Madrid may not have the charm and atmosphere of Barcelona, but there are a lot of things to do in the city. The museums (Prado, Thyssen-Bornmisza) are not to be missed and there are so many good places to eat. It’s also a city that enjoys fiestas and one you shouldn’t miss is the fiesta of San Isidro on the 15th of May, during which the entire city shuts down and celebrates. The most important bullfights take place during this month and one can find local pilgrimages (romerias) as well. In large squares such as the Plaza Mayor, you might even come upon a big “cocido” feast — giant cauldrons of bubbling cocido (a stew) cooked outdoors and served as a meal to celebrants. There are dozens of fiestas, mostly in the spring and summer, in Madrid’s barrios, commemorating each barrio’s patron saints. So, to get you started with your Madrid trip, here is a list of my favorite hotels in the city.

De Las Letras Hotel
Gran Vía 11
Madrid, Spain
+34 915 237 980
www.hoteldelasletras.com

Room Mare Laura
Travesia de Trujillos 3
Madrid, Spain
+34 917 011 670
www.room-matehotels.com

Hotel Silken Puerta America
Avenida América 41
Madrid, Spain
+34 917 445 400
www.hoteles-silken.com/hotel-puerta-america-madrid

AC Palacio del Retiro
Calle Alfonso XII 14
Madrid, Spain
+34 915 237 460
www.ac-hotels.com

Hotel Abalu
Pez 19
Madrid, Spain
+34 915 314 744
www.hotelabalu.com

Room Mate Alicia
Prado 2
Madrid, Spain
+34 913 896 095
www.room-matehotels.com

Room Mate Oscar
Plaza Vázquez de Mella 12
Madrid, Spain
+34 917 011 173
www.room-matehotels.com

Room Mate Mario
Campomanes 4
Madrid, Spain
+34 915 488 548
www.room-matehotels.com

Hotel Urban
Carrera de San Jerónimo 34
Madrid, Spain
+34 917 877 770
www.derbyhotels.com

Click here to see my favorite Madrid hotels on a Google map.

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Related articles:

Favorite Barcelona hotels

Favorite Barcelona budget hotels

Favorite Barcelona restaurants

If you are thinking of a summer destination which isn’t too expensive or hot, consider Lisbon. Prices of food and drink are much lower than in cities like Barcelona and it’s never horribly hot in the summer. The food is very good, especially the pastries. And for whatever reason, the coffee in Lisbon is much better than anywhere else. Lisbon is a hilly but walkable city with a bridge that looks exactly like San Francisco’s Golden Gate. Everything seems to be from another age: the street cars, the quaint cafes, tiny bookstores and quiet parks that dot the city. It seems to be a lost world, like scenes taken from Fernando Pessoa’s poems and novels. There are many types of accommodation – from apartments to boutique hotels – and it is wise to book early because Lisbon has become very popular with the budget-travel crowd. Here are my favorite hotels in the city.

Fontana Park
Rua Eng. Vieira da Silva 2
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 213 576 212
www.fontanaparkhotel.com

Bairro Alto Hotel
Praça Luís de Camões 8
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 213 408 288
www.bairroaltohotel.com

York House
Rua das Janelas Verdes, 32
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 21 396 24 35
www.yorkhouselisboa.com

Solar dos Mouros
Rua do Milagre de Santo António 6
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 21 885 49 40
http://solardosmouros.com/english/

Solar do Castelo
Rua das Cozinhas, 2
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 218 806 050
www.solardocastelo.com

Hotel Britania
R. Rodrigues Sampaio, 17
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 213 155 016
www.hotel-britania.com

Heritage Av Liberdade
Avenida da Liberdade 28
Lisbon, Portugal
+351 213 404 040
www.heritageavliberdade.com

Click here to see Mapplr’s favorite hotels in Lisbon on a Google map.

As reluctant as I was to write this week about Cento, a tiny cafe in San Francisco that serves very good coffee and until now, known only to those who live and work in SOMA, I am even more hesitant to reveal one of my favorite places to eat French food in San Francisco — Canteen in the Tenderloin neighborhood below Nob Hill. Canteen has been going strong for many years now and it has remained consistently good.

Canteen is a very small diner with a long counter and three tables that fit no more than four people. Maximum capacity of the space seems to be about 20. That means it’s difficult to get a reservation. Owner Dennis Leary, former chef at Rubicon, makes the most delicious French dishes. He does a prix fixe menu every Tuesday night, but if you can’t make it for dinner, there’s always lunch (Wednesday through Friday) and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Recently, I had dinner with friends, one of whom was celebrating his birthday, and the theme of the prix fixe menu was Normandy. You can imagine what came out of the kitchen, but what I remember most was a velouté made with fish which was simply divine.

• Vibe: simple, tiny unpretentious diner.

• Pros: prix fixe menu on Tuesday nights is the best value for money in SF if you like French food.

• Cons: difficult to get a reservation; he does two seatings which means you and your guests need to arrive on time if you reserve for the first seating.

