15 Best Sights in Madrid, Spain

Over five times the size of New York's Central Park, Casa de Campo is Madrid’s largest park and a nature-lover’s paradise, complete with bike trails, picnic tables, pine forests, lakeside restaurants (seek out Villa Verbena, run by the folks behind Triciclo in Barrio de las Letras), and a public outdoor pool (€5 entry). See if you can spot wildlife like hawks, foxes, hares, and red squirrels—and, from November to May, a flock of sheep cared for by a real-deal shepherd. The park's name ("country house") is a holdover from when the grounds were the royal family's hunting estate. It became public property in May 1931 with the arrival of the Spanish Second Republic, which dissolved royal landholdings.

Once the private playground of royalty, Madrid's main park—which was granted World Heritage status in 2021 by UNESCO—is a 316-acre expanse of formal gardens, fountains, lakes, exhibition halls, children's play areas, and outdoor cafés. There is a puppet theater featuring slapstick routines that even non-Spanish-speakers will enjoy; shows are free and generally take place on weekends at 12:30 pm. The park is especially lively on weekends, when it fills with buskers, jugglers, and other street performers as well as hundreds of Spaniards out for exercise. There are occasional concerts in summer. From the entrance at Puerta de Alcalá, head to the park's center, where you'll find the estanque (pond), presided over by a grandiose equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII erected by his mother.

The 19th-century Palacio de Cristal, southeast of the estanque, was built as a steel-and-glass greenhouse for exotic plants—and, horrifically, tribesmen displayed in a "human zoo"—from the Philippines, a Spanish colony at the time, and is now a free-admission art exhibition space. Next door is a small lake with ducks, swans, and gnarled swamp trees. Along the Paseo del Uruguay at the park's south end is the Rosaleda (Rose Garden), an explosion of color and heady aromas. West of the Rosaleda, look for a statue called the Ángel Caído (Fallen Angel), a rare depiction of the Prince of Darkness falling from grace. In February 2023, the Montaña Artificial ("Man-Made Mountain") at the northeast corner of the park reopened after nearly 20 years of neglect. Built in 1817, the pink building with a vaulted ceiling was a folly of Ferdinand VII and has a waterfall and cats galore. 

This is many Madrileños' favorite park for its pristine yet unmobbed paths and well-pruned lawns and flower beds. From dawn to dusk, expect to see dogs cavorting off-leash, couples sprawled out beneath the trees, and groups of friends playing frisbee and fútbol. From Paseo del Pintor Rosales, meander downhill toward Avenida de Valladolid, crossing the train tracks, and you'll hit Madrid Río; walk southwest and you'll find Temple of Debod and, beyond, the newly pedestrianized Plaza de España. This park also contains the city's only cable car (see "Teleférico") and, 100 yards beneath it, a rose garden (Rosaleda  free entry) containing some 20,000 specimens of more than 650 rose varieties that reach their peak in May. In the quieter northern section of the park (along Avenida de Séneca), you'll happen upon Civil War–era bunkers interspersed among plane-tree-lined promenades, a sobering reminder that Parque del Oeste was the western front of Madrid's resistance against Franco's armies.

The so-called ghost station of Chamberí is now a locomotive museum managed by Metro Madrid. It occupies the grand old Chamberí Station, built in 1919 and defunct since 1966. There are vintage advertisements, old maps, and other memorabilia. Tours (free) and placards are in Spanish only.  Don't wait for staff to come fetch you after watching the introductory film—just head down to the platform.

Unlike El Retiro and Western Park, this secluded 158-acre park is mostly forested and unlandscaped, making it ideal for disconnecting in nature. Its location in the Ciudad Universitaria neighborhood makes it a popular meeting place for university students in warm-weather months. You won't run into any tourists here.

This UFO-like tower is 360 feet tall and an excellent viewpoint from which to gaze at some of the city’s most outstanding buildings including the Palacio Real, Palacio de Cibeles (City Hall), the four skyscrapers to the north, and up to 50 landmarks for which you’ll find descriptions in English and Spanish.

