Water makes any park day easier: kids stay busy with ducks, bridges and a rowing boat while parents sit down. Retiro and Casa de Campo rent boats by the hour, and the lakes in Pozuelo and Parque Juan Carlos I are free to wander. Here's what we checked, from rowing boats to quiet garden canals.
Rowing boats on El Retiro's big lake, dug in the 1630s for royal water shows and mock sea battles. Families take turns at the oars and row out toward the Alfonso XII monument, with its curved colonnade and horseback statue on the shore. Two of the 100 boats open at the back so a wheelchair rolls straight on.
El Retiro spreads 125 hectares of lawns, shady paths and formal gardens around a big rowing lake, watched over by the Alfonso XII monument. Kids hunt for the Fallen Angel statue, peer into the restored Monkey Pit from the old royal menagerie, and watch puppets at the Teatro de Títeres. Playgrounds of different sizes are spread through the park, and the wide paved paths suit scooters, skates and bikes.
Casa de Campo is the city's biggest park: 1,535 hectares of pine and oak woodland west of the river. Families come for the lake, where you can rent a rowing boat, and for a string of play areas with a castle, a pirate ship, a giant rope pyramid, zip lines and a long tube slide. A flat 4 km nature trail follows a stream away from the lake.
Parque Juan Carlos I spreads over 160 hectares around a one-kilometer ring, with a 1.9 km ría crossed by footbridges, a lake, an old olive grove and 19 giant outdoor sculptures. Kids get several play areas, including a wooden pirate ship, plus fountains and water jets, a mini train and bike loans, so it suits a whole morning on wheels.
Two man-made lakes crossed by several bridges anchor this park in north Pozuelo, with a spurting geyser and children's playgrounds beside the water. Paths wind around the lakes, with benches for parents to watch from.
El Capricho is a duchess's 18th-century garden full of follies: a laurel hedge maze, a small brick fort, a boathouse on a winding canal, temples and fountains. Kids hunt for black swans, ducks and red squirrels and try to get lost in the maze. It is a walking garden, so balls, bikes, scooters, picnics and dogs stay outside.
Water makes any park day easier: kids stay busy with ducks, bridges and a rowing boat while parents sit down. Retiro and Casa de Campo rent boats by the hour, and the lakes in Pozuelo and Parque Juan Carlos I are free to wander. Here's what we checked, from rowing boats to quiet garden canals.
Rowing boats on El Retiro's big lake, dug in the 1630s for royal water shows and mock sea battles. Families take turns at the oars and row out toward the Alfonso XII monument, with its curved colonnade and horseback statue on the shore. Two of the 100 boats open at the back so a wheelchair rolls straight on.
El Retiro spreads 125 hectares of lawns, shady paths and formal gardens around a big rowing lake, watched over by the Alfonso XII monument. Kids hunt for the Fallen Angel statue, peer into the restored Monkey Pit from the old royal menagerie, and watch puppets at the Teatro de Títeres. Playgrounds of different sizes are spread through the park, and the wide paved paths suit scooters, skates and bikes.
Casa de Campo is the city's biggest park: 1,535 hectares of pine and oak woodland west of the river. Families come for the lake, where you can rent a rowing boat, and for a string of play areas with a castle, a pirate ship, a giant rope pyramid, zip lines and a long tube slide. A flat 4 km nature trail follows a stream away from the lake.
Parque Juan Carlos I spreads over 160 hectares around a one-kilometer ring, with a 1.9 km ría crossed by footbridges, a lake, an old olive grove and 19 giant outdoor sculptures. Kids get several play areas, including a wooden pirate ship, plus fountains and water jets, a mini train and bike loans, so it suits a whole morning on wheels.
Two man-made lakes crossed by several bridges anchor this park in north Pozuelo, with a spurting geyser and children's playgrounds beside the water. Paths wind around the lakes, with benches for parents to watch from.
El Capricho is a duchess's 18th-century garden full of follies: a laurel hedge maze, a small brick fort, a boathouse on a winding canal, temples and fountains. Kids hunt for black swans, ducks and red squirrels and try to get lost in the maze. It is a walking garden, so balls, bikes, scooters, picnics and dogs stay outside.