Covered markets, big malls and a cultural center with kids' films keep a wet weekend moving. Each kid picks a snack from a different counter at San Miguel or San Fernando, Xanadú has real snow and an aquarium under one roof, and Islazul pairs bowling with a cinema. Here's what we checked, from the toy floor at El Corte Inglés to a weekend market in an old train station.
A big two-floor shopping center off the A-5 where, for most families, the shops come second. Inside are SnoZone, an indoor ski slope with real snow all year, and Atlantis Aquarium, plus a bowling alley, pirate mini golf, a Cinesa cinema and SicherFun, a play area with a two-level ball pit and supervised games.
It suits a cold, wet or hot day, when kids need room to move.
A 1916 iron-and-glass market hall beside Plaza Mayor, now home to more than 20 food stands instead of grocers. Kids can peer at fish laid out on ice, point at stacked fruit, and pick their own small bites: croquetas, meatballs, a mini pizza or a pastry.
More than 7 million people visit each year, so it suits a quick grazing stop more than a long sit-down meal.
Westfield Parquesur is one of the biggest malls south of the city, and the kid draws sit under one roof: a LEGO Store with a Pick & Build wall and a build-a-minifigure station, Babylon Park with 110 arcade machines and six rides including a roller coaster and bumper cars, plus Bowling Sur and a Cinesa cinema. It suits a cold or rainy day.
Islazul is a big mall south of the city center with more than 180 shops and restaurants. For families the draw is Bolera Ilusiona: 18 American-style bowling lanes, billiards, an arcade with prize-ticket machines and a small play area for younger kids. Yelmo Cines sits in the same building, so bowling and a film fit into one rainy afternoon.
This El Corte Inglés spreads across four buildings between Puerta del Sol and Plaza de Callao. In the Callao building, toys fill the 3rd floor, kids' books and art supplies sit one floor up, and the 9th-floor food hall serves ice cream, burgers and pasta.
Kids' clothes, shoes and baby gear are on the 7th floor of the Preciados building. It suits a rainy-day toy browse or a cool break.
The first shopping center in the Madrid region, opened in 1983, with more than 200 shops across three floors around a skylit atrium. For kids the draw is the LEGO Store, with a Pick & Build wall of loose bricks and a station to build your own minifigure. Ozone Bowling adds lanes, arcade games and simulators, and Cines La Vaguada has eight screens for a rainy afternoon.
Lavapiés' municipal market, open since 1944, mixes old-school fruit, meat and fish stalls with counters cooking food from Mexico, Peru, Japan, Venezuela, Chile, Greece, Asturias and the Canary Islands. Kids can pick tacos, arepas or croquetas from different stands and eat at the shared tables in the central plaza. One stall, La Casquería, sells secondhand books by weight, so a young reader can fill a bag.
A three-floor market in Chueca, renovated to bring back the old neighborhood grocery: fresh fruit, ham, olive and flower stalls, counters cooking tapas and snacks, and a rooftop terrace at the top. Kids can point at olives and pickles in the curved glass counters, pick a snack from a different stand each, and ride the escalators between floors.
A cultural center run by Fundación Montemadrid in a 1913 neo-Mudéjar brick building. Families come for the weekend program of workshops, concerts and kids' films, and for the children's library, open most mornings and afternoons.
The building is free to walk around, with exhibitions, a cafe and a rooftop terrace with a vegetable garden that opens on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Moraleja Green is a two-building mall joined by a footbridge: the north building holds shops, a supermarket and the Cinesa Luxe cinema, the south one fashion and El Jardín, a garden courtyard of restaurants. Kids come for the bouncy castles, a giant one outdoors in El Jardín and an indoor play zone on the north building's second floor, plus free family events through the year.
A design and vintage market held one weekend a month inside the Museo del Ferrocarril, with more than 150 stalls set up between the old locomotives and carriages of the central hall. Outside are food trucks, terraces and a stage for live music. On Saturday afternoons a scale model railway in the garden gives small kids rides behind a miniature engine.
