Madrid grew up around a royal court, and the city still shows it. Kids climb the grand staircase to the Throne Room, row a boat on the Retiro lake and follow peacocks through the palace gardens. Add a 2,200-year-old Egyptian temple, Las Meninas at the Prado and the plaque every Spanish road is measured from. Here's what we checked, from Plaza Mayor to the Bernabéu.
The largest royal palace in Western Europe has more than 3,000 rooms, and the self-guided route through the state halls takes in the grand staircase, the Throne Room, the Gasparini Room, the gala dining room and the Royal Chapel. Across the Plaza de la Armería courtyard, the Royal Armory holds the personal armor of Emperor Charles V and King Philip II, with knights mounted on armored horses.
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.
The city's big arcaded square is closed to traffic and walled in on all four sides, so kids can run the open paving around a bronze King Philip III on horseback. Count the nine arched gateways, then take the steep steps down through the Arco de Cuchilleros.
Street musicians and painters work the arcades, and on Sunday mornings collectors set up a stamp and coin market under the arches.
Spain's national art museum holds Velázquez's Las Meninas, Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights and Goya's Saturn. For kids, the Prado's own children's itinerary follows Infanta Margarita, the girl at the center of Las Meninas, and her friends through nine paintings, with free audio and short videos on the museum website. Holiday weekends add family workshops in the galleries.
A real Egyptian temple, built more than 2,200 years ago for Amun and Isis, rescued from the rising Nile and given to Spain in 1968 for its help saving the Abu Simbel temples. Inside are small, dim rooms with carved reliefs and a low-ceilinged terrace level. Outside, it stands over a pool, a short walk from Plaza de España.
Twenty hectares of romantic gardens below the Royal Palace, laid out so a long lawn climbs straight up to the palace facade. Peacocks wander the paths, two big old fountains mark the central avenue, and shady winding walks lead off on both sides. It is one of the quietest green spaces in the center, with a café terrace and public toilets inside.
The busy half-moon square where Spain measures its road distances from. Kids can stand on the Kilómetro Cero plaque set in the pavement, then look up at the clock on the Casa de Correos, whose chimes the whole country eats 12 grapes to at New Year.
Across the square, a bronze bear reaches into a strawberry tree, the city's symbol and its favorite meeting spot.
An observation deck at the top of the main tower of the Palacio de Cibeles, the city hall. The 360-degree view takes in Gran Vía, Calle de Alcalá, the Castellana and El Retiro, and maps on the deck help kids name the buildings they spot.
A lift goes up to floor 6E, then a staircase of 88 steps climbs the rest of the way.
The tour starts in the Real Madrid museum, an interactive, audiovisual walk past the club's trophies, including all 15 European Cups. From the third-tier stands, kids look down over the renovated stadium, then walk through the First Team dressing room and sit in the dugouts beside the pitch. Photo spots put them next to a favorite player or the Champions League trophy, and the route ends in the official store.
A chocolate café down a narrow passageway between Puerta del Sol and the Teatro Real, frying churros since 1894. Two floors of white marble tables and a tiled counter, with porras (thicker churros) and cakes too.
Kids dunk churros into cups of thick hot chocolate, a warm stop on a cold walk through the center. A sister shop across the square sells truffles and ice cream to take away.
A flea market of more than 1,000 stalls, recorded as early as 1740, that spreads from Plaza de Cascorro down the steep Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores and its side streets. Kids hunt trading cards, old magazines and records, kitchenware and odd objects of every age; each street has its own mix.
The shops stay open all week; the stalls come out on Sundays and holidays.
Madrid grew up around a royal court, and the city still shows it. Kids climb the grand staircase to the Throne Room, row a boat on the Retiro lake and follow peacocks through the palace gardens. Add a 2,200-year-old Egyptian temple, Las Meninas at the Prado and the plaque every Spanish road is measured from. Here's what we checked, from Plaza Mayor to the Bernabéu.
The largest royal palace in Western Europe has more than 3,000 rooms, and the self-guided route through the state halls takes in the grand staircase, the Throne Room, the Gasparini Room, the gala dining room and the Royal Chapel. Across the Plaza de la Armería courtyard, the Royal Armory holds the personal armor of Emperor Charles V and King Philip II, with knights mounted on armored horses.
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.
The city's big arcaded square is closed to traffic and walled in on all four sides, so kids can run the open paving around a bronze King Philip III on horseback. Count the nine arched gateways, then take the steep steps down through the Arco de Cuchilleros.
Street musicians and painters work the arcades, and on Sunday mornings collectors set up a stamp and coin market under the arches.
Spain's national art museum holds Velázquez's Las Meninas, Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights and Goya's Saturn. For kids, the Prado's own children's itinerary follows Infanta Margarita, the girl at the center of Las Meninas, and her friends through nine paintings, with free audio and short videos on the museum website. Holiday weekends add family workshops in the galleries.
A real Egyptian temple, built more than 2,200 years ago for Amun and Isis, rescued from the rising Nile and given to Spain in 1968 for its help saving the Abu Simbel temples. Inside are small, dim rooms with carved reliefs and a low-ceilinged terrace level. Outside, it stands over a pool, a short walk from Plaza de España.
Twenty hectares of romantic gardens below the Royal Palace, laid out so a long lawn climbs straight up to the palace facade. Peacocks wander the paths, two big old fountains mark the central avenue, and shady winding walks lead off on both sides. It is one of the quietest green spaces in the center, with a café terrace and public toilets inside.
The busy half-moon square where Spain measures its road distances from. Kids can stand on the Kilómetro Cero plaque set in the pavement, then look up at the clock on the Casa de Correos, whose chimes the whole country eats 12 grapes to at New Year.
Across the square, a bronze bear reaches into a strawberry tree, the city's symbol and its favorite meeting spot.
An observation deck at the top of the main tower of the Palacio de Cibeles, the city hall. The 360-degree view takes in Gran Vía, Calle de Alcalá, the Castellana and El Retiro, and maps on the deck help kids name the buildings they spot.
A lift goes up to floor 6E, then a staircase of 88 steps climbs the rest of the way.
The tour starts in the Real Madrid museum, an interactive, audiovisual walk past the club's trophies, including all 15 European Cups. From the third-tier stands, kids look down over the renovated stadium, then walk through the First Team dressing room and sit in the dugouts beside the pitch. Photo spots put them next to a favorite player or the Champions League trophy, and the route ends in the official store.
A chocolate café down a narrow passageway between Puerta del Sol and the Teatro Real, frying churros since 1894. Two floors of white marble tables and a tiled counter, with porras (thicker churros) and cakes too.
Kids dunk churros into cups of thick hot chocolate, a warm stop on a cold walk through the center. A sister shop across the square sells truffles and ice cream to take away.
A flea market of more than 1,000 stalls, recorded as early as 1740, that spreads from Plaza de Cascorro down the steep Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores and its side streets. Kids hunt trading cards, old magazines and records, kitchenware and odd objects of every age; each street has its own mix.
The shops stay open all week; the stalls come out on Sundays and holidays.