Family Holidays Overview
- European Destinations
- Rest of World Destinations
Family Holidays: Madrid family holidays and breaks
Take the Family holiday rating 
Why
Enjoying its new reputation as one of the party hot-spots of Europe, Madrid has a lot more to offer than just unadulterated night time fun. It is the capital of Spain, situated in the centre of Iberia, on a fairly bleak and vegetation-less plateau, baking in summer, chilly in winter. Despite its long and romantic history, it is maybe, the most modern of Spanish cities and after years of problems and neglect, is finally beginning to come into its own. Don’t come here for the beautiful buildings, or climate – maybe perhaps for the paintings (the Prado), come for the culture, the people, the cafes. It is a city that hums with life, often eccentric, (think Almodova films), but always fun and back to the nightlife, don’t forget that the Spanish take their kids out with them at night and that dinner often starts at 10. Plan your day accordingly.
- Top left: Prado museum
- Top middle: The Neptuno fountain
- Top right: Plaza de Espagna
- Bottom left: The Royal Palace
- Bottom right: Madrid cable car
When
As in much of Spain, spring, from March to May, and October are great times to travel to Madrid. The weather is generally mild and it isn't too packed with tourists. May is also a great time to go because of Madrid's biggest fiestas, the Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid (2 May) and Fiestas de San Isidro (15 May), be aware though that accommodation is trickier to find during this period, so do book ahead.
Do
Take the kids to the Palacio Real – an enormous, sumptuously decorated palace, which boasts more rooms than any other European palace, more books, more treasures etc etc – Mad Baroque at its most showy best. Don’t even attempt to see everything, its much better to give children just a taster and then hurry them away, hopefully they’ll be tempted to come back for more. Take an exciting 15 minute trip on the Teleférico, a cable car that takes you from Paseo del Pintor Rosales, (Metro Argüelles or Moncloa), to the Casa de Campo, where you will also find Parque de Atracciones, Madrid's main amusement park . Try out the weekend flea market, El Rastro. This gargantuan, thriving, crazy shambles of a street market is wonderful. Keep a close eye on your children though, maybe even chain them to you, it is not a place to lose them, but as long as you have them close to hand, you will have a great day. It is probably a better place to go people-watching than shopping, as although you can buy almost anything here, the days when you could find Old Masters and Roman coins hidden under kitchen wares are gone. Go to the Prado, it is Madrid’s premiere tourist site and one of the most important art collections in the world. Get small children interested by doing trails – ‘who can find the most animals in any one picture’ etc and let the older children wander at will and you will all enjoy it. There are Bosches, Velazquezes, Goyas, Titians and El Grecoes here (not sure you can actually pluralize them!). It is open late and has a good restaurant and café to keep you going. For footie fans, take the kids on a tour of Real Madrid's famous Santiago Bernabéu stadium, where kids under 14 get a reduced rate. You can see the President's Box, the dressing room, the players' tunnel, the benches and coaching area, the pitch itself, the Trophy Room and of course the official Real Madrid shop.
Eat
Madrid is a melting pot of older Spanish cuisines and enjoys some of the best and freshest food of the whole country. You will be able to eat very well here although you will find yourself mainly eating Spanish, a capital city it might be, it has yet to embrace international cuisine and who are we to argue when local food is so good. Specialities typical of Madrid include: chickpea stew, garlic soup, snails, potato omelette and baked bream - a fairly strange list, but don’t forget all the delicious tapas and other Spanish delicacies to be had.
Travel reading
Why not recommend a book? Search through Amazon.co.uk using the box below and then contact us with your recommendation.
Search Amazon.co.uk
Search our site
