After living in Madrid for both Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters, my whole junior year at Chapman, it quickly became one of my favorite places in the world! I learned that Madrid is more than just a study abroad destination, it’s a city that teaches you how to live well. From navigating public transportation to finding the best coffee shops, this guide includes everything I wish I had known before moving there.  

I first visited Madrid during a travel Spanish immersion course through Chapman in the summer of 2023, when I lived with a host family. I got to study at an intensive Spanish school called DonQuijote 4 days a week. That experience gave me my first real taste of Spanish life and culture. I returned in Fall 2024 and stayed through Spring 2025, studying abroad at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). As someone who had studied Spanish for years, there was nothing more rewarding than finally using Spanish on a daily basis!  

I lived in Madrid’s financial district, just a short ten minute walk from Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid! My neighborhood offered the perfect balance of local life and convenience. My apartment had the nicest doorman named Christian, who truly became a life saver. With offices below us, local families above us, and a lawyer living next door to us, I felt fully immersed in everyday Madrid life.  

 

Tip #1: Expect the Unexpected 

One of the most unforgettable experiences during my time abroad was living through a nationwide blackout. At the end of April all of Spain and most of Portugal experienced nationwide blackouts. I was in Getafe at UC3M, a suburb of Madrid, an hour commute back home, when I got a text from CEA CAPA, my program, saying that the cities power was going out indefinitely and to head home. Luckily before my service completely went out I grabbed a few of my friends, hopped in an uber and headed back into the city. It took nearly two and half hours to get back into the city due to no traffic lights working. Our uber driver ended up not having any service so we had to direct him to where our house was, while he didn’t speak any english we got to use our spanish. One of my friends has a family that lives in Madrid so we went straight to her house since they had more materials than our apartment for a blackout. We had no electricity, no service, and had no idea what was going on. I still remember when the power came back on. Everyone was celebrating, cheering out their windows and blasting music, seeing lights, and lighting up the city. 

 

 

Tip #2: THE UNIVERSITY CLASSES ARE HARD 

I made the mistake in the fall not taking classes in the international school just for credit. I took so many classes the grading system there on multiple choice tests is when you get a question right you get +1, when you get a question wrong you get -0.5 which makes it so that you shouldn’t guess on exams because you’ll end up failing. The grading system there is on a scale of 1-10. A 6-7 is a great grade in Spain because it means you passed the class. In the international school they are much easier on grading as they want your grades to transfer back well to your home university. When I took classes in the main school I ended up getting 7’s in those classes which are top grades in the class, yet it transfers back as C’s for Chapman so just be mindful of this while picking classes! I would take Spanish immersion classes in the international school as those were by far the best classes I took! The class sizes in the international school are much like Chapmans, the main school you’ll take lecture classes once a week with one hundred other students and then switch to a socratic classroom for your second class of the week for practical problems. Try to save your general education classes for abroad, I didn’t do this…. 

 

 

Tip #3: Find food places in your neighbourhood so it feels more like home! 

Madrid is foodie central. There is genuinely every type of cuisine you could think of in the city! Some of my favorite cafes in my neighborhood were Clima Cafecito and Loft Specialty Coffee. If you’re looking for a really good acai bowl head to Sanna Acai across from Retiro Park. I would go here all the time, pick up an acai bowl to go, and sit in Retiro and read. Mazal Bagels has pretty good NY style bagels, I am from NY so trust me when I say this and they always have buy one get one and too good to go deals! Kohi is a must for the coconut water matcha. Bocado is the cutest smash burger restaurant that has amazing vibes, cafe commercial is a classic that has amazing traditional torrija. Finally Cien Montaditos is a Spanish classic for their 1 euro montaditos or mini sandwiches. You cannot visit Spain without meeting up with friends here!!! One of my favorite types of food is Mexican food, so you can’t miss out on Takos Al Pastor in the center of the city for 1 euro tacos. Also for traditional spanish churros and a cute photo spot check out Chocolatería San Ginés, they stay open super late every night and are in a very convenient location. If you are into Indian food, a neighborhood called Lavapiés has so many great restaurants, my favorite being one called Moharaj. A fun Spanish restaurant to take your family when they visit is called Bodega de los Secretos, a spanish mediterranean restaurant in a 1600s cellar.  

 

Some of the best grocery stores in my opinion are Mercadona and El Supermercado de Corte Inglés. Mercadona is like a Spanish version of Trader Joes. It has such good snacks! Keep in mind that they are closed on Sunday’s. Corte Inglés is a high end shopping mall found all across Spain. They have a very high-end food court and a nice supermarket. The supermarket has amazing fresh bread and pastries. It is a Whole Foods dupe. It’s on the pricier side, but some of their things are just too good not to buy!  

 

Tip #4: Spend a lot of time exploring Madrid! 

Some of my favorite shopping I did in Madrid was at a store called Mulaya and at a store called Nicoli. Nicoli has the cutest and most unique denim. My favorite neighborhoods had to be Tetuán, Lavapiés, and Malasaña. Tetuán is where I lived, it’s north of the city center and has so much charm. There is a street called Calle de Ponzano which is an area that Spaniards go to when they get off of work. The street is lined with tapas bars, cafes, and live music. Lavapiés is a fun bar area. Malasaña and La Latiná are my all time favorite areas for shopping, cafes, cool restaurants, and more.  

The three most famous museums in Madrid are the Thyssen-Bornemisza Nacional, Museo Nacional de Prado, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.  The Prado Museum has SO MANY famous pieces of art including Goyas, Pinturas Negras, and Velazquéz’s, Las Meninas. In the Reina Sofía, it is more of a modern art museum that holds Picassos, Guernica. My all time favorite museum is the Museo de Sorolla. The Sorolla Museum is very unique as the building itself is a museum as it is the home of Sorolla. It has all of his artwork. So unique. Also students can get into any of these museums for free so I have been able to visit these museums multiple times! Some of my favorite parks are Retiro and Parque del Oeste. Also, you can’t miss out on going to the Templo de Debod sunset spot that has live music and views of the city and royal palace! 

 

Tip #5: Some Helpful Things to Know 

Some apps that I would recommend you to download are Tarjeta Transporte, Glovo, Cabify, and Free Now. Tarjeta Transporte is an app where you can reload your metro card monthly. Glovo is a Spanish door dash. Cabify and Free Now are taxi apps for Spain that are helpful for cheap rides.  

Some super fun day trips I got to do were Segovia, Toledo, and Manzanares el Real. I fully recommend Manzanares el Real as you get to use your metro card to take a bus to a small town that has a castle about an hour outside of Madrid. My friends and I used the app All Trails to do a cool hike up in the mountains that had restaurants in the middle of the mountains. This was by far one of my favorite things I did! Also if you like skiing, there is an area called Puerta de Navacerrada, which is right outside of Madrid.  

Some other cool things that you have to do is you must go to a Real Madrid game. My friend and I got to go to the Atletico Madrid versus Real Madrid game in the spring which was insane. In the Spring as well there is the Madrid Open, which was also cool to go to. 

Finally, I cannot emphasize enough to learn a little Spanish!!! It genuinely can change your experience completely. 

 

 

Maddie Wiener 

Major: Business Administration 

2024-2025 School Year – Madrid, Spain 

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid