This flea market is massive. We spent about two hours wandering around and was able to walk through 80% of it while stopping at a few stalls. Things I thought were interesting - 20 Euro leather jackets Piles of clothes on tables labeled with different prices (2/5/10 Euros) where customers dig through trying to find treasures Incense stands Plenty of interesting wall art What you will not find at this flea market - Food or drinks A restroom if your kid has to go potty They also have the normal jewelry, clothing accessories (scarves, hats, belts, bags), and little toys that you would find at any flea market. One stand sold different prints on pieces of wood for wall art. They had movies, anime, Madrid, art, food, and some other categories. At first, I scoffed at the price (1 for 6 Euros, 3 for 15, 7 for 30), but we wound up getting a few as I thought they were well done. They open at 9 and we got there around 10. That was pretty reasonable, in terms of people. By the time we left around noon, it was wall to wall people, and not a place I would want to be. read more

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In a word, dreadful. I'm fond of flea markets in California which often have interesting arts, crafts, and random items. This one had none of these. What it did have was an enormous, dense crowd of people pawing through piles of socks, sweats, and scarves. Many of the stands looked like the back of an unusually messy teenager's closet. See appalling photos. Nothing seemed particularly original, and not an artisan in sight. I was interested in pottery, but all I saw was truly junk. For some reason, there were many stands with a Frida Kahlo items. Maybe it's a big year for big eyebrows. Frida was born, lived, and died in Mexico. If you're a bargain seeking garment/fashion shopper, check out the clearance area at the Corte Ingles department store. At the Puerto Sol location it's downstairs right in front of the entrance to the supermarket (think Harrod's food hall). There were some real bargains on high quality, non-knock-off goods. Plus there is the occasional free taste sample in the market And several floors of non-sale items higher up. DSC01464.jpg DSC01465.jpg DSC01468.jpg DSC01471.jpg DSC01476.jpg DSC01477.jpg DSC01478.jpg DSC01479.jpg DSC01480.jpg read more

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El Rastro de Madrid is the most popular open air flea market in Madrid. It is held every Sunday and public holiday during the year and is located along Plaza de Cascorro and Ribera de Curtidores, between Calle Embajadores and the Ronda de Toledo. This is one of the biggest markets in Europe. Apparently there is over 3000 stalls selling clothes, jewelry, art, household good and lots of other things. You can buy new and used stuff here. There is however, not a single food stall here and, cafes in the neighbourhood are your options for food. It's packed all day and you can find plenty of bargains here. Many local artists also sell their paintings and photos here and it's worth a browse. Very popular with tourists and locals it's a very lively market and you have no choice but move with the crowds. Well worth a visit when in town. read more

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The El Rastro in Madrid is one of the best street markets in Europe. If you are in Madrid on a Sunday morning this is a must go. We have been to the El Rastro twice and both times we got there early morning which is the perfect time to survey the market as most of the stuff is still available. The market encompasses many different shops with variety of products and if you want to casually shop you can easily spend 2-3 hours running up and down the hilly area. We found some excellent products on our visits but the real enjoyment is the atmosphere of El Rastro. If you are a fan of street markets do not miss this special place open again only on Sundays. 5 stars all the way. read more

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Open on Sundays. If you're a fan of markets, then you must go to this one- it's even featured in Delta magazine and many lists of top markets in the world. This market is just straight up huge. It's about 6 blocks and has many parts. There is a main part hawking crafts and some touristy stuff for super cheap- I think faux furs, leather purses, tapestries are the best buy here. There's a very large antique market that is just cool and charming in antiquity. They seem to like WWII and war garments/memoralia here too. There's a central area for more locals that sells eats and kitchen ware like massive copper pots. Food wise: this is honestly where you can find great hole int he walls for churros, lunch, snacks, etc where locals go to. Treasures: Tailak Madrid specializes in beautiful Uzbeki and Central Asian tapestries that are usually exorbitant in pricing in the US and other places but are super cheap and authentic here. I got my goods for only 45-90 a piece. If you're a tapestry/embroidery/fabric lover, then I recommend coming here b/c you'll find no where else that sells Uzbeki/Turkmeni garments/carpets/etc in such an authentic and beautiful place Places to eat: El Imparcial for lunch- make an appointment. Check out my review for this place for more details- classy charming place with no tourists read more

WHOA! This place gets PACKED! Be ready to fight the crowd and hold your purses tight because I have heard of pick pocketing in this area. However, don't let that fool you - it is a must see! It is only open on Sundays and you can tell locals and visitors alike flock to it when the time comes! We had no idea what to expect but definitely appreciated the vendors and the variety of goods available for sale. Yes, there's typical tourist trinkets but also so much more! They have artwork, clothing, jewelry, sunglasses, toiletries, leather goods, shoes, etc. I picked up a BIG snazzy leather backpack that I love!! It will fit my computer and ended up being about $45 US dollars! I'll take it! If you like to shop and love a great deal or two, this market will not be a waste of your time! read more

