A comprehensive family guide to visiting Madrid with kids, including the top things to do in Madrid with family, must-see sites and kid-friendly attractions.
In the last few days, I have been writing extensively about Madrid, going through my favourite itinerary, restaurants and day trip from the city.
So far, however, I haven’t covered one of the main aspects that make me go back over and over again: how family-friendly Madrid is and how easy it is to visit Madrid with kids.
There are many attractions in Madrid for kids, from its zoo to its theme parks, but what I think makes it suited for a family vacation is that it is so rich of sights and easy to navigate that you don’t have to sacrifice sightseeing to make your little ones happy.
This is, to me, what makes it ideal for a city break with kids.
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Top things to do in Madrid with kids: practical tips
The easiest way to enjoy Madrid is by public transport. Buses and an excellent metro system serve the whole city and while not all stations are accessible to buggies, many are.
You can find the official list of Madrid’s accessible metro stations here.
Tickets are sold in all metro stations and you have several options including single journey and the tourist card, handy for multiple journeys. Children under 11 pay half price.
If you prefer, excellent hop-on hop-off bus tours are also available and are a good option especially for visitors with only a short time in the city. You can book your tickets in advance here
Going to Madrid with kids? Don’t forget to also check out our family guide to Madrid’s best areas and hotels for families.
What to do in Madrid with kids: sightseeing
Take a stroll in its charming city centre streets
One of the best things to do in Madrid with family is to take a stroll in its beautiful city centre.
Madrid city centre gets very busy and must-see squares such as Porta del Sol or even beautiful Plaza Mayor can be a challenge if visiting Madrid with a toddler and a buggy or stroller.
However, as soon as you leave these majour landmarks you find many small streets with limited traffic but loads of charm.
Restaurants and cafes are everywhere and many have areas that are specifically designed for kids with books, toys and sometimes workshops adults and kids can take together (usually advertised on the shop windows).
See Madrid’s main landmarks
The following are some of Madrid’s landmark you can include in your itinerary when visiting Madrid with children.
Plaza Santa Ana and the surrounding streets leading to El Prado Museum: this area is full of restaurant and cafes and Plaza Santa Ana has a small playground with climbing frames little kids will love.
Plaza Mayor is an imposing square entirely enclosed by beautiful buildings. it can get busy but kids will love the fact that is close to traffic and may even get street performers to keep them entertained for a while!
Nearby Mercado De San Miguel is a great spot for lunch as it offers great variety and the informal atmosphere of the market: try to avoid the busiest lunch and evening meal times, especially if you have a buggy with you, as there is very little elbow room: the place gets packed!
Atocha station: always a hit with kids for two main characteristics: the speed trains that depart from here and the fact that the station is built like a greenhouse and host high palm trees.
Royal Palace: a beautiful building surrounded by stunning gardens, the royal palace sits on a large square with street performers, cafes and a public, manicured green space. Running in the large esplanade in front of the castle, with live music as a companion, is one of the most pleasant things to do in Madrid for kids.
Madrid Museums: Madrid is full of beautiful museums and some of them can be easily visited with children. The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, near Atocha, offers workshops and family events and so does the Thyssen Bornemitza gallery (ask at the reception desk for the family programme).
Another museum older kids might enjoy is the Naval Museum that hosts, among other memorabilia, a world map dating back to the 1500s
leisurely strolls are always my favourite part of a city break with kids as they give me a sense of how it would be like to be a local
Top tip for families visiting Madrid with kids: I was pleasantly surprised to find many small urban playgrounds in and around Madrid’s city centre. Sometimes the play equipment is inside parks and green spaces, but often it can be found in otherwise unused city corners. Despite these unexpected locations, the ones we saw were well equipped and properly mainained.
Notice its colourful details
Madrid is a busy, elegant city but it is also a very colourful one. Street art, multi-coloured tiles and architectural details brighten up its bustling streets, creating an interesting juxtaposition with its more monumental landmarks.
Tip for families visiting Madrid with kids: Madrid’ s colours are often in the details and you can easily miss them if rushing through its most touristy streets. I find the best way to get the kids to engage with their surroundings is ‘I spy’ games: the excitement of spotting what they were challenged to find makes even a shop front something to remember and a great way to make them think, even if just for a minute, about how different the city is from their own. I also find they force ME to pay more attention and be in the moment, something not always simple with children around!