Madrid Río takes in some 32 km (20 miles) of green space and bike-friendly paths along the lazy, shallow Manzanares River, beginning at the Puente de los Franceses in the northwest and terminating at the Pasarela Legazpi in the southeast (though footpaths extend much farther south). A popular place to enter is Puente de Segovia, downhill from the Palacio Real; a Christmas market is held here with craft kiosks and food stalls. Outdoor concerts (check out the Veranos de la Villa series; lineups are posted online) and informal riverside dining round out the park’s offerings. Note to nature lovers: Madrid Río connects to Casa de Campo, Western Park, and Madrid's 64-km (40-mile) Anillo Verde (Green Ring) bike path.

An unrenovated building and budget-friendly tapas and groceries make this market a local favorite for both shopping and snacking. The hangar-like space is at its busiest on Saturday from noon to 3 pm, when seafood stalls transform into makeshift fish and shellfish restaurants, frying, steaming, and boiling their freshest wares and serving them on plastic plates alongside jugs of unlabeled table wine—quite the party. 

Forget the architectural fruit displays and polished tapas stalls of Mercado de San Miguel or Mercado de la Paz—this market's allure is its rough-and-ready atmosphere, neighborhood crowd, and rock-bottom prices. In the morning and late afternoon, you'll spot locals filling their shopping carts with always-fresh meat and produce; from 1:30 to 3 pm, all three floors teem with families and workers on their lunch break scoping out menú del día (set meal) options.

This museum boasts three large floors filled with Spanish relics, artifacts, and treasures ranging from ancient history to the 19th century. Among the highlights are La Dama de Elche, the bust of a wealthy 5th-century-BC Iberian woman (notice that her headgear vaguely resembles the mantillas and hair combs still associated with traditional Spanish dress); the ancient Visigothic votive crowns discovered in 1859 near Toledo, believed to date back to the 7th century; and the medieval ivory crucifix of Ferdinand and Sancha. There is also a replica of the early cave paintings in Altamira (access to the real thing, in Cantabria Province, is highly restricted).

Consider getting the multimedia guide offering select itineraries to make your visit more manageable.

The intricate, over-the-top 18th-century doorway to this museum, formerly a hospice, is one of the finest pieces of baroque civil architecture in Spain, so it's a wonder that what lies beyond it flies under the radar of most tourists. Painted fans, period clothing, gleaming china and porcelain, and an exhibit on the Dos de Mayo Uprising are the main attractions, and there are usually a few paintings on loan from the Prado as well.

Fossils, gems, minerals, and more glitter beneath the lights at this under-the-radar museum housed in a hundred-year-old neoclassical building. 

Spring and fall are the best times to jog, stroll, or picnic in this tranquil park with none of the tourist hustle and bustle of El Retiro. Come mid-May, Parque de San Isidro becomes party central with the arrival of the eponymous fiestas; bring family and friends and enjoy the fireworks, concerts, street food (rosquillas! chorizo hoagies!), and rides. Steer clear of this area after sunset.

You don’t have to be a horticulturalist to appreciate the breadth of the exotic plant collection here. Opened in 1781 and emblematic of the Age of Enlightenment, this lush Eden of bonsais, orchids, cacti, and more houses more than 5,000 species of living plants and trees in just 20 acres. Its dried specimens number over a million, and many were brought back from exploratory voyages to the Americas.

Kids and adults alike appreciate the sweeping views from this retro cable car, which swoops you 2.5 km (1.6 miles) from the Rosaleda gardens (in Parque del Oeste) to the center of Casa de Campo in about 10 minutes. If you're feeling active, take a (very) long hike to the top and ride back into the city, or pause in Casa de Campo for primo picnicking.

This is not the best way to get to the zoo and theme park, located approximately 2 km (1 mile) from the drop-off point in Casa de Campo. You're better off riding the Teléferico out and back, then taking the bus to the zoo.