El Rastro - Flea Markets Near Me - Madrid, M

I expected it to be a flea market with old antiques and charming old stuff. I was not planning to buy anything but hoped to find some interesting remnants of Spanish culture. But the market turned out to be a shopping market with stalls selling leather bags, Spanish fans , Indian decorative stuff and blankets, clothes, jewelry and so on. Everything felt a bit expensive too. There were a couple of old books stalls and a couple of stalls that sold flea market stuff. It was still an interesting and productive usage of my touristic Sunday afternoon even though I was a bit disappointed. The place was extremely crowded and the market was long. read more

Great flea market available on Sundays. Cheap finds & always great for tourist & locals alike. Also a great place to find cheap souvenirs! This market is a must if you're shopping in Madrid! read more

Named for the "trail of blood" left by dragging cattle from the slaughterhouse to the tannery district, El Rastro is now Madrid's massive weekly open-air street market. We met our motivated young-adult daughters at the statue of the legendary soldier Eloy Gonzalo in the Plaza de Cascorro, the sentimental center of the marketplace. Thousands of market stalls lined Calle Ribera de Cutidores and all of its side streets. Vendors peddled everything from dull discount lingerie to magnificent military gas masks. I purchased a genuine goat skin wine bota bag at half the price of the tourist shops around Sol, and picked up a wrist watch for €5 that became a pocket watch a week later when the cheap plastic band snapped. In the Plaza General Vara del Rey, a card trader sold us a complete set of 18 Barcelona FC player cards for our soccer-loving nieces. All shopped-out, we found a bar for beers, croquetas, and green olives. By local custom, we threw our paper napkins and olive pits on the floor, paid the bill, and dragged home our treasures, careful to avoid the illusory trail of blood. read more

El Rastro - Madrid's Former Tannery District - Flea Markets Near Me - Madrid, M

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After seeing El Rastro on multiple lists of "must-sees" in Madrid, I got my lazy butt out of bed on Sunday morning and made the trek down to the market. I arrived around 9:30, and found many of the vendors were just setting up. By the time I left around 11:30, the place was fully operational and packed with shoppers. Although the market opens at 7, it seems like very few booths are actually open then. El Rastro was impressive just for its sheer size. I've never been to an outdoor market this large. However, I was disappointed in the merchandise. After all I'd read, I'd expected this to be a place to buy local products and handicrafts. Instead, many of the booths sold very standard tourist crap. In fact, the same merchandise cropped up at booth after booth--the same t-shirts, plastic toys, cheap cotton dresses, etc. The products made El Rastro feel like a tourist trap. I will say, the listed prices for at least some of the items were a few Euros less than they cost in the brick-and-mortar souvenir shops (for example, the simple cotton dresses in solid colors). Supposedly you can also barter at El Rastro, so this may be an economical option if you plan to buy these types of items. You'll see a lot of people warn you to be careful with your belongings. I didn't feel El Rastro was particularly dangerous, as long as you use the same common sense you would in any extremely crowded environment. That said, there were an especially large number of street performers and panhandlers here, and it's easy to get distracted with so many things going on around you. I would recommend hitting up El Rastro for people watching, but I didn't find it useful for shopping. read more

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Considered to be one of the oldest parts of Madrid, El Rastro hosts a flea market every Sunday morning. This is the time to visit the place, which is basically a big neighborhood with a couple small squares and lots of stores and some cafes and eateries. The market is amazingly big and you can pretty much find most things, although I always keep an eye out for art nouveau and deco objects but saw none at all. The best place to find antiques are the tables set up outside the antique shops, but of course they know what they have and so you won't find any great bargains. In one of the squares there were many people selling cards - soccer cards! They also had other types as well, including Pokemon cards, but soccer was the most popular. This was the part that I found most unusual. It is defiitely worth a few hours of wandering around. read more

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It is just okay. I have gone to plenty of really awesome markets at this point and my life and this one did not have a ton of good homemade goods or flea market type items. It felt more like a store with pre-made packaged goods. I did find a scarf I really love but even that was not over the moon good quality by any means. The shops around this market are actually more interesting and offer better items. I would recommend a quick walk through but you do not need to spend a ton of time on your Sunday here. read more

