The 15 best parks and gardens in Madrid for enjoying the good weather (2024)

Madrid, which was recognized by the UN in 2020 and 2021 as a Tree City of the World, halfway fulfills this idea: most of the parks and gardens are spread out on the outskirts.

Madrid’s most central park is an emblem, a plan in itself and a flag that can be raised in any situation and by anyone. But talking about parks in Madrid is much more than talking about the Jardines del Buen Retiro (which two hundred years ago, by the way, was a military stronghold). Our parks collect stories, monuments and decorations, but above all shrubs, plants, trees and the possibility to make a free plan.

Here are our favorite parks and gardens in Madrid, enjoyable at any time of the year, but perhaps especially in spring.

1. Cultural Landscape of Aranjuez

“The abundance of fauna and flora in this valley attracted the attention of nobles and kings since the 12th century. Already at that time they appreciated the value of Aranjuez as a place for recreation and hunting”. The appointment falls to the Council of Europe, the highest level of political cooperation between La Unión countries. And it is precisely this organization that considers the Cultural Landscape of Aranjuez to be one of the most important best gardens in Europe. It leads this list for a very simple reason: if it is one of the best gardens in Europe, how could it not be the best in Madrid?

2. El Retiro

It appears in all tourist guides, it is the venue for our Book Fair welcomes exhibitions has monuments that hide enigmas, castles of medieval appearance, a lookout point in an enviable location. Any definition of El Retiro will always be inaccurate, insufficient and unfair. Our most famous park is an oasis in an asphalt desert.

3. El Capricho

El Capricho Park is one of those bucolic oases that greens Madrid among so much traffic and blocks of apartments. This stately and historic garden has a peculiarity that attracts curious visitors during specific events of the year. We are talking about the civil War bunker.

TheBunker of the Jaca Position(code name given to theHeadquarters of the Republican Army of the Center) is one of the most important military constructionsof Europe due to the good condition it is in. It is a space built about 15 meters underground and has about 2,000 square meters. It was built atin May 1937, when the Madrid Defense Board decided that the Republican high command should leave the basem*nts of the Ministry of Finance to move to a safer location.

4. Fuente del Berro Park

With the image that precedes the Description of this park, a game could be played: where in Spain does this image correspond to? Very possibly except for someone who has seen the waterfall or the author of the photo, almost no one would guess that we are talking about Fuente del Berro, which is precisely what it is, one of those places in Madrid that doesn’t seem to be in Madrid. More than 13 hectares, a monument to Becquer, another statue to the Russian poet Pushkin, a mansion, fountains, waterfalls, ponds (two!). A full-fledged park.

5. Quinta de los Molinos Park

This park, located at 527 Alcalá Street, requires few introductions: the beauty of the spectacle of its almond blossoms is a typical postcard of mid-February, since these trees bloom between February and March (the last year, for example, took place at the end of February). This natural event is ephemeral and lasts only two or three weeks, during which most of the visits are concentrated.

It is precisely the almond blossoms that have made this park so well known, and perhaps its fame has overshadowed the rest of the elements that are housed in its 28 hectares and that are also worth knowing. In the northern Zone, of romantic landscape style, you can find a palace house, a pond or a stone picnic area and in the southern Zone, agricultural, you can see two reddish metal mills that come from the United States. Other tree varieties such as pines, olives and eucalyptus are also present.

6. Gardens of the Sorolla Museum

The Sorolla Museum is a secluded oasis in the district of Chamberí (Calle General Martínez Campos, 37) and one of the most beautiful museums in Madrid. Perhaps it is perceived as such because, unlike other exhibition spaces in the city, it blends the artist’s work and life in the most natural and absolute way possible: turning what was once his home into his own exhibition center.

But besides being able to see the paintings of this Valencian master of light while touring and visiting the different rooms of the house, perhaps one of the things that weigh more when considering its beauty are, precisely, its gardens. They are the first thing that welcomes visitors, isolating them from the hustle and bustle of the street, and are divided into two spaces inspired by the Trojan Garden of the Alcazar of Seville and the Generalife of Granada, respectively. There is a third garden with a pond, a sculptural group and a pergola. There, according to the Museum’s website, Sorolla used to sit with his family, and today visitors do. One of those “good things about passing into eternity” to which sang Manel.

7. West Park Rose Garden

It was inaugurated in 1955 and is also known as the “Ramón Ortiz” Rose Garden in honor of Don Ramón Ortiz Ferré, its ideologist and Director of Parks and Gardens of Madrid at the time. In 2006 it received the “Award of Garden Excellence” from the Word Federation of Rose Societies, which recognizes it as one of the most exceptional rose gardens in the world.

No wonder: in its extension of 32,000 square meters it houses nearly 20,000 rose bushes of more than 650 different varieties. The result is a beautiful explosion of color that every year, in addition, is subjected to public scrutiny for citizens to choose their favorite rose in the Popular Contest Rosa de Madrid.

