Barcelona Mum

Retiro Park

Madrid's principal public park is situated in the city centre. Besides the boating lake, the Rose Garden and many children’s playgrounds, it also hosts festivals, exhibitions, concerts and other events. The puppet shows are very popular with the kids at the weekend. 
Various Entrances: Plaza de la Independencia C./ Alcalá C./ O'Donnell Avenida Menéndez Pelayo C./ Alfonso XIII C./ Poeta Esteban Villegas. Metro Retiro, or Ibiza, Comments: All summer the Symphonic Municipal Band plays for free in the “Templete de Música” in the Retiro-Park every Sunday at 12pm classical Spanish music, right by the metro-station Retiro

Recommended by Maike Huebner

Casa de Campo

Its 1.800 hectares and its proximity to Madrid have made the casa de campo the principle “lung” of Madrid. It includes a lake, the city’s zoo and an amusement park, and although it is not as popular as the Retiro, it is very popular with madrileños families. It has considerable vegetation; oak trees, maple, chestnut, willows etc.  Boats can be rented on an artificial lake and refreshments can be had at any of the many stands while enjoying lovely views of Madrid. The Teleférico cable car is a fun way to get to the park and there is also an amuseument park there.
Paseo del Pintor Rosales. This ride offers outstanding views of the city from the sky.
Av. de Portugal  Metro: Lago

Comments:.
"We took the teleferico across to the park and spent a lovely day there" (KB)

Recommended by Kathy Burke

Parque Juan Carlos I

A huge park with many activities for kids. One of the attractions of the Juan Carlos I park is the Garden of Three Cultures (Jardin de las Tres Culturas), which contains three landscaped zones that represent the Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures. Apart from the rich variety of flora, the park is most famous for its state-of-the-art multimedia show (with illumination, water and music) held next to the Fountain of Cybernetics with about 9,000 places for spectators. Juan Carlos I Park offers a lot of space for jogging, cycling and sunbathing There is free bike hire, a kite flying zone, a tourist train ride and lots more.
Glorieta Hamburgo, 28042 Madrid Metro: Campo de las Naciones www.parquejuancarlos.net

Comments:
This park can be very cold in winter as it's very exposed, and very hot in summer as there is little shade. The rest of the year it’s great and the kids loved it especially the 2 large wooden ships to play on. You can also hire bikes for free

Recommended by Joy Mackie

Parque del Oeste

This park was designed as a  place for strolling and resting. This is an ideal play area for children, with it’s spacious stretches of lawn,  shady trees and sandy paths. Stroll around “La Rosaleda” where some of the most  gorgeous roses can be seen at an annual international rose contest held there.
Paseo del Pintor Rosales, s/n Metro: Moncloa (Close to Pza España)

Dehesa de La Villa

This park is located next to the Manzanares River and is full of pine  trees, although you can also see almond trees and cork trees as well. It has an exceptional view from northeast Dehesa of the Capital and its sunsets. There are a number of children’s playgrounds, terraced bars and cycle paths.
Metro: Francos Rodríguez.

Recommended by Tania Lopes

Jardín Botánico

The entrance to the Botanical Gardens is the Glorieta de Murillo right beside the Prado Museum. These gardens, contain about 30.000 different species of trees and plants from all over the world. The different sections are divided by magnificent avenues and each tree and plant is labeled with its Latin name and species. They also run workshops for families on Sundays and occasionally hold exhibitions there.
Hours 10 a.m. to 8p.m. daily. Small entrance fee.
Plaza de Murillo, 2.   28014 Madrid Tel. 91 420 30 17 inforjb@rjb.csic.es Metro: Atocha. www.rjb.csic.es

Comments:
"Before the kids started picking flowers for me this was a favourite spot to visit" (AL)

Recommended by Anne Lennon

Berlin Park

Made up of close to five hectares, it is home to monuments to Beethoven, and  Álvaro Iglesias and has play grounds and an auditorium The park boasts a lovely playground for real sports enthusiasts. Lots of children`s play areas.
Calle Ramon y Cajal / Calle Marcenado  91 588 29 00 metro Concha Espinas

Recommended by Maike Huebner

Cine Aventura Agui

This old cinema is now used as a play centre on two levels for kids. They have an area for under 3’s and the rest of the installations are suitable for kids up to 12 yrs. Open Mon -Fri 5-9pm Sat and Sun 11.30am  -2pm and 4.30 til 9pm
Prices are per hour or for every 30 mins after the first hour. You can also buy ‘bonos’ or passes for 10 visits which works out a bit cheaper. And you can arrange to have your child’s birthday party there. Small coffee shop on the top level.
C/ Alcalde Sáinz de Baranda, 26 Metro: Ibiza y Sainz de Baranda. 914008237  www.cineaventura.com

Comments:
"These centres are great in the winter to let the kids test their physical abilities. This one is our favourite" (KB)

Recommended by Kathy Burke