Admire its imaginative street performers
While walking through Madrid’s city centre, my mind lost in wanderlust-filled thought, I was suddenly brought back down to reality by a goat screaming at me ‘MEEEEEEEEEHHHHH’!
It wasn’t, of course, a real goat, you will not find any of those in the heart of this capital city, but rather a street performer who sits quietly in the street with a goat costume and makes its presence known giving a fright to distracted tourists!
He/she was only one of the many street performers we encountered (and surely the funniest one). Dance and circus acts seemed to be everywhere and they give the city a buzzing and dynamic vibe.
Seek out its unusual architecture
Madrid is a city with a long history and this is reflected in its varied architecture: baroque churches sit side by side with flashy skyscrapers, creating an architectural continuum that spans over the course of many centuries.
Some buildings stretch your sense of time and space: did you know that Madrid has a true ancient Egyptian temple right in the city centre? And that from it you can reach the XVI century Royal palace with a short walk?
The photo of the temple of Debod always tricks me into thinking it is taken in Egypt but no, it’s right in the heart of the Spanish capital!
The temple of Debod is one of the most peculiar buildings in Madrid. It is an original Egyptian temple dating back to the II century B.C. and it came to the city at the time of the construction of the Aswan dam, to protect it and preserve it. At first sight, the temple might seem out of place in the centre of the Iberian peninsula but Madrid has managed to include it the city life, transforming it into an incredible backdrop for music festival and events
Top tip for families visiting Madrid with kids: Do not presume that Madrid attractions such as the Debod temple or Atocha station, with its beautiful architectural lines, will be boring for kids. The temple is surrounded by a lovely park (there is even a cable car, for great views over the city, a children favourite!) and Atocha is decorated with plants so high it is reminiscent of a Victorian greenhouse
Madrid with children: Madrid’s most beautifuk parks
Madrid is a very green city.
Its wide boulevards are often lined by tall trees and manicured lawns and parks such as Casa de Campo or El Retiro are great for picnics and a for letting the kids run around: they are the perfect oasis to take a break while visiting Madrid with children.
Casa de campo is one of the largest parks in Madrid and has many attractions for adults and kids including a rose garden and a cable car
One of the most popular spots for families visiting Madrid with kids is the park El Retiro, located just beside the Prado museum and within easy reach from many of Madrid’s landmarks.
The park was originally the property of the Royal family and its beautiful architecture bears witness of the experienced hands of architects and landscapers that shaped it, but it is now a public space and one families love.
The area close to El Retiro is a great base to visit Madrid: you can find family friendly accommodation options in Madrid in this post, where i list my favourite neighbourhoods, hotel and tourist apartments for families.
Top tip for families visiting Madrid with kids: as well as the big parks, I have found many smaller spaces that are equipped for kids. Many larger plazas have either green patches or full on play equipment for little ones and often have street performers to keep adults and kids entertained (see also below): this makes for easy frequent stops without bringing you away from your sightseeing itinerary
Madrid for kids: theme parks and animal encounters
Madrid has several areas that are equipped especially for kids. Among the most popular you will find:
Parque de attractiones
Located in Casa de Campo, the large green space at the back of the Royal palace, el Parque de Attractiones is an amusement park with rollercoasters and rides for all ages. Little children will meet characters like tv heroes Dora and Diego and can have lunch at the Nickelodeon cafe, while older kids (8+) are likely to get excited by the many rides. The park is very popular especially in summer when many attractions include splashing about in the water.
Madrid Zoo Aquarium
located in casa de campo, just beside the Parque de attractiones, Madrid zoo hosts over 6000 animals of 500 different species, including pandas and gorillas. The zoo also has a shark tank, a petting zoo and a small train kids love. You can find more information about the zoo here
Parque Warner
Located outside Madrid city centre, Parque Warner, like the name suggests is a theme park devoted to the Looney Toons and the super heroes of the Warner Bros family.
This park competes with main European attractions such as Disneyland Paris and covers over 150 acres of land: plan ahead to make sure the kids have the time to meet the characters of their dreams!
Advance booking recommended: you can buy your tickets HERE
Faunia
Faunia is not a theme park as such but a space in between a park and a zoo: it is a large, natural area where animals are left free to roam around.
The space has four areas replicating four ecosystems so that animals from several parts of the world can feel at home. One of the most popular areas is the one recreating the South Pole, where kids can see penguins.
Please note: we haven’t been to Faunia and I have not researched how sustainable for the animals this attraction is – I am including it in this list on this list for information purposed only.
Best food in Madrid for kids? Churros and chocolate!
