to focus on the culture and the trip versus focusing on the logistics. All of the tour guides provided were courteous and helpful. They all recognized the wide range areas and adapted speaking points, walking pace, or in answering questions to all of us. They were also flexible when our whims caused us to stay in one place longer or ask about stopping at a specific location. I hope to travel back to those countries and will be looking to work with Letango again.

Carlos was excellent to work with in planning multiple tours in and around Madrid this past summer…read more I preferred to purchase my own entry tickets and he was very flexible when I had specific requests. We had great guides and terrific communication from Carlos at all times even after the tours.

I had a wonderful evening with Pablo on the food tour this evening. Reasonably priced at €65, we…read morewere together for nearly four hours, three stops and 10,000 steps on my FitBit. The tour started on time at the proper space, even though it was chilly and rainy. Pablo was there with a note. Lots of cultural information as we walked along. Pablo pointed out sights and explanations and interesting engaging stories. Cheese croquettas and red wine at the first spot, which was an interesting "standing-room-only" tapas place. The second, beer with a delicious platter of iberico ham and manchego cheese (my favorite!). The third, a carafe of sangria with tortilla (the Spanish potato and egg bake), chorizo sausages and a fabulous paella that was loaded with shrimp and pork and chicken. All of the food was amazing and delicious. I had a fun time with my new friend Pablo and we had a bunch of really yummy foods as we spent the evening touring downtown Madrid. Fun! [Review 12500 overall, 2290 of 2019.]

Dan Beers is one of a kind! Superb tour, food was great and tapas hopping is an amazing way of…read morehaving lunch in 10 different places in a row I rocommend Daniés tour so much, he is the real tapas man

From the owner: nos encanta compartir nuestros conocimientos de la ciudad de Madrid y su historia con personas de…read moretodo el mundo y hacer nuevos amigos, la mejor manera que tenemos para hacerlo es mediante nuestro Free tour llamado Madrid pie, de la mano de nosotros descubre, conoce y aprende de una forma muy divertida. Al final, podrá pagarnos lo que considere, dependiendo de como le haya gustado la actividad.

I signed up for two tours with Yolanda, a young multi-lingual translator who is obsessed with the…read morenuances of the Flamenco traditions. Both tours were fabulous. Yolande is a wonderful guide. She's full of energy, interesting insights and I became an overnight Flamenco fan after her tours. Yolande's basic tour takes you through one of the Flamenco neighborhoods in Madrid, with a foodie stop in a yummy tapas snack at a famous local eatery. The tour culminates at a local Flamenco theater with a great atmosphere. We happened to be there on the night that the performers and the crowd really fizzed and the energy of the performance was out of this world. I had TV-preconceptions of Flamenco before I took the tour, but I fell in love with the singing and the virtuoso guitar, especially as the meanings and types were explained by Yolanda. She's a wonderful guide and it's a fantastic way to spend an evening in Madrid.

Yoli is so enthusiastic about the Flamenco dance her tour takes you behind the scenes to see what…read moregoes into the shows First she meets you at the literary center of Madrid and then whisks you to a fantastic and classic Wine and Tapas bar to explain history of the dance,then we viewed a guitar maker to the Flamenco trade,a shoe maker,and the most famous Flamenco school and instructors,only then did we move on to the show which was beyond our hopes What a fantastic and personal evening

If you are visiting Madrid, the Royal Palace is an absolute must-see. It is an amazing space that…read morefeels less like a museum and more like a living testament to Spanish grandeur. The palace is very interesting and full of history, sitting on the site of an old 9th-century fortress and reborn in the 18th century after a massive fire.  The scale of the building is almost hard to wrap your head around. It actually has 3,400 rooms (3,418 to be exact!), making it the largest royal palace in Western Europe. Thankfully, the visitor route is easy to follow, and we made it through about 35 rooms, which was just enough to see the highlights without feeling completely overwhelmed. Each room is more jaw-dropping than the last--from the velvet-draped Throne Room to the stunning frescoes on the ceilings.  I highly recommend visiting with a tour guide. Not only do they provide the context that brings the tapestries and armor to life, but it's the best way to avoid the long lines that wrap around the Plaza de la Armería. Having a pro lead the way made the entrance seamless and ensured we didn't miss the "hidden" stories behind the Royal Pharmacy and the Grand Staircase. Whether you are a history buff or just want to see some of the most beautiful interiors in the world, don't skip this. It was easily the highlight of our time in the city!

We had pre booked our tickets online for the first entry of the day. We got there before hand and…read morelined up in the pre booked line. They ended up opening the doors an hour after the website said, and because that was after our reservation they wouldn't honor our tickets. They said we had to buy new ones and request a refund for the tickets we had purchased already. Now two weeks later and I have yet to hear back from their team regarding my request. The visit was cool and it's a really great experience. Just be careful with your reservation, I'd recommend a few hours into their opening time to be safe.