Madrid is a frenetic city, but also one of Europe's greenest capitals. Here is where to find some calm between sights.
Parks and gardens
- Retiro Park: 125 hectares in the heart of the city, a UNESCO site, with the big lake where you can hire rowing boats, the Crystal Palace, the rose garden, the Fallen Angel monument and avenues full of street performers. On Sundays it is Madrid's living room.
- Real Jardín Botánico: next to the Prado, founded by Charles III in the eighteenth century, with glasshouses and plants from all over the world.
- Madrid Río: the linear park along the Manzanares, built over the buried ring road, with cycle paths, bridges and urban beaches for children.
- Casa de Campo: the former royal hunting ground, five times the size of Central Park, with a lake, the cable car from Parque del Oeste and the zoo.
- El Capricho: an eighteenth-century romantic garden created by the Duchess of Osuna, open only at weekends.
- Parque del Oeste and its rose garden, and the Sabatini Gardens in front of the Royal Palace, ideal at sunset.
Baths and wellness
Hammam Al Ándalus, near Plaza Mayor, recreates the Arab baths of al-Andalus with hot, warm and cold pools, steam room and massages in candlelit surroundings. The city also has hotel spas and public wellness centres.
Terraces and sunsets
Rooftop terraces are perfect for an aperitif: the Círculo de Bellas Artes, the Palacio de Cibeles terrace and the hotels of Gran Vía and Plaza de España. The most famous sunset is seen from the Temple of Debod. In summer the kiosks (terrazas) along Paseo de la Castellana and in the parks stay open late.
Out of town
In the Sierra de Guadarrama, under an hour away, a national park offers trails, pine forests and glacial lakes, and small ski slopes in winter. Villages such as Cercedilla, Rascafría with the El Paular monastery, Manzanares el Real with its castle and Chinchón, with its arcaded square, make perfect quiet day trips. See the Community of Madrid and our Madrid guide.