8. Casa de Campo

If we talk about important green spaces in Madrid, we cannot miss, of course, , the largest public park in the city: Casa de Campo, with more than 1,500 hectares of extension. In addition to hosting a wide variety of ecosystems and biodiversity, it has facilities such as the Casa de Campo Lake, the Amusem*nt Park or the Cable Car, as well as other sports facilities.

9. Vistillas Gardens

It can be said that this tree-lined Suite designed in the 1930’s, in the middle of the Hapsburg Madrid is the most traditional of the city. Every San Isidro, thousands of chulapas and chulapos the Vistillas Hill, whose name comes from the monumental views of the Manzanares and Casa de Campo that can be seen from its summit. The most characteristic feature of the park, besides the panoramic views, are the central stairs guarded by walls and lampposts.

At the top of the steps, Gabriel Miró square is the meeting place for the patronal feasts of Madrid the main stage is located on the main square, where there are stalls of “entresijos” and “gallinejas” and the main stage. Not surprisingly, one of the most characteristic sculptures in the gardens is the Violetera (or Celia Gámez dressed as a chulapa). The basilica of St. Francis the Great and its dahlia garden are other wonders of the Vistillas Gardens. The incredible sunsets from the terraces of its summit are still among the wonders of the Primavera and of the summer in Madrid.

10. Mount El Pardo

A former refuge for hunters and soldiers, El Pardo is, today, one of the least explored lungs of the city. At the western end of Fuencarral-El Pardo, less than 15 kilometers from the historic center, this immense sea of pasture oak groves, dotted with cork oaks and pines, called Monte de El Pardo is home to a large community of wild boar, fallow deer (the specialty of the restaurants of El Pardo), wild boar and deer (the specialty of the restaurants of Fuencarral-El Pardo) El Pardo), hares and birds (it is a Special Bird Protection Zone).

Few people know that this spectacular Mediterráneo forest is one of the most important in Europe for its environmental value. In an area of almost 16,000 hectares, 120 varieties of flora coexist with more than 200 species of animals. Only 900 hectares (less than 6% of the park) can be visited. And it is here that you will find, among other heritage gems, the Royal Palace of El Pardo and the Casita del Príncipe. Access to the rest of the park is prohibited and fenced off with a fence that runs for 66 kilometers.

11. Dehesa de la Villa

Located in the northwest of Madrid, in the vast surroundings of Ciudad Universitaria, this large park with a forest-like appearance totals 64 hectares of native vegetation and green areas. It is another of the great unknowns of metropolitan Madrid. The Dehesa de la Villa is perfectly conditioned, with benches and tables, to make pics in the family. It has become a Verde and hygienic refuge to celebrate meetings with friends.

Among its inhabitants, a huge variety of birds that roam freely among its poplars, ash and elm trees, and fly over its viewpoints such as the Cerro de los Locos. And among its regulars, in addition to the residents of the Valdezarza neighborhood every day, cyclists ride along the network of lanes that wind around its characteristic shrubs, especially the broom, rosemary and rockroses. The Dehesa de la Villa also has basketball and petanque courts.

12. Sabatini Gardens

The most representative of these gardens, among the most beautiful places in Madrid de los Austrias, are its views of the north facade of the Royal Palace. In fact, they are named in Honor of the Italian architect Francesco Sabatini, who participated in the design of the monument. They are full of white marble sculptures initially intended to decorate the palace. Its geometric shapes and the symmetrical arrangement of its elements reinforce its neoclassical style. All this contributes to the fact that they are considered by many to be one of the most romantic corners of the city.

13. Madrid Río

Editorial credit: Brian Adamson / Flickr

This is one of the most ideal places in the city for outdoor sports. It covers a space of more than 10 kilometers in which to enjoy numerous lanes for running, skating, walking or cycling. It has areas dedicated to the enjoyment of other activities and also for children. Spread along both banks of the Manzanares, one of its most outstanding features are the bridges that cross it, such as the Toledo Bridge, the Segovia Bridge or the twins of Matadero and Invernadero, among others.

14. Berlin Park

The charm of this park lies in the fact that it houses a piece of German and world history, as the concrete Blocs protruding from its fountain are authentic pieces of the Berlin Wall. And this is not his only nod to the German capital. It also has a monument to the emblem of the city, a bear standing on its two hind legs, and one to Beethoven. For all these reasons, we can consider Berlin Park another one of those places in Madrid that allow you to travel to another corner of the world.

15. Campo del Moro Gardens

Behind the Royal Palace are the gardens of Campo del Moro, one of the most stately and essential gardens of the capital. It is fenced and has only one ticket, and its doors are open from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It is not usually crowded, which adds to its charm. It is one of the most bucolic parks in the city and hides the 19th century pavilions and the Queen’s Chalet, which, although they cannot be visited inside, are buildings reminiscent of northern Europe and are unusual in the city. There are also loose peaco*cks and other caged birds.

This article has been written by Isabel Nieto,Alberto del Castillo,Selene García Torreiro, Sara Morillo, and Elena French.