Planning your trip to Madrid and looking for the ultimate activity? We recently took a Madrid food tour with Devour and had such a blast. Madrid can be overwhelming on your first visit, with literally thousands of restaurants and tapa bars to choose from. Yet, a Madrid tapas tour will take you through the sights and culinary delights of Spain’s capital city. Here’s everything you need to know about Madrid food tours, and all about our own fun tapa hopping experience!
How to Pick the Best Madrid Food Tour
Picking the right Madrid food tour can make or break your trip, especially if you only have a short time to visit! We hopped on the Madrid Tapas, Taverns & History Tour which is one of the highest-rated on Tripadvisor. The next night we also tried out their new Madrid Tapas & Wine tour through the famous Literary Quarter.
Before we get into all the amazing food and drinks, know that there are so many different options. Take a look at both the day (like this one) and evening tour depending on your itinerary.
If it works better for your schedule, you can always join one of the daytime food tours and make plans for dinner later on.
Another thing you’ll want to decide is if you want to just eat and drink, or if you’d like to learn some history as well. Our tour included 2 miles of walking with so many historical sites along the way.
This was a fantastic introduction to the city before we got into the tapas portion of the night. In comparison, our Tapas & Wine adventure with Devour Tours wasn’t as much walking.
Instead, it was more about about really enjoying each wine bar and all the scrumptious Spanish food. A couple more popular tours to check out with Devour are this Cooking Class and the Tapas and Flamenco Show!
Planning a Trip to Madrid
There are a few more things to consider after booking your Madrid food tour. Make sure to read our one day in Madrid Spain guide if you have limited time in the city!
We share helpful tips like how to be the first inside the Grand Palace, where to find the secret nuns cookies, and the can’t miss view from 360 rooftop bar. Below are some quick tips and stuff to know prior to arriving in Madrid.
Where to Stay in Madrid
- If you’re looking for a luxurious stay, Gran Hotel Inglés is the spot for you. This is part of the Leading Hotels of the World collection.
- Thompson Madrid has an awesome pool with a view over the city. Travelers will enjoy their classic and stylish rooms.
- On our last visit, we stayed at Ibis Styles Madrid Prado. We loved the location and it was the perfect jump off point to the best Madrid food tours.
- Traveling on a budget? Onefam Sungate is one of the highest rated hostels in the capital city.
Quick Madrid Travel Tips
- ✈️ Skyscanner and Expedia are great tools for comparing flights to and from Spain (we once paid just 15 Euros!)
- 🚂 We use Omio to book our train and bus tickets throughout Europe.
- 🌍 Consider getting a Spanish e-sim before you arrive to stay connected.
- 🌇 Check out Get Your Guide for thousands of activities around Spain.
- 🚗 Discover Cars is the best way to find deals on rental cars around Spain.
- 🎒 Get inspired for your trip with our Amazon packing lists.
- 🏥 Never travel abroad without insurance like SafetyWing.
- 🇪🇸 Check our all our Spain articles to help plan your next adventure!
What’s it Like Taking a Madrid Food Tour?
Next we’re going to break down our own tapa tour in Madrid with everything you need to know. This is exactly what to expect on the Madrid Tapas, Taverns & History Tour!
We met our Devour Madrid food tour guide along with our group for the small private tour. After a quick meet and greet, we were off to start trying some incredible Spanish cuisine.
One of the reasons we loved our Madrid food tour (and food tours in general) is tasting local treats we wouldn’t have found otherwise. Vermouth is the perfect example of this! Honestly, before this moment, our U.S. brains thought it was only something you mix in a cocktail.
Come to find out, vermouth on ice with a little orange is super refreshing. We also tried fried cod and had a delicious manchego cheese to go with it.
Vermouth would be a common theme of our trips to Madrid and Seville as it’s the perfect start to any tapa hopping night. Read our one day in Seville guide If you’re planning a trip here, too!
Learning the History of Madrid
Something that made our experience unique from other Madrid food tours is all the great history. Our guide was so knowledgable about the city, and took us to several monuments and historic sites between the tapas bars.
We highly recommend taking this tour on your first night in Madrid to get some background on the capital. This gave us a great understanding of how the city transformed over the years, and the architecture is unbelievable!
Below are five photos that showcase the views we had on our walking tour. The best part was when the sky lit up over the La Almudena Cathedral for sunset.
Madrid Tapas Tour With Devour
After watching the magical sunset, we made our way back into the small streets of the city. It was time to hit some of the best tapas bars on our Madrid food tour!
While we had so many delicious tapas, a highlight was definitely the mushrooms stuffed with chorizo sausage. The Champiñones Al Ajillo Con Chorizo came with an ice cold glass of Tinto de Verano.
If you haven’t had one yet, you’re really missing out! This literally translates to “Wine of the Summer” and goes well with practically every Spanish tapa.
As it got later into our food tour in Madrid, the crowds started to appear. One thing to know about this city is that it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is. We were here on a Monday and Tuesday and the tapa bars were packed!
At the second stop we fought through the crowds to try the famous gambas al ajillo which absolutely blew our minds. The sizzling shrimp came out quickly, and paired so well with a glass of local red wine. Be sure to dip the bread that comes with it in the spicy garlic sauce!
The end of the evening on our Madrid food tour was a little different. Instead of another tapa bar, we were seated inside a beautiful high-end restaurant with our group. This was more like a formal meal than the lively bar scene, and we really enjoyed experiencing both.
Should You Take a Madrid Food Tour?
100% yes!! If you couldn’t tell already, we had a blast on our tapa tour in Madrid. Madrid food tours are a fantastic way to see the city with local cuisine mixed in.
They are especially helpful if it’s your first visit and you’re not sure where to start. We had so many tasty traditional dishes that we wouldn’t have thought to order ourselves.
It’s always fun to explore a new city on your own. Still, there’s nothing like having an official guide to show you around who truly knows Madrid.
Have any questions about this article or want to share your own favorite Madrid tapas tour with Devour? Let us know in the comments below!
Safe Travels,
Brigitte & Jake
This experience was made possible in partnership with Walks and Devour Tours. As always, any opinions and recommendations remain our own.
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What amazing tips this will surely help me for my next week’s trip to Madrid!
Thank you for sharing this!
Author
So glad we could help! This was such a fun tour.
Planning our trip to Spain has been so exciting but also overwhelming, especially when it comes to the food! In a good way, anyway, since there is so much to see and try! So this post came up for me at the perfect time. Adding this Devour Madrid food tour to our itinerary ASAP!
Author
So happy to hear that! You won’t regret it 😀