At a glance
Madrid offers a wide range of things to see and experience when visiting the city with children. Here are a few ideas...
Going on holiday with children isn't always easy, even when staying in a beautiful city! You often need to use your imagination to keep them entertained and find activities the whole family will enjoy.
Don't worry, it's easy to make sure your stay in the Spanish capital goes well with children and to combine a cultural visit with attractions they'll love. Here are our top tips, shared with us by the site https://bonjourmadrid.fr/!
Madrid's must-sees
Let's start with some good news! Most of Madrid's tourist attractions are perfectly manageable with children… The most popular spots are generally of interest to little ones and young teens alike. You can therefore easily plan your days by combining a classic activity for the whole family with an activity especially for children, drawing from our selection.
For example, did you know that Retiro Park, a must-see in the city, lets you organise several activities that children enjoy (boating on the lake, scooter rides, bike rental…)- The Palacio Real always impresses children, particularly the throne room, with its gilding, its genuine royal throne… And right next to it, the royal crown!
- The Temple of Debod, a genuine Egyptian monument right in the heart of the city, is so curious and unusual that it's sure to delight your children!
- Finally, in the most iconic neighbourhoods (Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Gran Vía…), you can always keep children entertained by popping into fun shops, or simply by buying them an ice cream or some churros!
Let's now look at 7 activities especially for children during your visit to Madrid.
1. The zoo-aquarium at Casa de Campo
The perfect place to delight children in Madrid is without doubt Casa de Campo.
First bit of good news: to get to Casa de Campo, your little family can take a cable car from the Paseo del Pintor Rosales station, right next to the Temple of Debod we mentioned earlier. This cable car offers a stunning view over a lovely part of Madrid, including the Royal Palace… As you know as well as we do, children love riding in these little cabins!
In practical terms, Casa de Campo is a huge park on the edge of the city, home to two brilliant attractions: a zoo-aquarium and a theme park!
Madrid's zoo-aquarium opened in 1972, but given its success, it's been renovated and expanded several times since. Today, you can see loads of animals there, such as bison, pandas, parrots, but also a shark, dolphins and even sea lions.
The price is €26.95 for adults, and €21.95 for children aged 3 to 7. Good news, it's free for under-3s!
Official website: https://www.zoomadrid.com/
2. Madrid's theme park
As we mentioned, Casa de Campo is also home to a real theme park! Founded in 1969, the park has been frequently updated to feature increasingly impressive and modern attractions. It's no coincidence that it now welcomes more than a million visitors a year.
Currently, this theme park has a roller coaster with a drop of nearly 50 m, an inverted roller coaster, a kind of spinning pirate ship, and many attractions and games for the little ones.
Expect to pay €32.90 for an adult, €25.90 for children between 100 and 140 cm tall… And €0 for little ones under one metre!
Official website: https://www.parquedeatracciones.es/
3. The Museum of Illusions
Right in the heart of Madrid, near Puerta del Sol, there's a small, enjoyable and affordable museum that's great for entertaining the little ones between two classic city-centre tourist activities.
As its name suggests, the Museum of Illusions is dedicated to various illusions, particularly optical illusions. Children and adults can visit many rooms offering a huge number of experiences, most of them immersive. These experiences are fun, interesting, and the explanations are also in French!
The visit lasts a little over an hour and costs €16 per adult, and €11 per child aged 4 to 12. For younger children, it's free. Note that there's a family rate. Admission is then €48 for two adults and two children.
Official website: https://museumofillusions.es/
4. The wax museum
Among the series of enjoyable small city-centre museums to visit between more traditional activities, Madrid's wax museum is another great option for easily keeping children entertained.
Located near Plaza de Colón, Madrid's wax museum is very well done. You can spot more than 450 figures and public personalities, from the worlds of sport (Cristiano Ronaldo…), politics, history, but also fiction. You can even come across several superheroes there! And to top it all off, the museum also offers 3 attractions: a ghost train, a journey-to-the-centre-of-the-Earth simulator, and a 3D film on the history of Spain.
Expect to pay €19 per adult, €14 for children aged 4 to 14, and €0 for toddlers.
Official website: https://www.museoceramadrid.com/
5. Faunia
Located near the Valdebernardo metro station on line 9, Faunia is much more than just a zoo… Its 14 hectares are a genuine love letter to nature.
Faunia park is organised into zones that recreate the Earth's different ecosystems, such as the jungle, the poles or the African savannah. Children can encounter sheep, ponies, goats, donkeys, but also seals, ocelots, lemurs, armadillos, marmosets, many reptiles and even dolphins! To top it all off, Faunia offers a varied programme of activities for children.
It's worth knowing that tickets are cheaper when bought online! It then costs €16.90 for adults and children over 3. Admission is free for under-3s.
Official website: https://www.faunia.es/
Let's finish our selection with two slightly out-of-the-way activities that are well worth the detour:
6. Water park
Let's start with the Aquopolis water park! Located about forty kilometres west of the Spanish capital, this water park is ideal when you want to entertain the children and cope pleasantly with the heat.
With around twenty attractions, 2,000 m² of fine sandy beach and activities split into three intensity levels, it's truly a place not to be missed if you have the time. Read this guide put together by the Bonjour Madrid team to find out more, particularly about the best ways to get there from the city centre.
Official website: https://villanueva.aquopolis.es/
7. Micropolix
Another original, slightly out-of-the-way activity, Micropolix is a real city built to children's scale! This 12,000-square-metre mini-city is located in San Sebastián de los Reyes, about 30 kilometres from central Madrid.
The concept behind Micropolix is original, interesting and educational all at once: the little ones are in charge of running the city, with its squares, streets, banks, town hall, hospital, supermarket, police station… But that's not all! By making themselves useful to the community, children earn (fictional) money that they can use to have fun on site!
Official website: https://micropolix.com/
Article written in collaboration with “Bonjour Madrid”.
“Bonjour Madrid is a travel blog that shares all the best tips for Madrid. It's a great site to find out which monument to visit, which neighbourhood to explore, or which restaurant to eat at!”
Also read the articles "Visiting London with children", "Visiting Berlin with children" and "Visiting Milan with children".
