Gardens, Madrid

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We found Palacio Cristal accidentally on the walk around Retiro park. There leads a path under trees and opens into a lake, where live turtles and dugs. In the middle of the lake sprays a fountain. On the right side stands Palacio Cristal. When we were visited it, there was a exhibition of modern art, which we are not interested so much. The palace was built in 19. century and should serve as a glass house for tropical plants and flowers, which would be much more interesting for me.

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One of my favorite part is Retiro Park in Madrid. Try to spend at least 3 - 4 hours. Get a park map at the entrance otherwise you can get lost. It is very big.

I liked the Chrystal Palace & around very much. Grab sandwiches from the supermarket & have your lunch in this beatifull place. Surrounded with fountains lakes statues.

At retiro lake see the statues, street artists...Very romantic...

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The Jardines del Buen Retiro or Parque del Buen Retiro (literally "Gardens" or "Park of the Pleasant Retreat") is a large and popular, 1.4 km² (350 acre) park in Madrid's city center, not far from the Prado Museum. Once outside the city, Madrid now entirely surrounds the park.
The park was originally the site of a royal palace (Alcázar) built in 1632 under the reign of King Philip IV. Most of the palace was destroyed during the Peninsular War, leaving a space that was eventually opened to the public in 1868. The few remaining buildings of the palace now house museum collections.
Within the park is the Estanque del Retiro ("Retiro's Pond"), a large artificial pond. Next to it is the Monument to King Alfonso XII, featuring a semicircular colonnade and an equestrian statue of the monarch on the top of a tall central core.
Around the lake are many puppet shows greatly enjoyed by the children there. There are all manner of street performers and fortune tellers. Row boats can be rented to paddle about the Estanque. Many families in Madrid go there on the relaxed summer afternoons.
The park contains the Palacio de Cristal ("Crystal Palace"), a glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London and projected in 1887 by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco. Velázquez Bosco also designed the park's Palacio de Velázquez (named after him).
Another highlight is the Fountain of the Falling Angel, whose main sculpture is a work by Ricardo Bellver (1845–1924) inspired by a passage from John Milton's Paradise Lost, and which represents Lucifer falling from Heaven.
In the Retiro Park is also the Forest of the Departed (Spanish Bosque de los Ausentes), a memorial monument to commemorate the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks. Also, the Park yearly features a Book Fair.

This is a wonderful Botanical Garden in front of the Museo del Prado.
It has thousands of exotic plants from the five continents, but mainly from America since the times when that continent was our colony.
It was founded in the middle of the XVIII century by our king Fernando VI.
In its construction participated artists such as Sabatini (the king architect) and Juan de Villanueva (the same that erected the Museo del Prado).
Inside you will find pavilions, statues, fountains and nice promenades. The distribution of the plants follows the classification established by the Swedish naturalist Linneo (one of the most important botanist in History).

This was a cheap attraction (2 euros) but it was nonetheless disapointing.

Maybe because we were at the beginning of July, most flowers and a lot of plants were faded already.

So if you're in another time of the year, try it; otherwise, I'd skip it.

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Little of the Moorish Mayrit (the original Arabic name for Madrid) remains today. Though by chance in the 1950s, a section of the Moorish fortified wall and other Moorish ruins dating back to the 9th century were discovered just to the south of Catedral de la Almudena. The Muralla Arabe (i.e. Arab Wall) and the other Moorish ruins are now nicely displayed along Parque del Emir Mohamed I, a park named after the founder of the Arab Mayrit.

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Campo del Moro (the arab garden) is a hughe park situated at the food of Royal Palace. It was orriginally the place where the Arab army was located in the old days as in the 12 th century, later on it got cultivated and served as a gareden where the royalties let their children play. The park ws then build as acoording to the example of the English style of gardens. Its a very hughe complexand its open to public now.

Faunia is a thematic zoo recently opened outside Madrid. They have several pavillions, each one dedicated to a determined habitat (Jungle, Poles, Desert, Night beasts...)
It is a perfect place to spend a day in Madrid with kids, though it may be interesting for adults too.

Entrance 20€ adults, 12€ kids. Under 3 free.