If all of the above hasn’t made your kids fall in love with Madrid, the city has one last trick up its shoulder: churros and chocolate!
Churros are a sweet treat made of deep fried dough sprinkled with sugar: they are served piping hot and with a cup of hot chocolate and you have to dunk the in it before taking a bit. They are delicious, kids adore them and they have an ancient and somewhat mysterious history.
Some sources say that churros were originally an invention of nomadic Spanish shepherds who named this delicacy after the ‘Navajo-Churro sheep’, whose horns has a shape not dissimilar to the churros we eat today
A different version of the story says that they were originally created by the Portuguese, who discovered a similar food in China and imported it back to Europe when coming back from their commerce in the far East.
Whatever version of the story we go for, there is no doubt that churros are delicious and a sure success with even the fussiest of eaters! The establishment of choice to taste them is the legendary Chocolateria San Gines, in Madrid city centre.
Do you enjoy city breaks with kids? Visiting a big city with children can be challenging but I love to find ways to make a city child-friendly: do you have tips for city travel with kids? Please share them in the comments!
Discover all you can do in Madrid with kids! Kid friendly attractions and neighbourhoods, parks, museum and best areas for a stroll and a rest. A family guide to visit Madrid with kids.
I hope you found the answer to the question: what are the best things to do with kids in Madrid. Safe Travels!
The attractions and establishments in this post are for information purpose only and we received no compensation for the inclusion.We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Madrid is definitely on my list of places I want to travel. I am taken by that photo of the temple of Debod, what a unique structure. I don’t have kids yet but it’s okay, I can enjoy Madrid by myself haha…
Great idea on the I spy game. Good for all of us kids 🙂
This is a great post that I’ll share with my friends who have kids. Madrid is such a gorgeous city! I’ll join Shelly with the I spy game 🙂
Ha! My partner is in Madrid as I type this. Now I’m even more jealous! I love that you captured the street performers. They are often overlooked.
Wowwww, Madrid is beautiful! It’s always been on my bucket list! So many things to do here, sounds like such an amazing time 😀
We don’t have kids ourselves, but my nephews would be mesmerized by the street performers and the architecture especially. We usually try to find parks when traveling with them since it’s a way for them to run wild and release some energy!
Parks are a great reasource with kids! I also always look for them as I can sit down while they run wild (yes, I can be very lazy LOL)
Oh yes, I’m coming to Madrid next year!
This! Xx
I don’t have kids yet but I know I will enjoy it with my partner! ha ha
Oh you will!! It’s a great city with kids but even better without ? I have a great list of restaurants, you’ll be spoilt for choice in Madrid!
If I were a kid and was strolling along the streets of Madrid, I would definitely be enthralled by the colourful street performers.
They are really fun and imaginative: the goat a bit on the scary side, but in a good way 🙂
Glad to know that Madrid is family friendly! My surname is actually Madrid that’s why I’ve always wanted to go to Spain and visit Madrid. Still thinking if it’s worth living there. hehe
Hahah people might get confused but I feel you must go just to see what happens 🙂
I don’t have kids yet but I know I’ll love Madrid. I want to have a photo walk there soon! I would love to take photos of those creative performers
I think you’d find a lot to photograph: there is also a lot of street art that is really worth checking out
Madrid is such a great walkable city! When I was in Madrid pre-kids, we were at the Retiro Park and saw a Japanese wedding party fall in the water. so funny, my kids would have killed themselves with that scene. Street performers, parks, architecture – plenty to keep the kids entertained wile they are walking.
That must have been so fun to watch! I hope they had a good dose of self irony and were able to laugh at it – must have made for priceless wedding photos LOL
You speak my language. I learned a few travel trips ago that we need to have small parks close by or knowledge of where to find them to keep the kids happy on longer days in cities. Glad to hear that Madrid will be good for this.
Next year – Madrid and some more Spain! Thanks for the tips!
You can never go wrong with Spain, I hope you have a great time!
I went to Madrid when I was in high school and have great memories…although now after reading this I want to go back!
I have a bot of a city-crush on Madrid and I’ve been lucky to go many times: I never tire of it! I hope you can go back, it is always such a special place, with all its art and amazing food
I’ve just stumbled across your blog and as a fellow lover of city breaks with my kids, I am so happy to have found it! We’re off to Madrid later this week with our 3 year old twins. They’ve just got into to playing I Spy and I really agree it makes me slow down and really look at what’s around me.