Madrid Family Holidays & Breaks
Take the Family is a travel agency specialising in active, adventure and luxury holidays. Your personal travel advisor will create the perfect Madrid holiday for your family, with expert advice and dedicated support throughout.
Madrid for family holidays
The country's capital is probably the most modern of Spanish cities as well as one of Europe's party hotspots. But it offers lot more to offer than night-time fun – it's a great place for family city breaks or for longer family holidays that also take in the surrounding area or other parts of Spain.
Book a Madrid holiday with Take the Family and discover a city that hums with life and is often eccentric (think Almodovar films) but always fun, with great culture, people and café life.
As a specialist family travel agency, we can tailor-make the perfect holiday in Madrid for your family, perhaps as part of a wider Spain holiday taking in other destinations too – a combined city break and beach holiday, for instance. Contact one of our travel advisors now and let's discuss your dream trip.
For more about Madrid family breaks, scroll down.
Let us tailor-make the perfect Madrid holiday for you
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Things to do with kids in Madrid
Madrid's Most Child-friendly Attractions
• Take a thrilling 15-minute trip on the Teleférico cable-car from Paseo del Pintor Rosales to the Casa de Campo, where you will find the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, Spain’s third-oldest amusement park.
• Explore the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Natural Sciences Museum), with five levels of exhibits including a whale skeleton, a dinosaur replica and fossils.
• Take junior footie fans on a tour of Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium, to see the President's Box, dressing room, players' tunnel, benches and coaching area, pitch, and Trophy Room – and of course the official Real Madrid shop.
• Run off some steam in El Retiro Park with its puppet shows, rowing boats and playgrounds.
Madrid Art, Culture and Shopping
• Tour the Palacio Real, a vast, sumptuously decorated building with more rooms, more books and more treasures than any other European palace (don’t even attempt to see everything). This is Baroque at its showiest best.
• Explore the Prado, home to one of the most important art collections in the world, including works by Bosch, Velázquez, Goya, Titian and El Greco.
• Go for a browse at Madrid’s gargantuan weekend fleamarket, El Rastro.
Rollerblading in the Parque del Retiro
Eating in Madrid
Food in Madrid is out of this world if you know the best places to go. Madrid's many food markets and food halls are great with kids, as you can snack as you browse, and everyone can choose something different to suit their taste. Some of them are spectacularly beautiful too, whether historic or contemporary in vibe, including the Mercado de San Miguel, Mercado de la Paz and MAD Gourmets Galería Canalejas.
We also hearily recommend the iconic Museo del Jamón – not an actual ham museum but a charcuterie, pastry shop, bar and dining space with dedicated Jamón Sessions.
Other authentic dishes to try in Madrid include chickpea stew, garlic soup, snails, potato omelette and baked bream. And tapas are inherently child-friendly - little shared dishes to pick at and discover your favourites from among creamy croquetas, spicy patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo (garlic prawns), bocadillo de calamares (squid sandwich), and Manchego cheese. Callos madrileños (tripe stew) is there for the more adventurous palates.
Bear in mind that the Spanish take their kids out with them at night and that dinner often starts as late as 10pm, so plan your day accordingly.
Dining alfresco in Plaza de Santa
When to go to Madrid
The best time to go to Madrid is spring (March–May) or October, when the weather is generally mild and there are generally fewer people.
May is the month of Madrid's biggest fiestas, Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid (2 May) and Fiestas de San Isidro (15 May), but accommodation is trickier to find at this time, so ask us well in advance about booking your city break.
Plaza de España at Christmas
How to get to Madrid
Direct flights from the UK to Madrid (approximately 2 hours 30 minutes) depart from London airports, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. We will include the best options for you as part of the bespoke Madrid holiday we match to your needs, as well as any transfers you require (the airport is only a 20-minute drive from the city centre).
Alternatively, we can send you from London to Madrid by train, taking about 14 hours and changing in Paris and Barcelona. We can include stopover accommodation en route as well.
Madrid Travel Info
Flying time2.25hrs All flight times are based on flights from UK London airports, to the capital or nearest destination airport.
Carbon footprint1.12 CO2 Estimated tonnes of CO2 produced for return flights for a family of four.
TimezoneGMT +1
CurrencyEuro
Weather Today
14°C
56.8°F
The Telerifico cable-car
Our partners
Rollercoaster at the Parque de Atracciones
Related features
![El Parque del Retiro, Madrid[copyright]@elparquedelretiro[/copyright]](/sites/default/files/styles/ttf_2_1/public/parque_del_retiro_madrid.jpg.webp?itok=En7KGhUT "El Parque del Retiro, Madrid")
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