El Rastro, Madrid

A huge market selling everything that you can imagine. The market had a lot of beautiful old antiquities.many of the antique shops on the streets will set up stalls outside there shops showing off some excellent pieces. I arrived at around 11am and it was getting very busy. I would suggest getting in early to avoid the crowds. You Could easily spend a few hours wondering about looking at everything. There are some hidden alleys which open up to amazing courtyards full of antique shops. Keep your eyes open.

Nice market place and you can spend a couple of hours. Start early around 9 as it really gets crowded later on and you have to find place to walk. Don't get overwhelmed by the variety of things you can buy. Most of the items are Chinese items. Specially antiques. You really have to be careful with the clothes purchase. Most of the cheap clothes are cheap in quality too. Its good if you want to buy some souvenirs.

We enjoyed the area with the antique shops the most. There was a lot of mass produced, cheap souvenirs, but the atmosphere was really nice all in all. There was a lot of people, but they weren't pushy. Everybody took their time to get around.

Nice flea market on Sunday. There are many antique shops around the flea market that you must try if interested. We purchased a lot of souvenirs from here. It was an eventful morning. Some of the stuff there is very unique but you will have to put effort finding them. A must visit if In Madrid on a Sunday.

Cheaply priced and cheaply made goods. The 'antique' booths often had the same things if you walked down a ways to another booth, so obviously not originals. It was crowded and a bit overwhelming for me and my husband. We love a good bargain but this was not for us. If you're only in Madrid a few days, I'd skip this and get your souvenirs from little shops which sell the same things.