The city of Madrid offers a vast and varied choice of open green spots where you can escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and relax for a few hours. The choice ranges from hundreds of little public parks dotted around inside the city limits and still some larger ones outside the city limits. Here are some of the choicest parks and gardens in Madrid:
Retiro Park
The Retiro Park stretches for a huge 350 acres of land which features Estanque del Retiro, a large artificial lake, and the Mausoleum of Alfonso XII. The park also has a host of other attractions like exercise machines, ladders and swings, statues. follies and (shallow) ponds apart from boating on the lake, painting and photo exhibitions, kiosks and cafes with ice creams. The park also features the Palacio de Cristal glass pavilion, the El Angel statue, the Bosque de los Ausentes and the Auditorio de La Casa Encendida for regular exhibitions, classes and shows.
Real Jardín Botánico
Standing on the southern end of Retiro are the Royal Botanic Gardens which features some very rare species for over 200 years now and has over 30,000 trees and plants within its collection. There is a 2 euroweenie entrance fee.
El Capricho
Created in the French baroque style, the site has a number of squares and fountains and green parades. There is an artificial lake with islands in the middle and a proper maze which unfirtunately is not open to the public. The park is open only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9.00am until 9.00pm in the summer and closing earlier in the winter at 6.30pm.
Parque del Oeste
Located at the city’s western boundary, the park is quite popular with joggers, strollers and lovers. The space has some good terrace cafes standing down the main avenue that separates the city from the park.
Parque Juan Carlos I
Named after Juan Carlos, the park spans to 160 hectares of land, 1,900 metres of river de ra, lake covering 30.000 m2 and 13,000 metres of walks featuring sports centres, kids attractions, open air sculpture museum, botanic research areas, olive groves and specialist dog-walking part.