Madrid Tapas Tours
A Madrid tapas tour is an evening of five or six bars with a local who orders the jamón, pours the vermut and knows which counter does the best croqueta, through La Latina, the markets and the old centre. Compare the top-rated tours below, then read our notes.
Formats: evening tapas crawls through La Latina and the Cava Baja; market-and-tavern tours with history; vermut and wine tapas walks; food tours that end with a sit-down course.
What you will taste: jamón ibérico, the bocadillo de calamares, patatas bravas, croquetas, tortilla, boquerones, a vermut on tap and a glass of Rioja, and a churro to finish.
Price and time: roughly 85 to 105 dollars for three to four hours, food and drinks included.
What a good tour does
Five or six bars, a drink and one or two tapas at each, at least one historic taberna, a market stop at San Miguel or a neighbourhood mercado, and a guide who orders in Spanish and knows the owners. Groups of eight to twelve. The best-reviewed operators have thousands of reviews and run the crawl as a proper progressive dinner: vermut and olives to start, jamón and cheese, a hot tapa or two, a sit-down plate, and something sweet.
Which neighbourhood
La Latina is the classic, best on a Sunday. Huertas and the centre mix old tabernas with the markets. Chamberí is the locals’ evening, quieter and more serious about ham and seafood. Most tours combine two of these.
Timing
Spain eats late; tapas tours start at seven or eight and run to eleven. Come hungry, it replaces dinner. Book ahead for Friday and Saturday from spring to autumn.
Frequently asked questions
How much food is on a Madrid tapas tour?
Enough for dinner: a drink and one or two tapas at each of five or six stops.
Are there vegetarian tapas tours?
Most adapt with notice; tortilla, patatas bravas, padrón peppers, mushrooms and cheese carry a vegetarian route, though jamón is central to the city.
Tapas tour or cooking class?
A tapas tour for a first evening; a cooking class if you want to make paella yourself.
Read next: Tapas or pintxos, and which neighbourhood
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.