El Rastro - Flea Markets Near Me - Madrid, M

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This place is listed as one of the top sights to see in Madrid, but I would not include it in the top tier. It is a massive shopping area with streets and streets of good things and not so good things to buy. However, after about the first block you start to see the same things over and over again. We walked through in about 90-minutes with no one buying anything. There were a few cool things, but apparently nothing too irresistible to us. In conclusion, check it out if you are in Madrid on a Sunday morning, but it is not worth planning your trip around. read more

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I can't help it, I adore El Rastro. I love everything about it, even the things a lot of people don't love. But I love flea markets in general, so how could I pass up the largest flea market in Spain? I always plan to be in Madrid at least 1 Sunday of any trip just so I can go. I like to get there early, before it's too crazy crowded, even though it's always crowded by the time I've managed to say I've seen enough. I've been by myself and with friends, and I might have had even more fun alone. You can putz along at your leisure, not realizing you've been there for hours. It's hard to stick with another person anyway, in the swirling mass of people. It is like a river with a strong current. While you are fascinated with some silver rings, your friend has moved on to the leather goods or books or cosmetics a few booths away, and before you know it, has disappeared. Yes, I've heard about the pickpockets, but just be sensible while allowing yourself to be caught up in the mood. You will see as many fascinating people here as you will things for sale, and people watching is part of the fun. And the music---from the guy who can play symphonies on crystal glasses to the amazingly good quintet of jazz musicians, there is always music---even the old man and woman playing the accordion. But the stuff! Yep, a LOT of junk, like you would see in any flea market, but also a really eclectic variety of quality things too. I have bought SO much at El Rastro! Collars for my dogs in Spain's colors of red and yellow---my dogs are Galgos (Spanish Greyhounds), and actually flew to the US from Scooby, the largest animal shelter in Spain---leather leashes, a purple leather wallet, the most beautiful blue snakeskin-like leather purse, great T-shirts (some with Vespas on them for my husband), other clothing, silver jewelry, plates and ceramics, and old keys and bottles (husband collects them). I've also bought plenty of olives! Please don't forget about the side streets. This is where people sit on the sidewalk with a bedspread covered in "treasures". If you spy something you like among the junk, you can usually bargain. There are lots of quality antique stores (with prices to match) here too, and are fun for browsing---some gorgeous stuff, but how do you get it home on the plane? I saw a piece of clothing made of razor blades on one of these side streets. Then after you've had your fill, please stop at one of the many bars and restaurants, along the route. If you're brave, visit Amadeo at Los Caracoles, stand at the bar and eat some snails. Or sit, relax, have some tapas and a beer, soak up the atmosphere, and talk about the treasures you found at El Rastro. read more

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If you like flea markets this is such a great one! Some of everything. lots of clothes and jewelry that are really cheap especially for madrid. lots and lots of people, go early because it gets super crowded around 11/12. Be careful of pickpockets though! read more

Everyone told us that we absolutely could not miss El Rastro, and by everyone I mean Spanish friends, other visitors, tour books and everyone else. So we purposely planned to be in Madrid on a Sunday. Well, neither of us was that impressed. I think we must have missed a big section somewhere, because the parts we saw were either junk stands that wouldn't make it at the Long Beach Swap Meet, huge pile sales of clothes where nothing was older than 1995, or else full of falluca (you know, sunglasses, Rolex watches made in China and the like), and hippie-style clothing. If you're looking for vintage/antiques, the Clingancourt market (I think that's what it's called) in Paris is a WAY better destination. There, I could drop all my lottery winnings in a single afternoon. It was nice as an experience, but our expectations were definitely way too high. read more

As recommended by a friend, I decided to hit El Rastro on a Sunday morning when it transforms itself into a gigantic flea market. By the time I got there it was around 12.30 and I feared that it would be closed, but it was fully operational and super super crowded that I really couldn't walk straight. There were many street music performers who played the music beautifully and complemented the hippie/gipsy atmosphere. It was fun at first and there are some shops that has gorgeous leather products, but in no time it started to feel like any touristy pseudo market. I kept seeing the same thing they sell in NYC flea market! Personally I much prefer rastros that are held in small towns like the one I visited in Collado Villalba the other day. Those ones have really weird products they pull out of grandma's closets. read more

Huge outdoor flea market on Sundays. It wouldn't have taken me hours to get through it all, some of the booths were crap but most had really great stuff for surprisingly affordable prices. The spanish-made pottery booth was my favorite- I totally regret not buying more! I'm a big fan - definitely worth checking out! read more

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El Rastro on Sundays is a hectic and insane experience. It's like an entire neighborhood decides in unison to offer up everything from scarves to shower heads. I even saw a kitchen sink for sale. There's gotta be a joke in there somewhere. read more