Covered markets, big malls and a cultural center with kids' films keep a wet weekend moving. Each kid picks a snack from a different counter at San Miguel or San Fernando, Xanadú has real snow and an aquarium under one roof, and Islazul pairs bowling with a cinema. Here's what we checked, from the toy floor at El Corte Inglés to a weekend market in an old train station.
A big two-floor shopping center off the A-5 where, for most families, the shops come second. Inside are SnoZone, an indoor ski slope with real snow all year, and Atlantis Aquarium, plus a bowling alley, pirate mini golf, a Cinesa cinema and SicherFun, a play area with a two-level ball pit and supervised games.
It suits a cold, wet or hot day, when kids need room to move.
A 1916 iron-and-glass market hall beside Plaza Mayor, now home to more than 20 food stands instead of grocers. Kids can peer at fish laid out on ice, point at stacked fruit, and pick their own small bites: croquetas, meatballs, a mini pizza or a pastry.
More than 7 million people visit each year, so it suits a quick grazing stop more than a long sit-down meal.
Westfield Parquesur is one of the biggest malls south of the city, and the kid draws sit under one roof: a LEGO Store with a Pick & Build wall and a build-a-minifigure station, Babylon Park with 110 arcade machines and six rides including a roller coaster and bumper cars, plus Bowling Sur and a Cinesa cinema. It suits a cold or rainy day.
Islazul is a big mall south of the city center with more than 180 shops and restaurants. For families the draw is Bolera Ilusiona: 18 American-style bowling lanes, billiards, an arcade with prize-ticket machines and a small play area for younger kids. Yelmo Cines sits in the same building, so bowling and a film fit into one rainy afternoon.
This El Corte Inglés spreads across four buildings between Puerta del Sol and Plaza de Callao. In the Callao building, toys fill the 3rd floor, kids' books and art supplies sit one floor up, and the 9th-floor food hall serves ice cream, burgers and pasta.
Kids' clothes, shoes and baby gear are on the 7th floor of the Preciados building. It suits a rainy-day toy browse or a cool break.
The first shopping center in the Madrid region, opened in 1983, with more than 200 shops across three floors around a skylit atrium. For kids the draw is the LEGO Store, with a Pick & Build wall of loose bricks and a station to build your own minifigure. Ozone Bowling adds lanes, arcade games and simulators, and Cines La Vaguada has eight screens for a rainy afternoon.
Lavapiés' municipal market, open since 1944, mixes old-school fruit, meat and fish stalls with counters cooking food from Mexico, Peru, Japan, Venezuela, Chile, Greece, Asturias and the Canary Islands. Kids can pick tacos, arepas or croquetas from different stands and eat at the shared tables in the central plaza. One stall, La Casquería, sells secondhand books by weight, so a young reader can fill a bag.
A three-floor market in Chueca, renovated to bring back the old neighborhood grocery: fresh fruit, ham, olive and flower stalls, counters cooking tapas and snacks, and a rooftop terrace at the top. Kids can point at olives and pickles in the curved glass counters, pick a snack from a different stand each, and ride the escalators between floors.
A cultural center run by Fundación Montemadrid in a 1913 neo-Mudéjar brick building. Families come for the weekend program of workshops, concerts and kids' films, and for the children's library, open most mornings and afternoons.
The building is free to walk around, with exhibitions, a cafe and a rooftop terrace with a vegetable garden that opens on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Moraleja Green is a two-building mall joined by a footbridge: the north building holds shops, a supermarket and the Cinesa Luxe cinema, the south one fashion and El Jardín, a garden courtyard of restaurants. Kids come for the bouncy castles, a giant one outdoors in El Jardín and an indoor play zone on the north building's second floor, plus free family events through the year.
A design and vintage market held one weekend a month inside the Museo del Ferrocarril, with more than 150 stalls set up between the old locomotives and carriages of the central hall. Outside are food trucks, terraces and a stage for live music. On Saturday afternoons a scale model railway in the garden gives small kids rides behind a miniature engine.