Canteen
817 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
+1 415 928 8870
www.sfcanteen.com

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Related posts:

Reviews of SF restaurants
Google map of SF Bay Area restaurants and cafes

You can stay in Barcelona for months and never run out of places to eat. The city has such a variety of restaurants, cafes, tapas bars, Basque pincho bars (where I took the photo above) and food stands (in local markets like the Boqueria) that you’ll wonder if the residents ever cook their own meals. Here are my favorites in the city.

Kaiku
Plaça del Mar 1- 4
Barcelona, Spain
+34 932 219 082
Seafood

Dos Palillos
Elisabets 9
Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 040 513
www.dospalillos.com
Asian

Noti
Roger de Lluria, 35-37
Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 426 673
www.noti-universal.com

Gresca
Provença 230
Barcelona, Spain
+34 934 516 193
www.gresca.net
Modern bistro

Restaurant Embat
Mallorca 304
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 458 0855
www.restaurantembat.es
Bistro

Cuines De Santa Caterina
Avinguda Francesc Cambó 16
Barcelona, Spain
+34 932 689 918‎
www.cuinessantacaterina.com

Quimet y Quimet
Poeta Cabanyes, 25
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 442 3142

Inopia
Tamarit 104
Barcelona, Spain
+34 934 245 231
www.barinopia.com
Bar-restaurant

Fonda Gaig
Còrsega 200
Barcelona, Spain
+34 934 532 020
www.fondagaig.com
New Catalan cuisine: affordable brasserie in the Eixample district

El Quim de la Boqueria
586-606 Mercat de la Boqueria
La Rambla 101
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 301 98 10
Tapas bar inside the Boqueria market off La Rambla

Lluçanès
Plaça de la Font 1
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 224 25 25
www.restaurantllucanes.com

Els Fogons de la Barceloneta
Plaça de la Font
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 224 2626
www.restaurantllucanes.com/fogons/

El Vaso de Oro
Balboa 6
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 319 3098
Tapas bar at Barceloneta

La Cova Fumada
Baluard 56
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 221 40 61
Lunch-only tavern whose specialities are grilled squid and sardines

Tapaç 24
Diputacio 269
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 488 0977
www.comerc.com
Eixample neighborhood off Passeig de Gracia; owned by Carles Abellan (formerly of El Bulli)  who started Comerç 24

Click here to see a Google map of my favorite restaurants in Barcelona.

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Related articles:

Favorite budget hotels in Barcelona

Favorite boutique hotels in Barcelona

I hate giving away my secret favorites in San Francisco, but at some point, readers of this site expect me to disclose the hidden places that have good food or coffee. In this case it’s coffee — Blue Bottle Coffee. You don’t need to get into the long awful queue at the Ferry Building if you know about Cento, a tiny streetside cafe (no tables or chairs) in an alley off Brannan Street. If the weather is good, you can sit outside the building.

Cento
360 Ritch St
(at Brannan St)
San Francisco, CA

Click here to see a Google map of my favorite restaurants and cafes in SF (note: the cafes are in pink, Asian restaurants are green).

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Related articles:

Epicenter Cafe: good espresso in SOMA

The Creamery Cafe opens in SOMA

Best cafes in SF for espresso

It is that time of the year when people make travel plans for the summer. Because of the recession, many are wondering whether they should abandon their holiday plans altogether. Yet, this year more than any other in recent memory, has seen airlines, railway companies and hotels slash prices dramatically. There are so many bargains out there!

To encourage people to visit one of my favorite cities, Barcelona, I’ve decided to post a short list of budget hotels, including some very stylish hostels. Barcelona is simply magical: exploring the narrow alleys of El Born and the Barri Gotic, slipping into the intimate cafes near Santa Maria del Mar, sampling the delicious food at the Boqueria market and walking along the beach as the sun goes down, are experiences one never forgets. So check out the list below, make reservations, and head to Barcelona this summer.

B Hotel
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 389
+34 933 938 128
www.nnhotels.com
(near Plaza Espanya)

Granados 83
Avenida Diagonal
Enrique Granados 83
Barcelona, Spain
+34 934 929 670
http://granados.barcelonahotels.it

Chic & Basic
Princesa, 50
Barcelona, Spain
+ 34 93 295 46 52
www.chicandbasic.com/eng/hotel_born_barcelona/
(in the El Born neighborhood)

Gat Rooms – low cost stylish hostels with two locations

Hostal gat xino
Carrer Hospital, 155 – 1º
Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 324 88 33

Hostal gat raval
Carrer Joaquin Costa, 44- 1
Barcelona, Spain
+ 34 93 481 66 70
www.gatrooms.es

If you have more money to spare, check out my list of boutique hotels. They’re pricier but in this recession, they are offering a lot of discounts.

See the Google map of all my favorite hotels in Barcelona.

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If you have plans to visit Ibiza, make sure you check out our favorite hotels and restaurants:

Favorite hotels in Ibiza

Favorite restaurants in Ibiza