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Read this is one of the best, if not the best, flea market in Europe, so I was looking forward to a shopping spree. Definitely a lot to see and loved the vibe, which was somewhat dampened by the concern over pick pockets as they are as notorious here as El Rastro is famous. I even had a local gentleman advise me to carry my backpack in front of me rather than at my back. Having said that, I realize how lucky I am to live about 8 miles away from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where there's a flea market the second Sunday of every month that is truly an experience, and though you have to pay to get in, it is well worth the price of admission. read more

This place is huge outdoor market on Sunday. I've been to many outdoor market and I rank this as one of my top 3. They got new and antique items so it's a good balance of things you can find. Every corner I turn that I turn to there are more vendors. I only bought a couple of stuff. But it's fun just to watch all the knickknacks new and old they were being sold at each vendor. read more

Crazy busy We renamed it Casa de K Mart. The best thing was going to the antique stores on the side streets. read more

This place is huge and ranges many streets. It is a flea market, so don't be surprised if there are stalls selling tools, or windshield wipers. It's nice to see this part of town and just people watch. Don't be afraid to go down the side streets, some are set up with more art, or antique shops. read more

I LOVE El rastro. Have been many times & it never gets old. Usually crowded but it is a must-do on a Sunday in Madrid. Just be mindful of your bags and keep them in front of you. Never experienced it myself but this market is notorious for pick-pocketing read more

This is a flee market that's available only on Sunday's. There is a great variety of items that you can select from, but the majority sell them same items as they are in higher demand. Some of the items that are available are jeans, scarfs, jewelry, clothes, purses, bags, and so much more! This is a good place to buy souvenirs for friends and family A lot of the items that are being sold have a price but it's possible to bargain for a much lower price. It is a long street that sometimes branches out into the smaller streets. It's more recommendable to go here early because in the afternoon it tends to get very crowded and uncomfortable to walk around. Be careful with whatever you have in your pockets or in your bags since there is a continuous crowd of people it's possible to get pick pocketed. Also, usually as you go down/up the street there will be street performers playing music. read more

The other reviews are right. We made a friend in Madrid and she took us here. You do not necessarily go here to shop but to experience the largest, craziest flea market in all of Europe. ( A least that is how they market it) Okay you can shop here, but the deals were not spectacular or anything.( except for my shoes) You might pick up something just out of the oddity of the items. lol! I swear I felt like a cattle being led to slaughter here. I have never been in one place with so many people pushing and shoving into me, and I have been to some pretty crowded places in my time. (We even witnessed a pickpocket incident here. Madrid has issues with so be careful on the train and in public) My continued question of the day was, "How in the world do you shop at this place with so much madness and all these crowds of people?" Interestingly enough I did and even bought a pair of shoes, dead cheap ( 2 bucks on Euro exchange, WTH?) and super cute to boot. I swear they were probably stolen. Brawhaha! I had to bump into like 50 people to try them on. It is an experience to say the least. I gave Rastro 5 stars just for the sheer hilarity of it all. Also, for winning the prize for, "Things I never thought I would do on my long awaited trip to Spain" category Bucket List-lol---- For shopping, only a one or two star rating from me. Go to the shops or Toledo for cool trinkets/souvenirs. read more

The Rastro is incredible! This is one of the biggest flea markets in Europe, so you cannot pass this opportunity up! You can find so many great things, I took great interest in the accessories. The scarves and jewelry were so beautiful and unique and the vendors are very willing to bargain with you! It is VERY busy, considering it is also once a week, so definitely go towards the morning as it is cooler and less claustrophobic. Keep an eye on your handbags and pockets!! This is a great place where pickpocketers can get you the easiest! read more

Really fantastic way to spend any Sunday (until 3pm siesta). Starting where the guidebook tells you, you'll find stalls similar to any in the world, very Camden markety, lots of silly tshirts and smoknig paraphernalia. But as you head further south and branch off into the little squares and side streets, then you get to the real stalls, the real people, selling all kinds of rubbish. Most popular seem to be old picture frames and old tools, but at the southernmost point there was a square almost entirely devoted to magazines and comics of an adult nature. At the farthest corner a man was flogging what appeared to be a heroic home collection of video porn, dating all the way back to the Betamax era. Lots of mainstream videos for sale too, about EUR1, so if you are keen on cheap spanish movies and know what you're looking for this is the place to head too. The dvds however are not cheap; I think the attitude in Spain is that dvds are still the latest thing, so the cheapest are EUR5. There are fantastic little streets solely devoted to antiques and collectables from movies, tinker toys and the like. I will study the map and edit in more street names, but really it's a place you have to walk around and just sense where the bargains may be. read more

Fun to stroll around the Rastro streets, cute patio plazas with great vintage stores to browse clothing and decor. Fun, fun, fun!